More fun for ScoMo. Australia Post Senate Inquiry: Christine...

More fun for ScoMo.

Australia Post Senate Inquiry: Christine Holgate Submission March 19th 2021

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentar...mmunications/AustraliaPostinquiry/Submissions

Executive Summary:

My Bold:

"The people of our country must have leaders that tell the truth to Parliament. They should not bully
or intimidate. They should lead by example and respect those who work with them. If they make a
mistake, they should simply recognise and apologise, they should not continue to push an agenda
that is grossly unjust to avoid their own moment of embarrassment.

I hope the legacy of my recent experience and the telling of this truth is accountability. Misleading
our Parliament and acting unlawfully at any level should surely carry with it serious consequences.
Australia Post, like all our nationally significant organisations, should not be political playthings
where board positions are used as rewards for political services done. From this experience we
must build a stronger, more capable Board and ensure this important asset is protected and
nurtured for many years to come, for the benefit of all Australians."

Full Executive Summary:

"It is almost five months since the events of October 22nd, 2020, when, for no justified reason, I was
humiliated in Parliament and then unlawfully stood down by the Australia Post Chair from a role I
was passionately committed to.

Throughout this period, I have only made one statement- my reluctant offer to resign- and I have
deliberately avoided the opportunity to speak out about what happened. At the time I believed
remaining silent was in the best interests of Australia Post and of my own health, which the actions
of others and ensuing events had severely compromised.

The experience the Chair of Australia Post and others put me through - which continues - should
never be allowed to happen again, not just at Australia Post, but in any organisation, to any person,
in any role.

The Chair of Australia Post not only unlawfully stood me down, he lied repeatedly to the Australian
people and to their Parliament about his actions. Time after time he has made statements that I had
agreed to stand down when I had done no such thing. The evidence in this submission is irrefutable
and I urge you to read it in full.

He then abandoned me to a media firestorm that he and others had created and cut me off from
resources, despite knowing that these events had caused me to seek mental health care and
medication. When I pleaded for help, my pleas were met with continuous requests to examine credit
card expense records, on the disguise that they must be made public, presumably to cause me even
greater harm. Their actions were and remains, an exercise to seek justification, after the fact, for the
failure to treat me fairly.

When I offered to resign to protect our organisation, my letter to him was leaked to the media
before he had even responded to me. He then made his own statement which was and remains false
and then hours later sent me a counter-offer - itself confirmation that no agreement had been
reached. When I asked that afternoon for an opportunity to send a message to all Australia Post
employees to thank them for the privilege of working with them, it was denied.

In short, I was treated like a criminal by my own Chairman, but I had committed no crime. To be
clear, the purchase of the four watches as a reward for the efforts of executives who delivered the
pivotal Bank@Post deal was legal, within Australia Post’s policies, within my own signing authority
limits, approved by the previous Chairman, expensed appropriately, signed off by auditors and the
CFO, widely celebrated within the organisation, and presented at a morning tea by the previous
Chairman and me with a thank you card signed by both of us. It was then found to be legal by the
“review” which was clearly intended to find it otherwise.

Yet somehow, I was forced out of my job over it. For this, I blame one person- the Chair, Lucio Di
Bartolomeo. He knew all of the facts but chose to stand aside from his responsibility to defend me
and Australia Post, from those who didn’t know all of the facts. He then lied about his actions and
about other important issues.

The Chair’s counter-offer to my resignation, had I agreed, would have prevented me working for 12
months, I would have received no pay for my separation and it would have prevented me from
speaking about any of Australia Post’s actions past, present and future, including those that may be
unlawful. To this date, I have signed no deed of release with Australia Post, despite my many
requests to resolve this matter.

Having lied to the media and through them the Australian public, the Chair then attended the Senate
on November 9th 2020 where his evidence was seriously misleading. I raised my concerns in writing
with him and the Board, with both shareholder Ministers, and Maddocks, giving detailed examples
and asked them to address it, but they have chosen not to; yet at no time has anyone denied my
feedback was correct. It is unacceptable that the Chair of a major public-owned enterprise can
mislead the Senate over his knowledge of something as important as a review of the organisation
commissioned by the Government. He knows all about the BCG report, despite his lies to the Senate.

He saw drafts of it, he sat in five-hour long meetings about its contents. The Senate must hold him to
account or risk setting a precedent that it can be misled by people who are supposed to be serving
the community.

