Qantas AGM: Money airline spent supporting the Yes side in Voice referendum is revealed as radical plan to dump some of its directors fails at fiery annual general meeting

An attempt to dump four Qantas directors who were up for re-election has failed overwhelmingly at the airline’s annual general meeting, as the hefty amount of money the airline spent on the Yes campaign is revealed.

In the run-up to last month’s failed Voice to Parliament referendum, Qantas spent $370,000 in support of the Yes campaign.

The money went to campaign insignia on three planes and flights for officials involved.

At Friday’s meeting, shareholders questioned the company’s decision to continue supporting the campaign even after polls showed it was unlikely to succeed. Courier mail reported.

“We knew there would be differing opinions, but we felt it was important to endorse the yes campaign,” Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said.

Goyder added that the decision was in line with previous commitments the company had made in the areas of constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples and reconciliation.

His comments came at one of the most anticipated AGMs of the year, with Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson and Mr Goyder facing intense backlash from investors over a series of controversies that have tarnished the airline’s reputation.

Despite protests from some shareholders, board members Todd Sampson, Belinda Hutchinson, Heather Smith and Doug Parker were all re-elected.

Ahead of the meeting, major shareholders and all proxy advisors expressed their opposition to the airline’s remuneration report, which awards former Qantas boss Alan Joyce a final pay package of $21.4 million.

“The board must be held accountable for its actions and the issues that happened under its watch,” Australian Shareholders Association chief executive Rachel Waterhouse said ahead of the meeting.

Ms Waterhouse has instructed shareholders to vote against Ms Hudson’s eligibility for Qantas’ long-term bonuses.

The head of the ASA has also recommended that Ms Hudson should not become a director of Qantas’ board, an effort that overwhelmingly failed after Ms Hudson won the support of 99.2 per cent of proxy voters. She will never be re-elected during her tenure as CEO of the Qantas Group.

Chairman Richard Goyder has already announced that he will leave the controversial airline in the next twelve months, together with board members Jaqueline Hey and Maxine Brenner. Non-executive director Michael L’Estrange will retire at Friday’s meeting.

Mr Goyder acknowledges ‘things we did wrong’

Kicking off the annual general meeting, Mr Goyder acknowledged that the national carrier had failed to meet customer expectations.

“It is clear that there has been a substantial loss of confidence in the national carrier, and we understand why. There are things we did wrong. Things we should have handled better. Things we should have solved faster. And for all these things we apologize,” he said.

Ahead of an expected backlash from investors on the airline’s remuneration report, Mr Goyder said he had spoken to several shareholders.

“It is clear that there will be an overwhelming vote against our remuneration report, which is almost a complete reversal from the support of over 90 percent in recent years,” Goyder said.

“Please know this: we hear the message this strong sentiment sends, especially in response to broader frustration over past events, and it fuels our efforts to rebuild your trust.”

Don’t sell ghost flights ‘for commercial gain’

Responding to the ACCC’s investigation into allegations that Qantas sold tickets for flights that had already been cancelled, Mr Goyder said the airline’s restart from the pandemic had proven more challenging than expected.

“Fundamentally, staffing and supply chain issues in the first half of 2022, compounded by the impact of Omicron, meant that we simply did not have the resources we thought we would need to execute our schedule,” he said.

Mr Goyder said the airline had made major cuts to flights to stabilize operations and this resulted in thousands of flight cancellations.

‘We recognize that there has been some delay in communicating with our customers. This was not done for commercial gain, but to give us time to find alternative flights for our passengers, whether on Qantas or other airlines,” he said.

In its defense filed earlier this week, Qantas said its customers were purchasing a “bundle of rights” rather than a specific flight when they booked travel.

Still $520 million in outstanding flight credits

There is still $520 million worth of pandemic-era flight credits that Qantas has yet to return to travelers, Ms Hudson has revealed.

‘The balance sheet is declining. So in August it was $750 million… it’s (now) $520 million,” Ms Hudson said.

“As a leadership team, we are focused on ensuring that all credits are redeemed or refunded to customers.

Ms Hudson said redeeming the flight credits was an “ongoing effort” and that Qantas had increased staffing levels in its call centers to speed up refunds.

Customers with Qantas flight credits can claim a cash refund at any time after the airline scrapped the August expiry date.

‘Shame on you’: Goyder was laughed at

Responding to fervent questions about the permission granted to Joyce to sell about 80 percent of his shares during a competition watchdog investigation, Mr Goyder switched off the microphone.

Mr Goyder’s intervention was subsequently met with cheers by shareholders in the audience, who shouted ‘shame on you’.

“I have absolutely no concerns about the ethics of the people here,” Mr Goyder said, claiming Mr Joyce’s share sale met Qantas disclosure requirements.

On July 23, Mr. Joyce was authorized to sell the vast majority of his shares in the airline for $6.34 per share. Since then, the share price has fallen by 22 percent.

The Qantas scandals are piling up

Public anger against the national carrier came to a head in August when Qantas announced bumper pre-tax profits of $2.47 billion as it slashed costs and struggled to provide adequate customer service.

A class action lawsuit over pandemic-era refunds, an ACCC investigation into the sale of canceled ‘ghost flight’ fares and a refusal to refund $2.5 billion in government subsidies added to the airline’s troubles.

A separate Supreme Court ruling in September upheld a Federal Court ruling that found the airline had illegally dismissed 1,700 employees during the Covid-19 pandemic. The retrenched workforce is expected to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation.

The airline’s role in lobbying the federal government against a request by Qatar Airways to increase the number of flights to east coast capitals has also come under intense criticism.