Eddie McGuire launched a fierce defense of Australian Postal Service chief Christine Holgate, attacking “hackers” and “idiots” trying to drag her down.
Holgate quit after Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked her to quit her $ 27,000 per week job amid revelations that she had signed Cartier watches as a “reward” to top executives.
The president of Collingwood Football Club, who worked with Ms. Holgate on the club’s board of directors, said he was angered and disgusted when he saw the prime minister’s extraordinary spray at the time of the question, and was hoping she would “go out” and return to the private sector.
“Kristen Holgate is one of the most admired people I’ve ever met,” McGuire told news.com.au.
“Her absolute dedication to caring for people and getting results is second to none. Her sacrifice is unbelievable.”
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McGuire said he would prefer Holgate to be in charge of the taxpayers’ money than the many politicians who “throw it on the wall” regularly.
“And I looked at it, the last two days, and I shook my head. I guess how stupid is Australia?” He said.
“We are still entering into a politics of envy? I mean seriously. Why go and get stars and businessmen to run public entities, and then try to get them to play like idiots?”
“If that was the case, Dick Pratt, Keri Packer, Tuiji Forest … anyone who was good at building their own lives and careers would have been fired.”
McGuire said Ms Holgate was offered a position on the board of a major bank, but she turned it down to take on the Collingwood board position because she felt she could do more good, including tackling homelessness.
He said, “All these areas of life are where her hands get dirty.”
When COVID-19 struck, she made a large personal donation to ensure the continuation of Collingwood Football Club’s “Magpie Nest”, a joint venture with the Salvation Army.
“She would hate to say this, but I hate to see women who reach these positions get kicked. She is an absolute star. There wasn’t even a request, and she rallied forces to make sure Magpie Nest was able to manage and fund her out of her own pocket. She has a big heart and a great mind.”
“And for me, look at that and go. If I knew anyone who is a big businessman who wants to give back to society, I would just say, ‘I looked at that.’
“It terrifies me, this race to the bottom, Fair dinkum, governments that are wasting so much money.
“I just thought it was a pile. I don’t know what the background is. But when someone was sitting there watching this, I thought, ‘Wow. This was a rhythm where someone was being hit. When you run things, it’s obvious. “
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McGuire said that if they decide to leave the job, the big companies should welcome it with open arms.
“It’s not like she was actually putting their money in their own pocket; she was also doing it in reality, to lift people around her,” he said.
“I know Christine. That’s what she’s doing. You know? The best thing that could ever happen is that she gets out of work with these idiots.”
Mrs. Holgate was brutalized for attending Senate Estimates wearing a Bvlgari watch, which retail for as much as $ 48,000.
“People try to wear it because it’s wearing an expensive watch,” said McGuire.
“Yeah, she got an expensive watch because she earned it. It really came from nothing. There should be a statue of Christine Holgate to inspire people.”
“This … superhero, drags people down. Why go and hire her if you don’t want her? Go and have some public servants tick the boxes.”
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Write in Herald SunVeteran business journalist Terry McCran criticized the attacks on Ms. Holgate, calling them “doping hysteria”.
McCran said: “I am horrified and shocked that the prime minister can be so stupid and utterly helpless at the same time.”
“Scott Morrison’s brutal attack on Kristen Holgate, CEO of Australia Post on the $ 3,000 Four Watch, asking her to stand aside while this horrific crime is urgently investigated was hysteria over doping.”
McCran also said that the prime minister’s request to step aside harms Holgate’s reputation.
“And why on Earth – in fact, on any planet in the known universe – is it necessary for Holgate to” step aside “while Morrison’s hilarious investigation continues? he wrote.
“What does he think she will do? Hide watches? Threaten” investigators “?
in a AustralianBusiness commentator Robert Gottliebsen said Ms Holgate was discovering that “no success will go unpunished in the Australian Post.”
“I hope Holgate is strong enough to stand up to the prime minister,” he wrote, “but its board is full of Liberals.”
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