4 questions lodged at 2025 G8 Education hybrid AGM

Q1. ABC investigative reporter Adele Ferguson has been ripping into our industry repeatedly in recent months on major national programs such as 7.30 and 4 Corners. Have any senior G8 personnel engaged with Adele during this process and could the CEO and chair comment on what they thought about the stories she put to air? How important have industry associations been in handling and responding to these stories and the issues that were raised?

Answer: The chair and CEO both engaged on this one. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these additional comments.

Q2. Could new director Stephen Heath and the chair comment on the recruitment process that led to Stephen's appointment to the board last June. Which head hunter assisted with the process, did the full board interview Stephen as a group and did they interview any other candidates? Did Stephen know any of our directors before engaging with the recruitment process? Also, we've already got multiple retail experts on the board. Could Stephen comment on the aspects of retail which are relevant to child care.

Answer: The chair conceded to having worked with Stephen in the past so she stepped aside from the process, so another director was invited to summarise the process. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these additional comments from another director due to the chair's lack of independence. Stephen himself gave some interesting comments at the end.

Q3. Why are Australian boards so afraid of listening to the opinions of shareholders by way of non-binding shareholder resolutions? These are standard practice in the US yet dozens of ASX listed companies have now recommended against these amendments, including G8 Education at this meeting. Did you give any consideration to actually embracing and endorsing this amendment? What is the downside of giving shareholders a voice?

Answer: The chair Debra Singh said they simply followed governance advice. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q4. This AGM was our first experience of a contingent shareholder resolution process. What was the experience like? Which of the proxy advisers recommended a vote in favour of the shareholder resolution and do we know which of our major shareholders delivered the surprisingly high 28% support on the proxies? Also, thank you for disclosing the proxies early with the formal addresses and for including the headcount data showing 137 shareholders voted in favour and 159 voted against, following the board's recommendation. Given we have 14,252 shareholders, does the chair agree that was a very low level of turnout?

Answer: The chair simply said it was a good comprehensive process and the company secretary provided most of the answers. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these additional comments by the chair.

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