It recommended the Auditor-General investigate Communications Minister Paul Fletcher over his request to the Australia Post board that it should stand Ms Holgate aside on October 22 while an investigation occurred into the purchase of the watches.
But in a dissenting report,Coalition senators said the Auditor-General had no power to investigate ministers and claimed the Senate inquiry had become a “highly politicised exercise” that had “had an impact on many of the recommendations in the majority report”.
The majority report,led by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young,made 25 recommendations in total. These included that the Australia Post board,the Prime Minister,Finance Minister Simon Birmingham and the Communications Minister owed Ms Holgate an apology “for denying her the legal principles of procedural fairness and natural justice in her departure from Australia Post”.
In addition to calling for chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo’s resignation,the report called for the overhaul of the Australia Post board,with a new board based on nominations from the Parliament,unions,employees and licensees.
It found Mr Di Bartolomeo should resign “in acceptance of his responsibility for the organisation’s failings with respect to the Holgate matter,the veracity of his evidence provided to the committee,his capacity to defend the independence of Australia Post and the lack of effective robust policies and financial oversight processes in place throughout his tenure”.
One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson,who emerged as a key supporter of Ms Holgate during the inquiry,also supported Mr Di Bartolomeo’s removal and the report’s recommendation for an apology from the Prime Minister.