Aurizon Holdings Limited (AZJ) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tim Poole, and I am your company's Chairman. I would like to introduce Jay Travers, an Aurizon employee, who will do the acknowledgment of country.

Good afternoon. My name is Jay Travers, and I'm a descendant of the Yiman and Wadja people. On behalf of Aurizon, it is my honor to acknowledge the Jagera and the Turrbal people, who are the traditional owners and caretakers of the land on which we hold this gathering today. We pay our respects to the Jagera and Turrbal elders past and present and also wish to extend our respects to all aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that are attending today. My grandfather was a Yiman man; and his totem is the green tree frog, the [indiscernible]. The traditional lands for the Yiman are around Taroom in Central Queensland. My grandmother was a Wadja woman; and her totem is a freshwater eel [indiscernible] traditional lands for the Wadja were around Woorabinda, which is also in Central Queensland. I've lived most of my life on Darumbal country, in Rockhampton, situated on the Fitzroy River or Toonooba. I'm the very proud father of 3 boys; and I've been married to my wife, [ Taneel ], for 21 years this year. Indigenous culture has a rich tradition of passing knowledge and skills from elders to the next generation. I've been fortunate to watch and learn from elders in my family and the community. I have watched firsthand how patient they are when they are passing on their knowledge. And I've observed the high standards they set for themselves and the expectation that the next generation will follow these standards. I've witnessed their strong leadership qualities in good times and in difficult times, and it's had -- it has inspired me and challenged me to be my best. My career at Aurizon has similarly inspired and challenged me to be my best. From my entry as an electrician 24 years ago, I have learned from wonderful leaders and mentors along my career journey. With their support and mentorship, I've transitioned from an electrician to a trainee locomotive driver; and then a qualified locomotive driver; and now to my current role as a driver trainer, a role that I've enjoyed for over a decade now. The role of a driver trainer is similar to that of an elder. And I have found myself passing on my knowledge, skills and encouragement to indigenous and nonindigenous staff as they look to grow and develop both at work and within the community. I hope my actions and standards inspire and challenge the next generation to be the best they can be. In closing, I wish to thank Aurizon for providing me with wonderful opportunities; for supporting my journey; and giving me the privilege of being a teacher, a leader and an elder. Thank you for the honor of presenting the acknowledgment of country today.

