Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo on Wednesday announced it would not approve the payment of bonuses this year after the national mail service had opened the door for senior management to share in $7 million in personal bonuses,despite Ms Holgate having in March declared executives would"forsake any right to a bonus payment".
Ms Holgate,Australia's highest paid civil servant,had said Australia Post executives would be"doing their share"to combat rising costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
But sources close to the executive team saidshe had taken a proposal to the board in recent weeks to pay executive bonuses after the organisation defied dire forecasts to record a 7 per cent jump in full-year revenue and a profit before tax of $53.6 million.
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In a statement on Wednesday afternoon,Mr Di Bartolomeo said the board determined no short-term incentive payment would be made to the executive team for this financial year.
"I have every confidence in the Executive Team and their commitment to excellent performance in the year ahead,"he said.
A source said the board,which includes long-time Liberal administrator Tony Nutt and former Victorian senator Michael Ronaldson,had been told the government demanded it make a public statement. Senior government sources said Australia Post had been"dragging the chain on this issue"amid growing public anger around the bonus payments.