Qantas board suffers epic strike over exec riches

afr.com:

Qantas shareholders delivered a stinging rebuke of the airline’s management, handing its board one of the biggest-ever protest votes against an ASX-listed blue-chip company over its executive pay scheme.

Almost 83 per cent of votes were cast against Qantas’ remuneration report at its annual general meeting in Melbourne on Friday.

Chairman Richard Goyder shot down suggestions that he acted unethically by allowing former chief executive Alan Joyce to sell $17 million worth of stock on June 1, just weeks before the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it would take Qantas to court for allegedly selling tickets on flights it had cancelled.

Vanessa Hudson needs to get the reputation back to “excellent” to get her bonuses.  Eamon Gallagher

Shareholder Chris Maxworthy voiced his concern to the meeting about the timing of the chairman’s decision to allow the share sale, which came five weeks after Qantas received a second notice from the ACCC about its investigation.

“[Mr Joyce] sold shares in June, it was already announced that he would be departing the company in November. We complied with our continuous disclosure obligations,” Mr Goyder said, before ordering the shareholder’s microphone be switched off.

Investors were riled by the award of more than $14.4 million in bonuses to Mr Joyce, incurring an 82.98 per cent strike. That was the biggest since the 88 per cent that voted against National Australia Bank’s remuneration report after the royal commission into banking misconduct in 2019.

“The overwhelming vote against Qantas’ remuneration report is a clear indication that investors want greater management accountability,” said Australian Council of Superannuation Investors chief executive Louise Davidson.

“The