Thank you, Jay. That's a terrific acknowledgment, and our meeting is so much the better for having you part of it. Thank you very much. On behalf of Aurizon's Board, I would like to welcome you to the company's 2021 Annual General Meeting. We are pleased you have taken the time to attend and thank you for your interest in Aurizon. Today's meeting is being held online via the Lumi platform. This allows shareholders, proxies and guests to attend the meeting virtually. All attendees can view a live webcast of the meeting. In addition, shareholders and proxies can ask questions and submit votes via the Lumi platform. As it is now just after 2:00 p.m. Brisbane time and the company Secretary has confirmed that a quorum is present, I declare the Annual General Meeting open. The notice of meeting was sent to all shareholders on the 10th of September 2021, and I will take the notice of meeting as read. I would now like to outline the format of the meeting. My introduction and address will be followed by an address from our Managing Director and CEO, Andrew Harding; and our CFO and Group Executive, Strategy, George Lippiatt. We will then turn to the business of the meeting, during which you will have an opportunity to ask questions relating to the business of the meeting and the company. Questions will be answered after each item of business. The company has received a number of questions from shareholders in advance of the meeting. [Operator Instructions] We have attempted to answer more frequently asked questions received in advance of the meeting in the opening remarks from Andrew, George and myself. If at the end of the meeting any shareholder feels that their questions may not have been answered, then please send your question to our investor relations team at [email protected] after the meeting. Now voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. In order to provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting. The poll will remain open until the close of the meeting. If you are eligible to vote at this meeting, a voting tab will appear in the Lumi platform. Selecting this tab will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There is no need to hit a submit or enter button, as your vote will be automatically recorded. You can change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. I now declare voting open on all items of business. The polling icon will soon appear. Please submit your votes at any time during the meeting. I'd now like to introduce your Board of Directors. Our MD and CEO, Andrew Harding, along with company Secretaries David Wenck and Naomi Wecker, Chief Financial Officer George Lippiatt and Nonexecutive Directors Sarah Ryan and Kate Vidgen, are in our Brisbane head office. I also welcome our other Board members: Marcelo Bastos, Russell Caplan, Michael Fraser, Sam Lewis and Lyell Strambi, who have all joined via -- joined the meeting via the webcast. As this meeting is being held virtually and is reliant on technology, if in the event the technology prevents me from chairing this meeting or any part of the meeting, the directors have resolved that Andrew Harding will chair the meeting. Members of the company's Executive Committee are also in attendance via the Lumi platform, including Chris Vagg, our group Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations, who will act as the moderator of shareholder questions. Shareholders should be aware that, as the moderator, Chris will identify and not read out repetitive questions or questions that are not relevant to the company or the items of business being considered at the meeting. Chris may also seek to aggregate questions based on their subject matter and, while providing as much context as is appropriate in the circumstances, may summarize lengthy questions to ensure that as many questions are able to be addressed at the meeting today as possible. Additionally, Chris will not read out questions that are defamatory or domineering. Nadia Carlin and Tim Allman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company's external auditor, are in attendance today via the Lumi platform. Either Nadia or Tim will be available to answer questions regarding the conduct of the audit of the company's financial report for the year ended 30 June 2021 and the content and preparation of the audit report. I will now turn to my meeting address. At each major reporting event for Aurizon, we begin with safety. Safety for Aurizon extends beyond operational safety, where we are committed to providing safe and reliable services for our customers. It encompasses the health and well-being of our employees in doing their jobs each day, each shift. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aurizon continues to work hard in protecting the health of employees. Health and hygiene measures are in place in Aurizon workplaces; and additional measures are implemented where required, aligned with government and expert health advice. We are encouraging employees to get fully vaccinated to protect themselves, their workmates and their families. We know this is the key pathway to safeguarding health and reducing travel restrictions and getting the economy back to full speed. We also see a crucial role for corporate Australia to support wherever possible the nation's ongoing efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. It's a collective responsibility for governments, business, communities and individuals. As an essential service, we have been able to continue to operate the freight supply chains that are vital for our communities, our farmers, manufacturers and the resources sector. This is not a responsibility we take lightly, and we have worked hard to keep our employees safe and our operations continuing for customers. On behalf of the Board, I'd like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the Aurizon teams across the country who have continued to deliver safely and reliably for customers throughout the pandemic. Their dedication has helped to keep our workplaces safe. Turning now to the financial performance of Aurizon. The Aurizon business has again proven itself resilient and performed strongly for shareholders during the 2021 financial year. We delivered earnings before interest and tax of $903 million, a solid result and at the upper end of our guidance range. And I say these in the context that only 1 in 4 ASX 200 companies provided and did not withdraw quantitative earnings guidance during the recent uncertainty. For Aurizon, committing to and delivering on guidance highlights the strength and resilience of our business with stable and consistent cash flows. This is the platform from which we can reward shareholders with strong returns. In relation to the 2021 financial year, we delivered a record total dividend of $0.288 per share franked to 70%. This represents a dividend yield of more than 7% based on the share price at the end of the financial year. Aurizon has now paid dividends based on 100% of net profit after tax for the sixth consecutive year. Over the past 6 years, we have delivered shareholder distributions, including share buybacks, of $4.3 billion. During the 2021 financial year, we made good progress on key priorities as we continued to execute on Aurizon's strategy. These included continuation of the successful execution of the Bulk business turnaround. As a reminder, just a few years ago, in the 2017 financial year, this business lost $14 million. This year, it had a positive EBIT of $112 million. Moving forward, we see multiple ways to grow the Bulk business. It now accounts for 32% of above-rail revenue, and we see that proportion increasing. We also completed the sale of the Acacia Ridge Terminal in Queensland. This finalized our staged exit from the loss-making Intermodal business. And we recognized additional revenue of $60 million relating to the payment of fees for the Wiggins Island Rail Project in Queensland. In addition, annual fees of about $11 million are payable until 2035. Another important area is the work we are doing to reduce carbon emissions. You'll recall, at last year's AGM, we released our 2020 Climate Strategy and Action Plan. Aurizon accepts the scientific consensus on climate change and supports collective efforts to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius aligned to the 2015 Paris Agreement. Aurizon's Climate Strategy and Action Plan provides a road map through to 2050 on how we will decarbonize Aurizon's operations and contribute more broadly to a low-carbon freight transport sector for Australia. As a recap: The strategy includes a long-term target of net zero operational emissions, scope 1 and scope 2, by 2050; a $50 million investment over the next decade in a Future Fleet Fund, including research and development funding for new-generation battery and green hydrogen-powered locomotives; and using more renewable energy for our electrified rail network and other rail facilities and investigating opportunities to generate carbon offsets where emissions reduction is not possible. A major focus has been early work on developing low-carbon technologies for freight locomotives that use diesel fuel, the largest single contributor to Aurizon's emissions. During the year, we established a collaborative network with industry peers, manufacturers and research organizations. We aim to fast-track development of battery systems to capture energy currently lost during braking and feed that energy back into traction systems to reduce the use of diesel fuel. This could pave the way for the ultimate replacement of diesel engines with alternative means of energy generation, leading to renewable energy battery-electric powered trains that are suitable for heavy haulage in mining, agriculture and other bulk transport markets. The fleet decarbonization program is supported by multiyear research initiatives by The University of Queensland and Central Queensland University. This research will improve our understanding of the optimal application for battery and hydrogen fuel cell technologies across rail supply chains. Ultimately, we aim to have prototypes of battery trains trialing on Australian tracks during the 2024 financial year. We hope these will be the forerunners to new renewable energy-powered locomotives that will transform freight supply chains in Australia. This past year, we've also explored opportunities to increase the renewable energy mix across our portfolio. Aurizon Network this year went to market for proposals featuring a higher renewable energy mix for the electricity that is supplied to the Central Queensland Coal Network. Our partially electrified network provides a point of difference to other coal supply chains around the world. And by greening this supply chain, our customers will benefit from reduced scope 3 emissions, assisting them to meet their climate targets. As the cost of energy is passed back to our customers through a tariff, it is important we manage this cost efficiently to ensure the sustainability of the electric traction network and continue to provide an affordable service. We've also made significant progress in our understanding of the processes to utilize land we own adjacent to our rail corridors for potential nature-based carbon-offsetting opportunities. We know a low-carbon future for the world will also see a change in the mix of commodities we deliver for our customers. The global uptake of electric vehicles, telecommunications and renewable energy infrastructure is driving unprecedented demand for Australian resources such as cobalt, copper and lithium. There is also continuing demand for Australian resources that will build fuel and feed the rapidly developing economies of our Asian neighbors, for materials such as cement and iron ore to build infrastructure, for primary produce to sustain their growing populations and for high-quality Australian coal for steel manufacture and power generation. We continue to closely monitor the markets for the key commodities we haul and to apply a range of scenarios to inform our decision-making. We recognize energy markets are changing, but our analysis demonstrates high-energy Australian thermal coal will be an important element in Asia's transition to more renewable energy sources. In our interaction with investors, this is a topic where we have much discussion and many questions, so today, we have arranged for George Lippiatt, our CFO and Group Executive, Strategy, to give an overview of Aurizon's detailed scenario planning. George will speak shortly after Andrew's address. During the year, our company Secretary, Dominic Smith, left Aurizon after more than 10 years in the role. On behalf of the Board, I would like to sincerely thank Dominic for his outstanding service and wish him well for the future. We took the opportunity as part of an organizational review to consolidate roles in this area. David Wenck, the Head of Legal and group General Counsel, also assumed the additional responsibilities of company Secretary as well as the risk and assurance function. Naomi Wecker has been appointed from within the Aurizon Legal team as an additional company Secretary to support the Aurizon Board. The Board acknowledges the tremendous work of Andrew and our leadership team in guiding Aurizon's response during the COVID-19 pandemic. And again, thanks to our teams across the country in serving customers during these difficult times. Finally, I acknowledge your continued support as shareholders. Aurizon has built solid foundations with a great team and great assets well positioned in existing and emerging markets. Our aim is to generate strong and stable returns with a business that is resilient and successful in years and decades to follow. I'll now hand over to Andrew.

