• Christine Holgate has threatened to sue the federal government and Australia Post if it does not respond to her demands for mediation.
• In a statement issued on Monday, the former CEO said she had offered directors and federal MPs in charge of the postal service the opportunity to find a resolution to their ongoing dispute surrounding her dismissal.
• With neither able to meet the deadline, she said they had until May 17 before she would consider proceeding with legal action.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

The former head of the Australian postal service says her opponents have two options: either sit down to come to a resolution or meet in court.

As Australia Post executives faced another fiery Senate hearing on Monday, Christine Holgate handed down her final ultimatum, six months after she was sent packing from the top job.

In a statement released by her team, Holgate details how she has offered cabinet ministers and the Australia Post board the opportunity for mediation to put the matter of her dismissal to bed, “in order to avoid time-consuming and costly litigation for all parties”.

“We offered Australia Post and the government ministers a two-week window to conduct this mediation in order to minimise the ongoing harm that has been caused to Ms Holgate as well as the distraction to Australia Post which ultimately must focus on its important service to the public and its obligations to its employees and operators,” the statement said. “That two-week window closes at 5pm on Wednesday 5 May.”

Holgate goes on to reveal that both Australia Post and the Morrison government have requested more time, with both side arguing they are unable to meet such a deadline.

Holgate, who ended her months-long silence with a 150-page plus written submission to the Senate committee now interrogating the details of her departure, has now put both parties’ feet to the fire by going public with the offer.

She called it “very disappointing” that neither “have been able to prioritise an amicable resolution of this matter, particularly as they are very aware of the ongoing damage this matter causes my client and in light of the fact that it took them only hours to unlawfully stand her down.”

“Given there appears to be an absence of agreement to mediate this matter expeditiously, Ms Holgate will now have no option but to consider her legal options after the Senate Communications and Environment Committee’s report into these matters is released on May 17.”

Exactly what that report will find is unclear. Holgate for her part has alleged she was illegally stood down and says she still considers herself the CEO of Australia Post. At least one Senator has publicly agreed, raising the possibility she could be returned to her post.

If that were to come to pass, and that remains a very large ‘if’, Holgate insists her return would require that her former boss chair Lucio Di Bartolomeo stand down.

On Monday, Australia Post director and former Liberal Party director Tony Nutt – who acted as a key link between Holgate and the board – said she she should still be in the job.

“By ignoring the short-term politics and the increasingly inaccurate – on occasion completely false and sometimes rather vile commentary – and concentrating on methodically sorting through all the queries of the investigation, Ms Holgate would be CEO today,” he said.

In their defence, many members of the Australia Post board maintains that Holgate did step down of her own volition. On Monday, they also dismissed claims that her dismissal was due to her opposition to a privatisation push.

Director Michael Ronaldson last week called the suggestion a “a complete and utter beat-up”.

“We’ve never been asked by the shareholder ministers to discuss privatisation and, as one of my colleagues said before, it would have a snowflake’s chance in hell of getting up,” he said.

The claim refers to a review conducted by consultancy group BCG. On Monday, it was revealed that taxpayers paid $1.38 million for the secret report that raised the possibility after an assessment that spanned less than four months.

The report has never been released to the public but looks like it may go to the heart of some of the more salacious claims made regarding Holgate’s fall.

Like so much of what the inquiry has heard, the reality of what has happened at Australia Post remains shrouded in secrecy, contradiction, and hearsay.

Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.