5 questions lodged at 2025 Star Entertainment hybrid AGM

Q1. What did CEO Steve McCann think about James Packer's recent public comments about casino regulation in Australia? Does he agree that it is completely unfair for clubs and pubs to be exempt from moving to cashless poker machines when this regime is being rolled out at casinos across Australia by different state government regulators?

Answer: The chair Anne Ward and CEO Steve McCann had just dealt with a similar ASA question on the unlevel playing field, so when offered a chance to respond, Steve McCann politely declined to comment on the James Packer observations. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q2. Thank you to Anne Ward for her service to this board. It is always helpful for investors to have access to some exit perspectives from retiring independent directors, especially chairs. Could Anne please comment on what she regards as the best 2 decisions made during her time on the board and, if she had her time again, what would she do differently?

Answer: The chair Anne Ward said hiring CEO Steve McCann was her best decision but provided no additional insight besides observing that she'd do plenty of things differently and had learnt a lot. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q3. Could Bruce Mathieson junior comment on who will be the new chair of the board once Anne Ward retires as a director in the coming days. Who are the main players at Ballys that he and his family are dealing with ahead of sharing control of this public company and how are they proposing to deal with minority retail shareholders once they have board control? For instance, will they launch an offer to mop up holders of unmarketable parcels?

Answer: The chair Anne Ward is exiting as Star chair next week so puzzled why she was running a protection racket for incoming kingmaker Bruce Mathieson junior like she did in this response. Her excessive protection was noted in this AFR AGM coverage. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q4. Could Bruce Mathieson junior clarify just how much his family has invested into Star Entertainment so far & how far they are under water with the stock at 10.5c today? Are they here for the long term? Also, how will he manage the conflict of interest of also being the biggest shareholder in Endeavour Group, the largest hotel poker machine operator in Australia, with his investment in Star? Given the debate about cashless pokies, will Bruce attempt to stop Star from campaigning for hotels to suffer under the same rules we face?

Answer: After long-winded chair Anne Ward eventually invited Bruce to respond, he declined to say how much his family had lost in Star and also ducked the regulatory conflict question. This piece in the Nine newspapers noted how "the question was cut off at the pass by Ward". Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q5. Now that we are out of the ASX300, are any of the proxy advisers still covering us? If so, are you aware if any recommended against this rem report item and the reasons cited if they did? Has there been a material proxy protest vote? Please don't repeat what you said last year about proxy adviser recommendations being confidential. It is standard for chairs to summarise the issues & recommendations. It is also becoming standard for the proxy votes to be disclosed with the formal addresses, but you haven't done this either?

Answer: The chair Anne Ward was pleased to reveal that there was 95% in favour of Star's rem report, but she remains slow on the uptake, especially with voting transparency. Only Glass Lewis requires payment to read a proxy adviser report, but she professed not to know because Star doesn't subscribe to any of these services. She didn't appear to know if any produced a report. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

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