Thank you, Tim. And good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'll begin my remarks today with further detail on health and safety during financial year 2021. We continue to work diligently across Aurizon to effectively manage health, hygiene and operational requirements during the pandemic. I chair Aurizon's COVID-19 crisis management team that includes key leaders and our Chief Medical Officer. This group has guided our decision-making on how we best protect employees and how we run the business based on expert advice from health and government authorities. Our employees have shown great discipline for their health and well-being during this challenging period. This has stood the business in good stead and has been key to our continued operations throughout COVID. All employees have been encouraged to get a COVID-19 vaccination to protect their well-being and the well-being of their workmates and community. Communications have been distributed across workplaces as part of an ongoing education and awareness campaign. The nature of Aurizon's business and demographics have helped limit exposure for our employees. The vast majority of our services operate wholly within the states of Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales; and do not cross interstate boundaries. More than 80% of our employees work in regional areas of Australia which, to date, generally have been less impacted by outbreaks. And almost all employees live in the local communities in which they work. This means long-distance or interstate travel for work purposes is very infrequent. No matter where you live, we do recognize the impact the pandemic can have on mental health. During the past year, Aurizon has invested more time and resources into supporting the mental health and well-being of employees. We've stepped up support beyond the comprehensive employee assistance program that we already offer free of charge to our employees. We've established a network of volunteers across the company specifically trained in mental health first aid. It is a simple and successful concept. The program involves providing volunteers at each site with the skills required to confidently support their peers in times of need. Reaching out to a work colleague can often be easier in the first instance before accessing professional services. I'm proud to say this grassroots network grew to more than 130 volunteers during the year. Turning now to operational safety performance. Our results have been mixed across the safety metrics of total recordable injury frequency rate, lost time injury frequency rate and rail process safety. The total recordable injury frequency rate has deteriorated 3% in comparison with last year's improvement of 10%. This deterioration has been the result of an increase in low-severity strain and sprain injuries. The lost time injury frequency rate has improved 8% year-on-year, which is a positive trend. Rail process safety, a measure designed by Aurizon to improve rail safety operations including derailments, signals passed at danger and rolling stock collisions, has been flat in recent years. RPS deteriorated 8% in FY 2021. This has been caused by an increase in low-severity yard derailments. During the year, we continued the safety leadership program that equips operational leaders with skills to effectively lead our safety strategy and continually improve safety in their team. We are targeting the main contributors to the total recordable injury frequency rate and the rail process safety metrics and have a specific focus on identifying and learning from events that have the potential for serious injury and fatality. The Chairman has provided an overview of our financial results. I will summarize some of the key outcomes during FY 2021 for each of the 3 business units Bulk, Coal and Network. We saw another strong performance by the Bulk business in FY 2021. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization was up 27% to $140 million compared to the previous year. This was driven by new contracts and higher volumes from existing customers, including 2 in Western Australia, namely a 3-year contract extension with South32 Worsley and supporting the expansion of Mineral Resources. More recently, we also commenced grain haulage for CBH, which represents one of the nation's largest and most valuable export supply chains, with the first Aurizon train rolling out of Geraldton in Western Australia late last month. As you're aware, we have aspirations for Bulk to double its earnings over the next decade; and grow in existing markets such as resources and agriculture; tap into expanding markets for batteries, telecommunications and electric vehicles; and extend across the supply chain into Aurizon Port Services. In our Coal business, the economic impact of COVID-19 and China import restrictions saw above-rail coal tonnages decrease by 6% in FY 2021. As a result, EBITDA was down 13% to $533 million compared to the previous year. We expect haulage volumes to grow by about 5% this financial year. During FY 2021, the Coal business was successful in extending its long-term contract book with a number of contract wins, including Anglo American for the Dawson, Moranbah North, Grosvenor and German Creek mines; and Glencore, as the primary hauler for the majority of its requirements in Queensland. The focus for our Coal business is for a continuous push on transformation and productivity in order to keep cash flow and earnings steady. The Network business had another solid result in FY 2021 with EBITDA of $849 million, a 6% increase on the previous year. This was despite an 8% decrease in volumes across the Central Queensland Coal Network. The lower tonnages were more than offset by the recovery of outstanding fees of $60 million for the Wiggins Island Rail Project, which we're pleased to see resolved as we continue to focus on providing a safe and efficient network for the coal industry. At a whole-of-company level, I'm pleased to say the business is tracking well in the first quarter of this financial year. We reconfirm our FY 2022 group EBITDA to be in the range of $1,425 million to $1,500 million and sustaining capital expenditure in the range of $475 million to $525 million. Before closing and handing over to George, I'd like to touch on our support for communities across the nation where Aurizon operates. We are committed to giving back to these communities, primarily in regional Australia where more than 80% of our employees live and work. One of these initiatives is the Aurizon Community Giving Fund. This year, the fund celebrates its 10th anniversary. Over that time, it has supported more than 450 charities and community organizations with individual grants of up to $20,000. In our latest round, we supported 23 projects, including in Central Queensland the Gladstone Women's Health Centre, which will use our funding towards the opening of new premises so it can expand its free counseling and community education services. In Western Australia, the Broome aboriginal corporation will use our funding to employ a community support officer to deliver their Goldfields Girl program. This program supports young indigenous women through formal and informal training opportunities to assist them to obtain meaningful employment. And in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Sunnyfield received funding to purchase equipment to deliver their Skills for Life Program to people with an intellectual disability in Maitland. The modules delivered teach participants numeracy, literacy, cooking and road safety skills. During the year, we were proud to enter a 3-year partnership with Orange Sky Australia. Orange Sky offers free laundry and shower services for people experiencing homelessness while providing a safe environment to connect with the community. As well as financial support, Aurizon's employees are volunteering individually and in teams to support Orange Sky services across Australia. In 2021, Aurizon also became the new principal partner of the Queensland Firebirds, who compete in the national Super Netball competition. Aurizon is committed to building a more inclusive, diverse team across our national operations; and having a pipeline of young women leaders to support our future success. We see great alignment with the Firebirds in their championing of success and excellence in sport, with an ever-growing participation of young women in netball. During the year, we had some changes to our senior leadership team. I would like to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of Group Executive, Technical Services and Planning, Michael Carter, who announced his retirement and left the business this month. Over a 35-year career, Mike held various leadership roles in the company as well as serving on numerous industry bodies. Not only is Mike highly regarded for his technical knowledge and experience. He has also championed diversity and inclusion at Aurizon and in the rail sector. As a result of Mike's leaving, we took the opportunity to streamline the corporate and technical services areas under one executive. We were pleased to appoint internal candidate Gareth Long as Group Executive, Corporate. My thanks go to our employees across our national footprint, who are at the heart of the continuing success of our company. They have shown dedication and discipline in carrying out their jobs during a very challenging period for the Australian community. This has been the foundation for continued safe, reliable service delivery for our customers; and in looking after the health and well-being of themselves and work colleagues. Finally, thank you to our customers; and to you, our shareholders, for your continuing support. Thank you. And I'll now hand over to George.

