Northern Star boss queries ASX corporate governance guidelines

Northern Star boss Bill Beament has questioned the merits of the ASX’s corporate governance recommendations.

Former Atlas Iron boss David Flanagan has joined the Northern Star Resources board as a non-executive director.

Northern Star Resources boss Bill Beament has questioned the merits of the Australian Stock Exchange’s corporate governance recommendations after he became the latest gold leader to take an executive chairman post.

Mr Beament’s move to the newly created role was part of a broader board makeover at Northern Star, with David Flanagan joining as a non-executive director in his first corporate role since stepping down as the head of Atlas Iron.

The ASX’s corporate governance recommendations spell out that the chairman of a listed company should be an independent director, noting that “good governance demands an appropriate separation between those charged with managing a listed entity and those responsible for overseeing its managers”.

But Mr Beament said Northern Star’s track record over the past six years, which have seen it climb from just 1c a share to more than $4 a share to propel it into the ASX 100 index, was more important than its compliance with governance guidelines.

“If some people prefer to focus on ticking boxes rather than maximising returns for shareholders, that’s up to them,” he said. “But we will continue to put shareholder returns ahead of box-ticking.”

Executive chairmen have become increasingly common in the boardrooms of Australia’s resurgent gold industry. Evolution Mining (Jake Klein), Regis Resources (Mark Clark) and Dacian Gold (Rohan Williams) are all under the leadership of executive chairmen and have been among the most successful mining stocks of recent years.

The changes at Northern Star will see chief operating officer Stuart Tonkin promoted to chief executive officer, while former Verve Energy managing director Shirley In’t Veld will join Mr Flanagan as a non-executive director. The number of directors will increase from four to six.

Mr Beament, who was a student at the Western Australian School of Mines in Kalgoorlie with Mr Flanagan, said he had been courting the former Atlas Iron chief for a long time.

“He’s got every opportunity presented to him around the industry as soon as people found out he was moving on and I’m very grateful that he’s chosen us as the first cab off the rank,” Mr Beament said.

Mr Flanagan resigned from Atlas last month after a turbulent few years, during which time the company was repeatedly on the brink of collapse.