6 questions lodged at 2026 NZ Me (NZM) hybrid AGM

Q1. Could former Nationals Cabinet Minister and our new chair Steven Joyce please outline whether his attitude to editorial independence has changed at all during his first year as chair of the NZ Me board? I'm in Australia and don't follow the play closely but it appears his last New Zealand Herald column was published on May 17 last year. If he has ditched the column, has he also ditched his National Party membership given the importance of media neutrality and perceptions around political independence? Also, how often does he talk to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and do these discussions include editorial coverage at NZ Me?

Answer: This one was asked last and again feature dreadful question censorship, excluding the italicised component. Watch video of exchange via Twitter. Also, watch video of similar exchange last year via Twitter, plus the Joyce campaign speech at the 2025 AGM when he first joined the board.

Q2. I've attended more than 40 AGMs of New Zealand domiciled but ASX listed companies over the last 3 years, usually asking them to commit to ASX-style remuneration report voting. Fletcher Building is the only company which has moved, following Xero which has always offered rem voting. I'm fed up and have decided to run for the board companies which refuse to offer remuneration voting. Vista Group was the first but they've fully censored the platform, not informing shareholders about the remuneration report issue. If I run for the NZ Me board at next year's AGM, will you undertake to resist censoring the remuneration report platform?

Answer: This one was also badly butchered by the question wrangler such that it made no sense but at least the chair said they were looking at the issue and may crank up remuneration disclosure next year. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Q3. Could our two new directors up for election today, Kate Parsons and Bowen Pan, along with the chair, comment on the recruitment process that led to their appointment to the board. Was a head hunter involved, did the full board interview any other candidates and did the new directors know any of our existing directors before engaging with the recruitment process? Also, do either Kate or Bowen have any political history with the National Party, like the chair?

Answer: Was puzzled why the NZ Me question wrangler felt the need to blatantly censor this opening question by stripping out the italicised bit asking which existing directors the two new directors knew before joining the board. Suspect this means there was no head hunter and there were existing connections to the board. Both new directors have no current or historic political affiliations. Watch video of Bowen's response via Twitter.

Q4. Could our two new directors up for election today, Kate Parsons and Bowen Pan, along with the chair, comment on the recruitment process that led to their appointment to the board. Was a head hunter involved, did the full board interview any other candidates and did the new directors know any of our existing directors before engaging with the recruitment process? Also, do either Kate or Bowen have any political history with the National Party, like the chair?

Answer: Was puzzled why the NZ Me question wrangler felt the need to blatantly censor this opening question by stripping out the italicised bit asking which existing directors the two new directors knew before joining the board. Suspect this means there was no head hunter and there were existing connections to the board. Watch video of Kate's response via Twitter.

Q5. Could external board candidate Benedict Ong comment on whether he feels the board ran a fair election? Was his platform censored in any way and did the board provide affordable access to the share register for the benefit of proxy soliciting? Does he agree that it would be better if contested board elections at public companies were overseen by the independent NZ Electoral Commission, given the obvious conflict of interest of incumbent directors running an election when their jobs are under threat?

Answer: The chair Steve Joyce was keen for Benedict to say the process was fair and he had no complaints. Watch video of exchange via Twitter. Benedict's 5 minute campaign speech was also quite interesting. See the opening two minutes, the second two minutes and this conclusion when he got the wind up from chair Steven Joyce.

Q6. Thank you to Carol Campbell for her 10 years of service on the board. It is always helpful for investors to have access to some exit perspectives from retiring independent directors. In her final contribution as a NZ Me director, could Carol please comment on what she regards as the best 2 decisions NZ Me made during her time on the board and does she have any regrets?

Answer: Not the best exit reflections speech. Given the massive changes in media, “watching the execs grow” is not particularly insightful. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.

Copyright © 2026 The Mayne Report. All rights reserved

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