Thank you, Andrew. And good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. In June, we hosted an Investor Day to provide the market more detail about 2 items. Firstly, investors have been impressed by the turnaround of the Bulk business, but they were less familiar with this market, therefore wanted more detail about the growth drivers and what Aurizon's aspirations could be. Secondly, investors were interested in the long-term future of coal demand and what that might mean for our business and its longer-term cash flows. It's the second item that I want to spend some time on here today. When focusing on Australian exports and looking out 10 years, we have reasonably good insights into coal demand, whether that be thermal coal used for energy or metallurgical coal used for steel making. Beyond the next decade, demand becomes less certain, particularly for thermal coal given the increasing demand for renewable energy. Given this, we assess a range of long-term coal scenarios as part of what we refer to as our Strategy in Uncertainty framework. We've been doing this for a number of years, but what we did in June was to talk in more detail to investors about them and how they are used in a practical sense in our business today. We also modeled these same scenarios to test the resilience of our business and what our cash flows might potentially be. We assess 6 different scenarios, which you can see on the slide. And they represent a wide range, but it's important to note that these are not forecasts and we don't assign a probability to them. Nor do the outlying scenarios represent the possible best or possible worst outcomes, but we apply these scenarios in multiple ways, including the way we think about our strategy, the allocation of capital, commitment to new customer contracts and importantly about sustainability in the context of climate change risks. We model these scenarios over 20 years to 2040 because it's short enough to enable detailed assumptions to be used but long enough to align with some of our key assets such as rolling stock and the depreciation period used to calculate regulatory tariffs in our Network business. Although there is a wide range of outcomes between the scenarios, in the first 10 years, all but 1 scenario models positive growth. The second decade, however, 2030 to 2040, naturally sees greater divergence with export volumes modeling a fall in 4 of 6 scenarios over that 10-year period. There are many assumptions that underpin each scenario, including steel production and energy demand in key Asian markets. And the detailed assumptions are included in our pack uploaded to the ASX in June, and I encourage you to read them. We focus on the Asian region, as more than 90% of Australian coal exports head there, which is why this region matters more compared to Europe, for example. The sixth scenario, which models the lowest volumes and is titled rapid decarbonization, assumes no thermal coal is used globally by 2032. And it also assumes that coal-based blast furnaces only account for 40% of global steel production by 2040 compared to 73% today. This scenario features a faster closure of coal-fired generation compared with IEA's Net Zero by 2050 report released just last month. So we took these scenarios and then we modeled what this might mean for our cash flows. While in the negative scenarios revenue decreased, there are several items that offset or mitigate this reduction. To call out a few of those that are listed on this slide: Firstly, in terms of our coal haulage business, operating costs and capital expenditure reduce because, with fewer volumes, you need less fuel and maintenance costs. Secondly, in terms of our Network business, our cash flows would be protected by the regulatory framework in Network, where there are in-built revenue protection mechanisms that come into effect in lower-volume scenarios. And lastly, our Bulk business can grow because we can cascade rolling stock from Coal due to versatility in our fleet and because there are commodities we haul in Bulk that are forecast to grow faster in a carbon-constrained world. All this means that, although a scenario may indicate a volume impact, it may not result in an impact to free cash flow over the next 20 years. The outcome of the scenario work models an average annual free cash flow range of $500 million to $650 million for scenarios 2 to 6. This compares to the last 2 years of more than $700 million of free cash flow; or around $600 million in FY '21, excluding proceeds from recent asset sales. This work was quite detailed. And we use it to make decisions that support our strategic aim of ensuring Aurizon's core business is highly efficient in a challenging market environment while enabling the continued growth of our Bulk business. With the rebalancing of our portfolio mix, Aurizon remains well positioned to support shareholder returns and reinvest in the business. The full presentation and transcript from our Investor Day in June is available on our website. And I am more than happy to take any questions as we move to Q&A.

