The head of the Australia Post licensees' association says the government-owned postal business could go bust in a matter of months if it returns to the management model used before the arrival of besieged chief executive Christine Holgate.
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Ms Holgate was last week stood aside pending a one-month investigation into the gifting of $20,000 worth of Cartier luxury watches to senior executives.
The watches were given to executives as a reward for clinching multi-million dollar deals with three of the "big four" banks to allow their customers to do their banking at post offices.
Likening the watches to a "gold medal or trophy" for the executives, Licensed Post Office Group executive director Angela Cramp on Tuesday said licensees were protesting Ms Holgate's plight by sending $5 notes in the post to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
She said the deal with the three banks - NAB, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank - had helped Australia Post generate $50 million in profit from its banking services.
Australia Post staff and even customers were also mailing $5 notes, she said.
"It's to show how insignificant that bloody sum of money was, $20,000, to get an increase of $100 million into Australia Post to distribute throughout the retail footprint," Ms Cramp told AAP.
"The players who won the grand final, did they run around joyous with their extra pay packet? No - it was the cup they're running around with. It's the symbol of an excellent job, that's what the gold watches are - the symbol of a winning deal, it made the difference for us."
Ms Cramp, who runs three licenced post offices across Wollongong and Bundanoon in NSW, said the Australia Post banking deal had put an extra $20,000 into her bank account and enabled her to earn additional revenue and pay her staff and overheads.
She called for the immediate reinstatement of Ms Holgate.
"We will keep going until we get some result to this - we will die without Christine Holgate, we'll be insolvent in a matter of months or years if the next CEO goes back to the previous management model and I'm not doing that," Ms Cramp said on Tuesday.
"I've got too much invested in this business of my own future."
Ms Cramp also criticised senior federal ministers - including Mr Morrison - for their castigation of Ms Holgate, saying "the prime minister should be disgusted in himself".
Mr Morrison last week labelled the gifting of the watches "disgraceful".
"She's turned the business around and she's included us in the sharing of that pie ... we do not want to go back to being exploited to provide dividends to the government," Ms Cramp said.
Senior Australia Post executives are set to appear before a Senate inquiry next month to answer questions about their corporate spending, with Labor demanding chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo face parliament to explain the gifting of the watches.
Labor was also concerned the board had been stacked with people with Liberal connections.
Australian Associated Press
