8 questions lodged at 2025 Servcorp hybrid AGM

Q1. I asked a question at the 2022 AGM about Servcorp's history of making big political donations to the Coalition and the CEO said it was fine to use shareholder funds to support one side of politics over the other but that he also matched Servcorp's donations privately. How much shareholder money have we gifted to political parties over the past 3 years and what is the future chair Tony McGrath's view on this issue?

Answer: The company secretary question wrangler Greg Pearce never read this out.

Q2. Is this Mark Vaile's last AGM as chair or is there a chance he'll chair next year's AGM and then hand over to his successor Tony McGrath at the end of that meeting. How was chair succession handled? Did a recruitment firm assist with the process and did we also look outside or was it handled internally like many good chair succession processes?

Answer: Mark Vaile said he would probably chair next year's AGM as that was the process when he succeeded Bruce Corlett as chair back in the day. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q3. The CEO is older than Joe Biden but is showing no signs of slowing down. The chair has announced his retirement today but the CEO just keeps trucking on. Does Alf recall the year that he was last elected to the board and could he commit to stand for election at next year's AGM, if only to effectively take a poll as to whether the minority shareholders continue to support him serving as the only executive director of our company? Does Alf aspire to still be serving as CEO into his 90s, if his health holds up? The performance is fantastic so in no way am I suggesting that he is not doing a great job.

Answer: The company secretary question wrangler Greg Pearce reduced this to "there's a question about the CEO's longevity". The 80 something Servcorp founder Alf Moufarrige then riffed about never retiring. Based on the sledge he made about long term commercial disputes with landlords QIC and GPT earlier in the meeting, he knows how to hold a grudge. With a circa $500m pile, he should chill a bit. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q4. How many full time equivalent staff do we currently have and is this likely to fall over the coming 12 months with the rapid roll out of AI? Which parts of our business and operations are the most prospective for AI productivity gains and how energetically are we embracing those opportunities?

Answer: This was the only question which company secretary question wrangler Greg Pearce managed to read in full. Grumpy old CEO Rich Lister founder Alf Moufarrige AO then declared “that's a pretty boring question", before going on to make a few interesting comments. He certainly didn't get gonged for good manners. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus this second installment where he took a crack at his under pressure design & construct team for failing to embrace available AI productivity opportunities. You don't bag your own people, pal!.

Q5. Thank you to Mark Vaile for his leadership of our company. It is always helpful for investors to have access to some exit perspectives from retiring independent directors, especially chairs. In his final contribution as our chair at an AGM, could Mark please comment on what he regards as the best 3 decisions made during his time on the board?

Answer: The company secretary question wrangler Greg Pearce never read this out.

Q6. Why does Alf need options when he owns a controlling stake in the company? Isn't this just too much?

Answer: The company secretary question wrangler Greg Pearce never read this out, partly because chair Mark Vaile AO never asked him if there were any online questions after calling for questions in the room. There was an 18% protest vote against the options grant. Given's Alf's 55% stake is worth about $400m, surely he doesn't need any more. The question on this resolution was censored. Watch how the censorship unfolded in this video via Twitter.

Q7. When is Wallis planning to retire. Also, why not make Alf the one director up for election next year? When was he last elected?

Answer: The company secretary question wrangler Greg Pearce never read this out, partly because chair Mark Vaile AO never asked him if there were any online questions after calling for questions in the room. Watch how the censorship unfolded in this video via Twitter.

Q8. Rem report question Which proxy advisers covered us this year and did any recommend against the rem report or any other item today?

Answer: The company secretary question wrangler Greg Pearce never read this out, partly because chair Mark Vaile AO never asked him if there were any online questions after calling for questions in the room. Watch how the censorship unfolded in this video via Twitter.

Finally, I had this online exchange with the question wrangler after he incorrectly told the meeting I'd had two questions read out when it was one and also objected to his comment "it's in the annual report" as if to say the AI questions was a silly question and I should have done some basic homework.


SM: "You've read out 1 of mine not 2. Just read the other 3 in full without making any sarcastic comments about information being in the annual report. Chair succession is important, the CEO's age is important and political donations are important. Read them out."


Writing as "Moderator" on the Computershare system, he replied as follows: "It was not sarcasm. I apologize if you thought that. I did not have the number to hand and was trying to assist."


Sadly, the question censorship only got worse after this although the question wrangler was in a difficult position because the Rich Lister founder/CEO was sounding off about having put up with enough questions and chair Mark Vaille departed from the script and stopped asking for online questions after he called for in person questions when dealing with each resolution.

Copyright © 2025 The Mayne Report. All rights reserved

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