Thanks, George, for your presentation. And also, Andrew, to you, thank you for your terrific presentation as well. Well done, guys. We now come to the formal business of the meeting. There are several procedural matters which I would like to draw to your attention. As this is a shareholders' meeting, only shareholders, their attorneys, proxies and authorized representatives are entitled to ask questions or vote at this meeting. Each item will be introduced in turn, and shareholder questions on each item of business will be answered after that item of business. As indicated in the notice of meeting and in order to ensure that the views of all shareholders are taken into account, all items of business before the meeting where a vote is required will be determined by way of a poll. All eligible shareholders and proxy holders have had the opportunity to vote in advance of the meeting and are also able to vote at the meeting today via the Lumi platform. Proxy holders should note that all directed votes received thus far have been accumulated and recorded. Proxy holders with open votes are asked to record a vote in favor of or against each item of business. Details of the proxies received by the company from shareholders will be displayed on the Lumi platform after the introduction of each item of business. Subject to the voting exclusions detailed in the notice of meeting for items 3 and 4 and the shareholder having marked the appropriate box, any open proxies will be voted in favor of each resolution. As mentioned earlier, all items of business before the meeting where a vote is required will be determined by way of a poll. In respect to conducting the poll, I appoint Lewis Brimelow of Computershare as the returning officer. The first item of business listed in the notice of meeting is to receive and consider the financial statements, directors' report and independent auditor's report of the company and its controlled entities for the financial year ended 30 June 2021. In accordance with the Corporations Act, there is no vote on this item. This item of business provides shareholders with the opportunity to ask questions about the reports and management of the company. I'll now ask Chris, our moderator, if there are any questions for me to answer on this first item of business.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We've received a number of questions in advance from the Australian Shareholders' Association, so I'll read those questions out first. "Firstly, I congratulate your Board and management for achieving such sustainability results and the dividend able to be paid to shareholders throughout this challenging business period. The first question is, although it has been in operation over the longer term, the bulk haulage segment has achieved a significant increase in profitability in the past 3 years. What has changed to bring about this result?

