4 questions asked at 2024 Sky City hybrid AGM

General business

Q1. Will the chair commit to having a formal board discussion about putting up the Sky City remuneration report for a non-binding advisory vote at next year's AGM, complying with the legal system in Australia. Seeing as we operate the Adelaide casino, shouldn't we embrace Australian Governance standards? If not, don't we risk New Zealand being viewed by international investors as a governance backwater given that remuneration report voting has become standard in many countries.

Answer: The chair Julian Cook committed to having a board discussion, not actually doing it. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q2. Why did we roll over to Austrac and settle for $67m? Surely a judge would have imposed fines much lower than that enormous sum. Can you point to any contested Australian court judgment secured by Austrac that support your decision to give away so much of our money just to avoid potential embarrassment and distraction? Could David Attenborough also comment on this issue given that Tabcorp settled with Austrac for $45m in 2017 when he was CEO, but this related to far more than just a single Adelaide gaming venue.

Answer: The chair confirmed no-one has ever taken on AUSTRAC but many have settled before and Sky's Adelaide Casino did the wrong thing. Watch video of exchange via Twitter plus these additional comments by David Attenborough.

Chad Barton election resolution

Q3. Given that Chad Barton was CFO of Star Entertainment for five years from 2016 until 2021, what assessment did the board make about his involvement in the issues which led to a regulatory world of pain at Star over the past 3 years? Could Chad also comment on whether he believes Star's regulators of its 3 casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast have over-reacted? Also, could Chad please comment on whether he thinks it is fair that our Adelaide casino is being forced to go cashless when the same rules won't apply to poker machines in nearby Adelaide hotels. Shouldn't the same rules apply to all operators and why aren't any of the Australian casino operators making this case publicly. Are we too scared to take on the powerful Australian pubs and clubs?

Answer: The chair Julian Cook said Chad was never implicated or called to give evidence at any of the Star inquiries and had a "very clean bill of health". Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these additional comments by Chad Barton.

Julian Crook election resolution

Q4. Given that we have former Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough and former Star Entertainment CFO Chad Barton on the board, could chair Julian Cook comment on the likelihood of consolidation in the Australasian gaming sector. Wouldn't it make sense to achieve scale through a merger with either Tabcorp or Star and are there any regulatory issues that would prevent an ASX-based gambling company from buying Sky City? Could Julian also please lay out his personal experience when it comes to executing M&A transactions.

Answer: Chair Julian Cook claimed to have lots of M&A experience from his investment banking days - watch video of exchange via Twitter.

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