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Christine Holgate
Christine Holgate has quit as Australia Post CEO over the Cartier watches executive gifts controversy. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Christine Holgate has quit as Australia Post CEO over the Cartier watches executive gifts controversy. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Christine Holgate resigns as Australia Post CEO over Cartier watches saga

This article is more than 3 years old

Holgate says 2018 decision to gift watches as executive bonuses has become a distraction for the postal service

Christine Holgate has resigned as chief executive of Australia Post with immediate effect only days after signalling she would dig in and defend her position during a formal investigation into the Cartier watches furore.

Holgate said on Monday she was departing with “no animosity towards the government” and she deeply regretted that “a decision made two years ago, which was supported by the chair, to recognise the outstanding work of four employees” had become a distraction for the organisation.

The former Post chief was referring to the decision to give watches worth $20,000 as executive bonuses – a decision that was later castigated by Scott Morrison.

John Stanhope, who was the chairman at the time the Cartier watches were given, has told the Australian Financial Review he could not remember authorising the spending in 2018.

Lucio Di Bartolomeo, who was appointed as the chairman of the Australia Post board late last year, has said “a check of board papers and minutes from this period show the then board was not asked to approve or note the purchase of those Cartier watches”.

While insisting in her departure statement that rewarding employees was supported by the chairman, Holgate said on Monday she appreciated “the optics of the gifts involved do not pass the pub test for many”.

The departing chief executive said it was best she move on because the organisation was facing significant challenges as the Christmas peak loomed. “We have prepared significantly for this peak, but we still face significant challenges – keeping our people safe, managing the biggest e-commerce Christmas ever and planning in the face of unpredictable seasonal weather,” she said.

Holgate said it was important Australia Post had “a strong captain at the helm to help navigate through this time”.

“The current issue I am managing is a significant distraction and I do not believe it is good for either Australia Post or my own personal wellbeing,” she said. “Consequently, I have made the difficult decision to resign, hoping it will allow the organisation to fully focus on serving our customers.”

Holgate’s resignation is an about-face from Friday, when she warned that poor “optics” were not enough for her to be stood aside as Australia Post’s chief executive pending a review of corporate gifts, including the Cartier watches. In a statement issued by her lawyer, Holgate dug in last week and demanded Australia Post provide grounds to stand her aside.

After the incident became public, Morrison decried the gifts, declaring he was “appalled, it’s disgraceful and it’s not on”.

The prime minister said Holgate, a former chief of the Blackmores vitamin company who joined Australia Post three years ago, had been instructed to step aside during an investigation into the furore and if she didn’t wish to cooperate with that process, “she can go”.

Holgate said in the statement confirming her departure she remained “firmly” of the view that the colleagues who had been gifted the watches deserved recognition because “their work secured a $220m investment over the following years, which dramatically improved the financial performance of the company, protected a critical community service, which more than 50% of the communities in Australia depend on, and made our community post offices sustainable for the long term”.

The outgoing chief executive said she would make herself “readily available to participate in the investigation of this matter and any other issues of possible concern” and she would depart without seeking any financial compensation.

She said she was proud of her record. “Our recent financial results delivered a record revenue of $7.5bn, up [by] $500m or 7%, and our profits before tax rose 30% to $53.6m for the year”.

“This was our highest ever revenue growth in a year without acquiring a major asset,” Holgate said.

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