Thanks, Chris. And thank you to [ Shirley ] from the Australian Shareholders' Association for the questions. And also, for your interest in Aurizon, [ Shirley ], thank you. Look, in relation to the Bulk turnaround, as I alluded to and also Andrew made comment on in his presentation, the Bulk turnaround has been going now since 2017, so it's been essentially 4 years of very hard work by Clay McDonald, our Group Executive for Bulk; and Clay's team. The key reason for the turnaround, in our view, has been the vastly improved operational performance of our Bulk business. Much better operational performance allows us to transform the business and therefore manage our cost base much more effectively. Improved operational performance also allows much better outcome for customers, which over the last 4 years has allowed us to extend or re-contract many of our existing customers. And it's also allowed us to win new customers, and Andrew talked about some of those in his address a little earlier. We've been delighted with that operational performance which has led to many new contract wins. As we have talked about in these forums before, we've also extended our Bulk business across the supply chain and increased our service offer to our customers. This has involved some acquisitions, including in port operations in Townsville and at the Port of Newcastle. The final thing I would say in answer to this question is that bulk markets that we operate in are highly competitive. And the margins that we receive are tighter than in our Coal business, but we have been extremely pleased with the turnaround in that operational performance and the turnaround in the financial performance that's come from that. There's a lot of work to be done, but so far, so good. Back to you, Chris.

