Hardie links haunt director
January 18, 2008
This article appeared in The Gold Coast Bulletin on May 19, 2006 after AMP AGM.
AMP director Meredith Hellicar has received a backlash from shareholders of the financial services company over her role as chairman of building products maker James Hardie.
Ms Hellicar yesterday stood for re-election on the AMP board and was criticised by shareholders about her involvement at James Hardie, which has suffered negative publicity relating to its handling of asbestos compensation in the last two years.
Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne voted against Ms Hellicar's re-election due to what he described as her `chequered' corporate history.
He also said it was `ghoulish' that she was on the board of a life insurance company, considering that the asbestos products that James Hardie used to manufacture had made several Australians ill.
Australian Shareholders Association representative Michael Perry also was critical of Ms Hellicar's time commit-ments, considering her positions on other boards, as well as roles in organisations such as the Sydney Institute.
He said it may be fine while AMP was traveling well, but `what concerns me is what happens if you hit a big bump in the road, which has happened to this company before'.
AMP chairman Peter Mason said Ms Hellicar had the unanimous and unqualified support of the board.
He noted that she had helped turn around AMP during the period around its disastrous UK losses and sub-sequent demerger.
"I think we had more than 90 meetings,'' he said.
"Meredith was shown to be available both in capability and capacity throughout that whole period.''
Ms Hellicar was re-elected to the board on proxies and a show of hands.
However, a substantial portion of shareholders at the meeting raised their hands against her re-election.
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