3 questions lodged at 2024 Rio Tinto AGM
May 19, 2024
Here is the text of the 3 written questions lodged at the 2024 Rio Tinto AGM hybrid AGM held in Brisbane on May 2, only 2 of which were asked before the meeting was prematurely closed after just 2 hours and 25 minutes. Biggest protest 20.4% against buyback followed by 4.14% against chair Dominic Barton. Watch webcast and read transcript.
Q1. Are we thinking of making a rival bid for Anglo American and do we have any joint venture or joint ownership arrangements with either party which could be influenced if this hostile BHP takeover deal was to proceed?
Answer: chair Dominic Barton refused to engage, even on the broader component. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. We had a win in Australia's Federal Court in February after Rusal and its oligarch controlling shareholders sued us for locking them out of the economic benefits of their 20% stake in the Gladstone bauxite refinery here in Queensland as part of the global sanctions regime against Russia following the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Are we ring-fencing the revenues if there is a settlement and peace agreement down the track and was this skirmish the biggest impact from the global Russian sanctions regime or have other assets and commercial dealings been impacted more significantly in other jurisdictions. Are we in a position to buy Rusal's 20% stake in the current environment or are we unable to pay them money for anything?
Answer: not asked by company secretary Tim Paine, despite being lodged second.
Q3. Why don't we just make a generous mop-up bid for ERA and be done will all this wrangling with independent directors and 10,000 minority shareholders who collectively own a farcical 22.146 billion shares, along with Rio Tinto? And if insisting on keeping ERA as a public company, why don't we give shareholders an opportunity to participate in the AGM online, rather than forcing us to fly to Darwin each year if we wish to ask live questions? If hybrid AGMs are good enough for Rio Tinto, why not ERA as well? It's part of being a good transparent and accessible corporate citizen.
Answer: The hybrid AGM component was ignored and the CEO just stressed that he wouldn't pay money for something that was worthless. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
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