The second question is do you envisage further growth opportunities or possible acquisitions in the future. If so, would it be likely that part of the 100% of underlying net profit from continuing operations which is now paid as a dividend would be diverted to fund the new development?

Yes. So look. We've said on a number of occasions in these type of forums that we do have ambition to grow our business. We would like to grow our business organically, so through winning new customer contracts, as Andrew talked about earlier, but we also see potential to inorganically grow our business through acquisition opportunities. Now whether we can execute acquisition opportunities sensibly remains to be seen. There are a number of issues at play in trying to make a sensible acquisition, whether that be the timing when assets come to market, whether it be competition for those assets, whether it be regulatory issues like whether the ACCC will allow us to [ bid and own ] the types of assets that might come to market. So there are a lot of issues that come to play when you're looking at inorganic growth opportunities, but we will continue to try. And we will remain disciplined as we approach each and every one of those acquisition opportunities that we do study from time to time. In relation to dividends. As I said in my address a little earlier, for the past 6 years, we've had a dividend payout ratio -- or dividend payout range, I should say, of 70% to 100% of underlying net profit after tax. And because we have been in a position where we have had excess capital for each of those 6 years, we have paid at the top end of that dividend payout range. We are moving into the land of speculation in terms of what an acquisition, if it were to come to pass, might have on our dividend payout range, if we were to make a significant acquisition, but what you might see in the future is this move within that dividend payout ratio range. We really like the payout ratio range of 70% to 100% that we have and we know shareholders like it as well. Thanks, Chris. Back to you.

The next question is, "How important to your company's operations is cybersecurity?" What are the particular vulnerabilities from these threats or effects on maintaining a good safety record? How does the Board meet its obligations to oversee cybersecurity?

