Australia Post chief executive officer Christine Holgate has resigned after she was stood aside while an investigation was carried out into the purchase of four luxury Cartier watches as performance rewards for senior management.
In a statement announcing her decision to resign yesterday, Holgate said it was with great sadness she had opted to resign after three years in the role, adding she would not be seeking any financial compensation.
“I firmly believe the ‘ship’ needs 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,” Holgate said.
“Consequently, I have made the difficult decision to resign, hoping it will allow the organisation to fully focus on serving our customers.”
Holgate was stood aside from her role after it emerged in a Senate Estimates hearing that Australia Post had spent $20,000 buying four luxury watches as performance gifts for four members of the senior management team.
The discovery about the watches was met with disgust by many in the print industry particularly as it suffers due to Australia Post’s decision to only deliver mail every two days during COVID-19 as well as increased mail costs putting further pressure on the sector.
In Holgate’s statement she pointed to the dramatic rise in parcel delivery revenue in first quarter revenues have helped make up for $242m losses in letters.
“Our recent financial results delivered a record revenue of $7.5bn, up $500m or 7% and our profits before tax rose 30% to $56.6m for the year. This was our highest ever revenue growth in a year without acquiring a major asset,” Holgate said.
“Our strong parcel, services and international cross-border ecommerce businesses, all helped compensate for having 400m fewer letters, covered $242m in letter losses and we still delivered a profit.”
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