Yahoo Finance Australia Post to pay Christine Holgate $1.1 million in bombshell decision
Australia Post has agreed to pay former CEO Christine Holgate a $1 million termination payment after she sensationally left her role in 2020.
Additionally, Holgate will receive $100,000 to cover her legal costs as part of the major mediation settlement.
The $1 million sum represents around eight months of her final salary.
Holgate left the top job in November after she was found to have approved spending on four Cartier watches worth $20,000 as a thank you gift for high-performing workers.
The settlement draws a line beneath the 10-month feud, which at its most heated saw Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly lambast Holgate and declare that she could “go” if she didn’t allow an inquiry into the gifts.
Wearing suffragette white, Holgate maintained that she was humiliated by the prime minister, treated “like a criminal” and forced out of a job she loved by Australia Post.
She resigned from the top job on 2 November last year, 10 days after a Senate Estimates hearing first heard of the Cartier watches.
Australia Post maintained that Holgate chose to step aside during the investigation and ultimately resign.
Holgate also said the gifts were legal, and within Australia Post’s policies.
A Government-commissioned review into the spending found that Australia Post did not approve the purchase of the watches, but also found that there was “no indication of dishonesty, fraud, corruption or intentional misuse of Australia Post funds” on Holgate’s part.
However, while Holgate received the huge sum, it came without an apology.
“To finalise the matter so that both parties can move on, Ms Holgate has released Australia Post from all legal claims and Australia Post is making the payment without any admission of liability,” Australia Post and Holgate said in a joint statement released on Wednesday morning.
“Australia Post acknowledges that it has lost an effective CEO following the events on the morning of 22 October 2020.
“Australia Post regrets the difficult circumstances surrounding Ms Holgate’s departure from her role as CEO.”
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