He stopped short of saying sorry, but PM Scott Morrison yesterday said he regretted “any distress” his “strong language” caused Australia Post’s former boss Christine Holgate. During a Senate inquiry earlier this week, Holgate accused Morrison of bullying her out of her job and said she was “suicidal” after he slammed her $20,000 purchase of Cartier watches for 4 senior employees as a reward in 2018. The PM also denied Holgate’s claim that her gender played a role in what went down. “This was about taxpayer organisations handing out Cartier watches to well-paid executives” – something he still thinks is wrong, he said. Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who also criticised Holgate at the time, said the government went about handling the matter all wrong.

*Need help?