Australia Report shows former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate did not have board approval for Cartier watch gifts

Giving four luxury watches to Australia Post executives was inconsistent with the proper use of public money, a previously secret report has found.

Former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate resigned in November last year after Federal Government criticism of her.

The report, released late today by the Federal Government, finds no evidence of fraud or corruption in relation to the purchase and gifting of the watches, which combined were worth almost $20,000.

But it says the Australia Post board did not have any policies which would support rewarding executives with items like Cartier watches.

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The chief executive of Australia Post , Christine Holgate , appears before the Senate estimates hearing in Australia Post bought four Cartier watches in October 2018 as a reward for four senior managers “I have not used taxpayers’ money,” she said. “We do not receive government funding.

Labor brands secrecy around report into the gifting of Cartier watches to Australia Post executives ‘pathetic’. The Australian Financial Review has reported that Holgate was cleared of any wrongdoing, with a specific finding she had not breached any rule, policy, procedure or governance

It says the purchase of the watches was inconsistent with the obligations of the public governance legislation in relation to the proper use and management of public resources.

The purchase of the watches was first revealed in Senate Estimates in October last year.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Parliament he was "appalled" and that the gifts were "disgraceful and not on" and announced an inquiry into the issue.

The watches were initially said to be worth $12,000 and were a "thank you" to the executives who worked to secure a lucrative deal with three of the major banks.

The report, by law firm Maddocks, also says that a preliminary review of a limited set of credit card records shows there might be other smaller amounts spent on items which would be inconsistent with public expectations.

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Australia Post 's Chief Executive Christine Holgate is standing aside as an investigation is conducted into the organisation's spending of Ms Holgate 's position has come under intense scrutiny after it was revealed in a Senate estimates hearing that four 00 watches were gifted to senior executives.

Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate appears before a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra on Thursday - wearing a gold Bulgari watch that retails for Australia Post has revealed the Cartier watches bought for their company executives actually cost almost ,000 - after embattled boss

Ms Holgate had defended giving the watches to the four executives.

When she announced her resignation, Ms Holgate said she did not regret the purchase of the watches and believed in order to "drive positive change, you need to thank and reward positive behaviours".

But she said the "optics of the gifts did not pass the 'pub test' for many".

But the Maddocks report says: "No policy which supports gifts such as the watches being made to executives as a reward for high performance has been identified."

The document says that the people who received the timepieces emphasised that they were "in the nature of 'reward and recognition' rather than 'gifts'.

But it says extracts from Australia Post's internal reconciliation system do describe the watches as "gifts".

The report says that all the non-executive board members interviewed accepted that "giving of gifts in the nature of the watches was not appropriate".