Australian post office boss ‘driven to point of suicide’
A FORMER chief executive of Australia’s postal service yesterday claimed that she was driven towards suicide after being “humiliated” by the prime minister, Scott Morrison.
Christine Holgate, a British expat, quit the government-owned Australia Post last November after her disclosure that she had given four employees Cartier watches as a reward for bringing in a lucrative deal to allow banking in post offices.
As a public backlash mounted over the choice of bonus, the prime minister joined in the criticism of Ms Holgate.
Ms Holgate told an Australian senate inquiry that even though she resigned, her treatment by the chairman, on behalf of the government, was unlawful and had left her health “compromised”.
“I was seriously ill. I was suicidal, you know,” she claimed. “I lost my job – a job that I loved – because I was humiliated by our prime minister for committing no offence, and then bullied by my chairman,” she said.
The 56-year-old also alleged that her treatment was sexist. “I have never seen any male public servant depicted in that way. So do I believe it’s partially a gender issue? You’re absolutely right I do.”
It taps a vein of anger about women’s treatment in the workplace since a former staffer of a cabinet minister alleged in February that she was raped in a parliamentary office in 2019.
Mr Morrison’s handling of the issue has been criticised and polls show his personal approval ratings at their lowest since before the pandemic.
Last week, Mr Morrison said he would act on the recommendations of a year-old report calling for changes to workplace sexual harassment laws.
He said in parliament before Ms Holgate’s resignation that the watch bonuses failed the “pub test” – Australian vernacular for common sense – and were grounds for her removal.
Mr Morrison’s office was not immediately available for comment when asked yesterday.