Australian Shareholders' Association to vote against resolutions in Qantas AGM

(Reuters) -The Australian Shareholders' Association will vote against a bunch of resolutions, including the nomination of Qantas Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson as a director of the airline and its remuneration report, it said on Thursday.

The century-old airline will hold its annual general meeting on Nov. 3.

The carrier is dealing with multiple legal and regulatory actions, which led to the resignation of Joyce and chairman Richard Goyder.

"We know this AGM will be an important opportunity for shareholders to express their disappointment and frustration with past events," Qantas said in an emailed response.

Hudson, who used to be the chief financial officer at the national carrier, was appointed as its first-ever female CEO in May this year, taking over from Alan Joyce.

"Given Vanessa Hudson has been a member of the executive while the issues... have been allowed to occur, we think this resolution should be voted against until she has proven herself in the role," the shareholders' association said.

The association also expressed concerns over the airlines' remuneration report, saying the deferral of the Long-Term Incentive Plan over several years has resulted in Joyce getting a significant payout.

Qantas said in September that it would pay Joyce a remuneration of A$21.4 million ($13.48 million) for fiscal 2023, a near 10-fold jump from last year.

"Action has been taken on executive remuneration and remains a focus for the Board," the company said, while adding that it is in a fundamentally strong position to fix service issues and restore trust more broadly.

Shares of the national carrier are down around 21% on a year-to-date basis. It fell about 2.5% on Thursday.

($1 = 1.5873 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sohini Goswami)