‘I am dealing with it’: The chairman of some of Australia’s biggest companies vows to reduce workload

Serial chairman John Mullen has given his strongest indication yet that he will step away from some of his board commitments, which proxy advisors believe could lead to him stepping down as chairman at pallet supplier Brambles.

Mullen is currently the chairman of ASX-listed companies Qantas, Treasury Wine Estates and Brambles. He also chairs PwC spin-off Scyne Advisory, the Australian National Maritime Museum, and is a director of Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation.

Qantas, Treasury Wine and Brambles chairman John Mullen has indicated he is in the process of reducing his board director commitments.Credit: Michael Quelch

At Treasury Wine’s annual general meeting on Thursday, a representative from the Australian Shareholders Association said Mullen was a capable but overloaded individual and queried whether he would commit to significantly reduce his workload.

“The simple answer is yes,” said Mullen, adding that he had made previous statements indicating as much.

“My colleagues have a responsibility to ensure that I’m doing a good job, and if I don’t then they will tell me and I won’t be chairman any more. We do have a process in place to monitor that.

“That said, I realise that my workload is too high. I acknowledge that, and I am in the process of dealing with it. But you can’t just walk out on commitments that you have just to … go off and do something else. You have to do it in a proper, professional planned way, which is what I’m doing.”

“By the time we meet next year, the issue will be resolved.”

Mullen has been a board director on Treasury Wine since May 2023 and stepped into the role of chair in October at last year’s annual general meeting to replace Paul Rayner following his retirement.

He began as chairman of Qantas in July after being appointed to replace Richard Goyder, who was heavily criticised towards the end of his seven-year tenure at Qantas for having too many other commitments.

Mullen is not expected to step away from chairing either Qantas or Treasury Wine, given how recently he commenced in those roles. He has been chair of ASX-listed pallet company Brambles since July 2020.

Shareholder advisory firm Ownership Matters founder Dean Paatsch said Mullen was a quality director and investors were taking him on his word that he would be lightening his workload.

“Even the most talented director will be challenged when any one of multiple companies hits rough water. But it’s almost impossible on a multiple chairman workload in large companies if multiple companies hit a crisis at the same time,” Paatsch told this masthead.

“It’s quite clear the Qantas opportunity came up out of cycle for him. He’s given us no reason to doubt he’s anything but a man of his word, and investors will be holding him to that,” he added. “If we get to 12 months down the track and he hasn’t done that, I’ll be very surprised.”

Rachel Waterhouse, CEO of the Australian Shareholders Association.

Australian Shareholders Association chief executive Rachel Waterhouse also described Mullen as a very capable director but believes a director can only effectively manage two chair roles at most at any given time.

“Someone should at the maximum have five director roles. But when they’re a chair, that equals two,” she said.

“Capable directors that have got a good history are wanted everywhere.”

Brambles will hold its annual general meeting next week on Thursday, October 24. The company has been contacted for comment. Last Friday, the pallet supplier appointed two new non-executive directors, Cameron McIntyre and Tony Palmer, to the business.

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