These days it’s de rigueur to create a struggle session between the woke warriors who buy a few shares in order to ask politically-motivated questions and the hapless board who are under pressure to confess their crimes for everything from coal investment to supporting Israel.
The actions of these social activist investors could be seen in full flight on Thursday at ANZ’s AGM in Brisbane, which was not only hijacked by climate change protesters dressed as circus clowns, but then descended into a four-hour trial during which directors were peppered with questions on modern slavery, energy policy and whether it would support a ceasefire in Gaza.
And it had all started so well.
ANZ had arranged a choir singing Christmas carols as well as a buffet and a selection of snacks (including ANZ-themed cookies) for shareholders attending the meeting at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
But soon after the start of formal proceedings, a middle-aged protester dressed as a circus ringleader stood up and began a diatribe about climate change that drowned out an address being made by ANZ chairman Paul O’Sullivan.
“We will see you in the funnies,” said the man bizarrely, while his fellow “circus performers” complete with red noses jumped on each other’s shoulders.
“But it is not so funny when our kids’ future is being destroyed by the funding for the climate heating coal, gas and oil industry.”
The protesters had managed to evade heavy security, including airport-style metal detectors, at the entrance to bring in their costumes hidden in bags before changing into them in the toilets. But despite this incredible amount of bad faith and the fact their performance stopped the AGM for a good 10 minutes, the reaction of Mr O’Sullivan was curiously tolerant.
While he reminded the protesters that the AGM was a forum for all shareholders to express their views and he told the ringleader to sit down or risk being removed by security, he later thanked the protesters for being “so respectful” and allowing the meeting to continue.
There were a handful of burly security guards on hand that could have quickly evicted these clowns in minutes. Yet Mr O’Sullivan actually thanked the protesters for not acting up more.
There is tolerance, and there is ridiculous bending over backwards for a minority. What about tolerance for the average shareholders who just may have wanted to hear more on the financial performance of the bank or the benefits to the Queensland economy of the $4.9bn planned take over of Suncorp Bank?
The questions went on an on for hours – some to be fair were on financial matters – but a great amount were about ANZ’s lending policies around coal and gas investment and social issues including modern slavery and childcare.
The high point of this woke nonsense was reached when one shareholder asked whether ANZ – a very small bank in the greater scheme of things – would support a ceasefire in Gaza.
To be fair to Mr O’Sullivan, he deftly deflected the question saying it was not an issue ANZ could constructively comment on. When I inquired about Mr O’Sullivan’s tolerance of the protesters and the bank’s apparent willingness to answer endless clearly politically motivated questions, I was told “you have to be respectful”.
Respect in my book is a two-way street and it’s about time boards started getting tougher with woke warriors hijacking AGMs.
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