4 questions lodged at 2026 Telstra (TLS) hybrid AGM
October 14, 2026
Below is the text of the 4 written questions submitted at the 123 minute Telstra (TLS) 9.30am hybrid AGM in Sydney and via the MUFG platform on October 13, 2026. The MUFG link was hard to find and dead in this notice of meeting. Voted against all 6 resolutions besides re-election of Ming Long. See 7 questions asked at 2024 AGM, plus this cracking account of the remarkable 2009 Telstra AGM. Missed last year. The proxies were not disclosed early in the 2026 formal addresses. The biggest protest was 11.5% against the re-election of Maxine Brenner. There was some press coverage generated by Q2.
Q1. Foxtel was sold to DAZN in December 2024 for what at the time was claimed to be a $3.4 billion enterprise value. The sale settled in April 2025 when we received $128m in cash as repayment of a shareholder loan and a 3% equity stake in DAZN. Do we still own those shares, have they paid a dividend since we received them and what is the plan in terms of actually realising some cash value from our former stake in Foxtel, as opposed to owning 3% of an opaque unlisted company controlled by a Ukrainian-American billionaire. What is the current book value of that investment?
Answer: Chair Craig Dunn said the carrying valued was reviewed each 6 months and they had not sold any of the DAZN shares. He declined to answer the bit about whether Telstra has received any dividends so far. Suspect history will show this was an embarrassing exit which valued Foxtel at nothing like the claimed $3.4 billion enterprise value at the time. Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
Q2. Shares in the 3 main mobile providers in the US plunged on Friday after SpaceX spent $US8 billion buying more spectrum in what was perceived to be preparation for a Starlink move into the US mobiles market. Please summarise the nature of our current arrangement with Starlink and whether it precludes the company from directly entering the mobiles market in Australia's major cities. Are there any major structural differences in the US and Australian markets which are worth pointing out and do you believe Starlink plans to move into the US mobiles market?
Answer: Surprised that Telstra chair Craig Dunn (an AMP finance guy, not a tech/engineering whiz) didn't give CEO Vicky Brady a chance to respond on this one. He said they're watching developments with interest, the US and Australian markets are very different, the Starlink partnership is important and commercially sensitive and, at this point, they see it as complementary rather than a threat. Watch video of exchange via Twitter, plus these final comments (Elon's Twitter only accommodates 140 second videos) by chair Dunn.
Q3. I asked Telstra to move to annual director elections at the 2024 AGM and chair Craig Dunn said you would look at it. Did you have a formal board discussion on this issue, supported by a paper from management? If the likes of BHP, News Corp, Rio Tinto and Treasury Wine Estates all have annual director election, why don't we adopt this best practice which is now mandatory in both the UK and the US? For your average director, what is wrong with receiving a 90%-plus mandate from shareholders every year rather than every third year? What do the 3 directors up for election today think of annual director elections?
Answer: chair Craig Dunn said he did discuss the suggestion with his colleagues but dismissed the request and made it sound like directors are at risk of being voted out. They get an average 96% and annual elections would have no impact whatsoever in terms of short termism. Such a garbage argument. Watch video of exchange via Twitter. Also, see this stump speech from Holly Kramer at her first Telstra AGM as a director after serving for 9 years as an executive until 2009.
Q4. At the 2024 AGM, I asked CEO Vicky Brady to summarise her past LTI grants as to whether they have vested or lapsed since she joined Telstra in 2016. The chair monopolised the response, so let's try again with the CEO speaking for herself this time. Could Vicky please summarise her share ownership history at Telstra, including LTI vesting and on-market trades. Please don't say look it up in the annual report and through ASX announcements. It's complicated and the CEO could factually summarise the situation in 60 seconds.
Answer: Telstra chair Craig Dunn offered a private letter from him spelling out Vicky Brady's LTI vesting and share trading history. Let the lady speak for herself, for goodness sake. He's now done this twice in 3 years. Dozens of other CEOs have competently handled this question over the years and this is the first time the same CEO has been twice blocked from responding. What's the problem? Watch video of exchange via Twitter.
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