5 questions lodged at 2025 REA hybrid AGM

Q1. Under Australian law, it is illegal to access a public company share register in order to report on someone's wealth, yet when it comes to the $10 trillion of wealth tied up in Australian residential property, REA has access to extraordinary data & monetises this to great effect. Could CEO Owen Wilson explain who we pay for access to that data and whether he thinks there is a risk we could lose access to some of that data if politicians adopt a privacy position similar to what applies to public company share registers?

Answer: The CEO Owen Wilson did acknowledge they have extraordinary data access and reeled off plenty of statistics. He said they do pay for some of it, Australians love it but they also comply with all privacy obligations. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q2. As the senior News Corp executive in Australia, could Michael Miller comment on how he responds when some of the journalists at Sky News, such as Andrew Bolt, run highly charged political campaigns calling for less immigration into Australia when he knows that strong immigration has been a bonanza for REA, driving up both property values & residential transactions. Why doesn't News Corp use its power to have a consistent pro-immigration position, particularly given that its stake in REA is now worth more than $20b?

Answer: Not asked. Watch how they censored it via Twitter.

Q3. Why is Kelly running again for our board when she has just been appointed CEO of 185-year-old mutual Australian Unity and has joined the board of the $10 billion fintech Airwallex? Surely, this is all too much. Also, did she consider the optics of co-operating with a positive profile interview in The Australian newspaper yesterday when she is meant to be an independent REA director, not someone relying on our controlling shareholder's media empire for reputation management after the various Optus controversies?

Answer: The chair Hamish McLennan blocked Kelly from responding and just offered up some general corporate speak in support without addressing any of the specifics, such as the workload issue. The AFR's Rear Window column fired up on this issue. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q4. Thank you for offering online access at this AGM, but it would be better if this was a hybrid so that shareholders could attend physically. Could Richard comment on why REA has moved away from hybrids in recent years and why, as chair of Sydney-based Appen Group, has banned online participation at the most recent AGMS. Surely we can all agree that best practice hybrid AGMs are the way to go. It is disappointing that REA is the most valuable ASX listed company which bans online access to AGMs. Will Richard push to change this?

Answer: This question wrangler Erin erroneously claimed there were no questions on this resolution but then grouped 3 questions at the end criticising the virtual AGM format, which the chair defended citing cost and poor attendance rates in the past . Watch video of that exercise via Twitter.

Q5. Which of the 5 main proxy advisers - ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS and ASA - covered us this year and did any recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions, including this LTI grant to the new CEO. Did a proxy adviser trigger the 7% protest vote against Kelly's re-election?

Answer: The chair sternly declared that all dealing with proxy advisers are private. The ASA published their voting intentions on their website, for goodness sake. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Copyright © 2025 The Mayne Report. All rights reserved

• share
  Share
  • 
    Facebook
  • 
    Twitter
  • email
    Email
  • print
    Print
  • link
    Copy Link
  • cancel
    Cancel