Dreamworld tragedy: Park owner’s CEO in line for $860k bonus

Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure is set to hand as much as $860,000 in bonus payments to CEO Deborah Thomas.

Ardent Leisure CEO Deborah Thomas is in line for a $860,000 bonus. Picture: Brad Hunter

Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure is set to hand as much as $860,000 in bonus payments to chief executive Deborah Thomas this morning, less than 48 hours after an accident claimed four lives at the Gold Coast theme park.

Shares in the entertainment company plunged again yesterday, falling 15 per cent since Tuesday and wiping $250 million off its value.

The tragedy is under investigation by Queensland police amid union claims of long-running safety concerns at the park.

However, the company is pressing ahead with its annual meeting, where shareholders have been asked to issue Ms Thomas with the bonus, in the form of shares, as part of a long-term incentive plan. Miche Paterson, a spokeswoman for Newgate, the public relations firm engaged by Ardent, confirmed the vote was still scheduled to go ahead.

While there had been some shareholder discontent with the bonus before Tuesday’s deaths, it is expected to be approved by Ardent’s major investors.

The company last night issued a statement saying Dreamworld would reopen tomorrow at 11am.

Dreamworld chief executive Craig Davidson made several statements on the accident but Ms Thomas and retiring Ardent chairman Neil Balnaves have yet to comment.

A source close to Mr Balnaves said yesterday that he was not speaking as he was badly affected by the incident.

Ms Thomas, a former Women’s Weekly editor who has run Ardent since April last year, will face a media pack keen for ­answers about how the company’s biggest single source of income — nearly a third of its earnings — could have become the site of such a tragedy.

Ms Thomas, whose surprise ­appointment drove a 30 per cent fall in the company’s share price, flew to the Gold Coast yesterday to talk to police and employees at Dreamworld. It is believed she flew back to Sydney last night to front today’s meeting.

Dreamworld last year gen­erated nearly $35m in profit, with more than 2.4 million visitors. ­Ardent also operates D’Albora Marinas and AMF bowling business and is expanding into the US, where it operates under the name Main Event.

Dreamworld and the adjoining WhiteWater World make up ­almost 30 per cent of the group’s earnings of about $136m before ­interest and tax.

The company has been restructuring its operations and has just completed the sale of its health clubs division to private equity ­investor Quadrant for $260m.

Ms Thomas’s perceived lack of corporate experience was at the heart of early criticism of her ­appointment. Her supporters ­argued that the criticism was sexist and showed no appreciation of her marketing skills honed while working for Kerry Packer as a magazine executive.

Ms Thomas oversaw women’s magazines Elle and Cleo before being appointed as editor of the Women’s Weekly in 1999.

In an interview with The Australian earlier this year, she said she had been asked early in her tenure if she knew how to operate a rollercoaster.

“It was one of those questions which indicated the misconceptions around me and why I was brought into the company,” she said.

“My response was while I am not here to operate the roller- coaster, I am here to make sure that people queue up and want to spend their money to take a ride on it. The reason I am here is that I have a very strong focus on the customer and, at head office, that is something that we really haven’t had.

“We have 17 million customers and many of them are women. It is family entertainment and it is often the women who are making the decisions around what they want to do and how they want to spend their leisure time with their families.”

Ms Thomas lives in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and has been a Woollahra councillor for the past four years. She was also deputy chairwoman of the ­National ­Library of Australia for a decade before stepping down from the role earlier this year.

In her interview with The Australian earlier this year she talked about taking her 13-year-old son to visit Dreamworld in the Christmas holidays as well as to AMF bowling alleys.

Today’s annual meeting was to have been a farewell to Mr ­Balnaves, who has chaired the company for the past 13 years. Until this week it would also have been a celebration of improved performance by the company under Ms Thomas’s leadership.

Mr Balnaves was instrumental in appointing Ms Thomas last year after the sudden departure of former chief executive Greg Shaw.

Mr Balnaves told The Australian this year his respect for Ms Thomas had grown since her ­appointment.

“She has stopped the rot,” he said. “She has done a hell of a job in building the company.

“She has done an extraordinary job in ­creating a substantial turnaround.

“Dreamworld has never had more visitors in its history. Deborah has the full support of the board and is well on the way to ­delivering a turnaround of the company.”