'Shame on you': Qantas' fiery AGM was everything you'd expect and more
The national carrier's board and management team fronted up to an angry retail shareholder base, despite a year of record profits.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson and chair Richard Goyder were hauled over hot coals by angry shareholders during a combative AGM on Friday. Facing a fiery session at Melbourne Convention Centre, shareholders, rightfully, demanded answers for a year that – despite record profit – may go down as one of Qantas’ worst.
Warning they were going to be “a little more abrupt” than other investors, a representative of the Australian Shareholders Association (ASA) went straight for the jugular early, calling the decision to illegally sack thousands of workers during the pandemic “the elephant in the room”.
“You might have felt it was justified at the time on a commercial basis [but] we will be paying for your lack of ethics,” the man said, referring to forthcoming negotiations over compensation.
As was so often the case on Friday, there was no related question, just an outpouring of frustration. A soliloquy of discontent.
