A year after her dramatic exit from Australia Post made front page news for months on end Christine Holgate reflects on how she weathered the storm. | Sunday Life story by Genevieve Quigley
“In your darkest moment, amazing people come along,” says Christine Holgate. For her, that moment began on October 22, 2020 when a Senate estimates hearing in Parliament House heard that, as CEO of Australia Post, Christine had awarded four senior executives Cartier watches worth a total of about $20,000.
“On the morning of going to give evidence, I did wonder why,” reflects Christine on the daunting task of taking on the government at the Senate inquiry. “But part of it was, all these people have campaigned so much for me. Was I going to let them down?” Her friend Carla had died the week before she was due to give evidence. Christine felt she owed it to her – and all of her other supporters – to fight on.
“It seems crazy saying this now, but back in 2014, when we were pioneering into South-East Asia and China, most companies were going, ‘Oh, this is crazy, you should be up in the US market,’ ” she recalls. “But it’s a highly competitive market there. In Asia, natural health is part of the DNA of the whole health system.” The strategy paid off. During her tenure, the share price had risen to more than $200.
After nine years with Blackmores, Christine accepted the role of CEO at Australia Post. “It was hard to leave because it was like a family, but the timing felt right,” she recalls.“I remember Marcus [Blackmore, the firm’s founder and executive director] saying to me that going to Australia Post would be like doing national service, because he had been in the army. And I found it an absolute privilege to go there. I grew up in a rural, farming community in England.
Christine had to look at every part of the business that was making a loss and stop it, unless it was an essential service such as keeping a delivery standard for letters. What became evident from the review was that one of the areas running at a loss was the banking service.
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