The Government’s inquiry by Maddocks found I had acted within my authority. I had acted
appropriately and within the authority given to me by the organisation. I was exonerated (just as I
should have been) after an inquiry where I was cut off from emails and access to information and
told, for any support I need, I must only communicate with Australia Post’s external lawyers. I was
instructed that I must not speak to employees or customers of the $7.5 billion, 80,000 employee
organisation I had been leading from strength to strength since my appointment. I was deliberately
isolated and continue to be, despite the clear findings and evidence that I have done nothing wrong.

The Chair made a statement that he would have ‘vetoed the watches’, unfairly influencing the
investigation and failing to explain the true story why the watches were used as rewards or the
nationally significant benefit the watches recognised. Every one of the current Board members
interviewed said they would not have supported them, yet the same Directors supported purchasing
a pen for the previous retiring Chair, as well as multi-million dollar payouts to the previous CEO and
not least the gifting of many more expensive rewards by him.

These actions and false claims which have been made seriously
damaged my professional reputation, and contributed to a significant decline in my health.

I was selected to lead Australia Post after an exhaustive international recruitment campaign and
came to my position after nine years as Chief Executive at Blackmores. My experience and expertise
have been recognised on multiple occasions including being the only female to be awarded CEO of
the Year by the CEO Institute, being named the highest-ranking female on the Australian Financial
Review’s Power List (and most recently receiving a Scorecard Rating of 95% (where target is 70% and
maximum is 100%) from the Australia Post Board.

To suggest I would ignore a fundamental policy or commit a blatant error of judgement, even such
as this, is an absolute nonsense and has no credibility when scrutinised objectively.

Under my leadership I have exhibited both the ability to, and the commitment towards, reducing
waste and increasing both revenue and profitability and enhancing the culture of every business I
have been associated with. The evidence in this submission is compelling on this front. I was paid a
fraction of the previous CEO of Australia Post’s remuneration, and I reduced the ‘office’ spending by
more than 60% compared to his costs.

All of these terrible examples of behaviour by others were raised with our Shareholder Ministers
Birmingham and Fletcher, again as well as Maddocks. Time after time, I reached out and asked for
help to resolve things amicably. I have received none.

Australia Post is a critical national asset going through a major transformation. It deserves and
requires the very best leadership, not just at the Executive level, but also at the Board. Under my
leadership Australia Post actually increased its revenue against all odds and defied the predictions of
many Government reviews and we grew our profits, whilst securing jobs for our people and
continuing to deliver in the face of COVID, bushfires and storms.

Many families and businesses depend on Australia Post for their economic survival, these include
our own employees and our partners. Many of our partners, like our 3,000-plus Community Post
Offices and our Delivery Contractors, mortgage their homes and take on significant debt to invest in
and be part of the organisation. If the organisation fails, due to arbitrary and poor decisions at the
top, as a consequence these partners will fail. This should not be acceptable to those who can
influence the course of events.

The people of our country must have leaders that tell the truth to Parliament. They should not bully
or intimidate. They should lead by example and respect those who work with them. If they make a
mistake, they should simply recognise and apologise, they should not continue to push an agenda
that is grossly unjust to avoid their own moment of embarrassment.

I am deeply appreciative of the significant support I have received and continue to from our
employees, our customers, our partners – especially our Community Licensed Post Offices,
thousands of individuals across the country and from many political leaders representing all parties.
Their unwavering commitment to me has carried me through this difficult time and is making me
strong again.

I am determined that going forward I will be a stronger leader. I have gained a deep appreciation for
what it feels like to be alone when fighting a mighty power for a crime you have not committed. I
will try to avoid “failing the pub test”, but I will not avoid the pub nor the people in it- they have a
greater instinct for fairness and ability to detect foul play than many “leaders” assume on their
behalf.

It was an honour to join Australia Post. I took on the leadership challenge, together with a significant
pay cut, because I was passionately committed to supporting its transformation and I believed
strongly in the important role it plays in communities and in particular, regional and rural Australia.
The recent exceptional financial results evidence that Australia Post is now growing, the
transformation is under way and it has a strong viable future ahead. I am proud to have led the team
and what we have delivered together.

I remain deeply committed to serving our country and helping our economic recovery. I have
remained as Chair of the Australian ASEAN Council and Co-Chair for the Ministerial Advisory Council
for Trade.

I hope the legacy of my recent experience and the telling of this truth is accountability. Misleading
our Parliament and acting unlawfully at any level should surely carry with it serious consequences.
Australia Post, like all our nationally significant organisations, should not be political playthings
where board positions are used as rewards for political services done. From this experience we
must build a stronger, more capable Board and ensure this important asset is protected and
nurtured for many years to come, for the benefit of all Australians.

It is for these reasons I have agreed to break my silence and make a submission to this inquiry today"