Yes. So cybersecurity is incredibly important to our operations. And the Board absolutely recognizes our need to effectively manage, as a company, our cyber risk in the context that cyber criminals are becoming more organized and sophisticated; and are regularly targeting the corporate sector, including companies like Aurizon. So we have a cybersecurity strategy and road map which we use to ensure that our data and our key operating systems are protected. This strategy and road map is reviewed. It's updated by our team and it's reviewed by the Board on a very regular basis. We also have a range of preventative controls. And we are also focusing on our response and recovery capability so that, if we do have a cyber incidence, then the impact is minimized to the extent that we can. You might also be interested that proposed changes to the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act will impose specific obligations on the freight and logistics sector. And we are working closely with all state and the federal government agencies to address cybersecurity threats in our sector. We're also working with the Department of Home Affairs and participating in the design of industry-specific rules for our freight and logistics sector. And then the final thing I may comment on is we do continue to maintain and further develop very strong ties with the Australian Cyber Security Centre and our peers in our industry. Back to you, Chris.

Fourth question is to what extent do the emerging current overseas energy shortages and higher coal prices affect the outlook for FY '22 revenue. "Apart from China, what are your main markets and long-term contracts being secured?"

Yes. So we don't directly benefit from higher coal prices. It is terrific for our coal customers. It's fantastic for them in this high price environment and it's fantastic for the broader coal industry and the supply chains, but in terms of Aurizon, we don't actually have that direct benefit. We do benefit to the extent that higher prices does stimulate higher volumes were that to happen. In terms of the main destinations for coal coming out of Australia, as both Andrew and George touched on, over 90% of Australian coal is destined for Asia. And I think, in 2021, the number for the percentage for thermal coal was in excess of 95%, so obviously almost all Australian coal into the seaborne market is now destined for Asia. And then more specifically, within Asia, in terms of the countries, the majority of that coal is heading to India, Japan, South Korea. And in terms of thermal coal, Taiwan is also a major market. Back to you, Chris.

The final question from the ASA is, "I acknowledge that you keep shareholders informed through your annual sustainability report. Can you summarize the main ways in which Aurizon will be reducing its carbon emissions over the coming decade?"

Yes. So look, we touched on or I touched on that a little bit in my address before. There are a number of ways. And historically we've been very active in trying to reduce carbon emissions in our operations. And our intensity over the last 10 years has come down 20%, so which has been a fantastic outcome. In our Climate Strategy and Action Plan, we highlighted a number of measures, including a further 10% reduction in intensity, out to 2030. We talked about the fact that we want to get more electricity into our electrified network from renewable energy sources, so that's a big focus for us going forward. We are looking to opportunities to try and generate carbon offsets, which we think is going to be an important part of that strategy going forward. Very significantly, we've announced our net zero scope 1 and scope 2 ambition by 2050, and a key feature of that is going to be the future of our locomotive fleet. And one of the key elements to our Climate Strategy and Action Plan was the commitment we made to invest $50 million in our Future Fleet Fund. We've got a very big decision to make, towards the end of this decade, about what our future fleet looks like. And as I've talked about before, we've already started work on a project to develop a battery-powered, heavy-haul locomotive. And we're also assessing the longer-term opportunities for hydrogen-powered freight operations. [ So we see it as a ] very exciting initiative, and we hope to be able to talk more in these forums about those initiatives in the future. Thanks, Chris. Back to you.

Thank you, Tim. I'll now move to some questions received online. The first one is Aurizon's sustainability report discusses 6 coal volume scenarios to 2040 but doesn't actually present any conclusions or findings as to the impact different scenarios might have on free cash flow or asset valuations. "What projections have you made for company profits and dividends under each scenario? Why isn't this critical information disclosed to shareholders? Can you explain how free cash flow and valuations would be affected under the rapid decarbonization scenario? And are the company's growth and sustaining CapEx plans aligned with the rapid decarbonization scenario?"

Thanks, Chris. Given that that was a key feature of George's presentation: George, I might hand over to you to have the first go at answering those questions.

Thanks, Chairman. There's a bit in those questions. I might answer them in 3 parts: the use of our scenarios, the impact of our scenarios on our financial metrics and then the rapid decarbonization scenario in particular. So in terms of the use of our scenarios, we don't have a base case. And we don't treat any one of our scenarios as more or less likely, and nor do we assign probabilities to them. We use the scenarios to stress test decisions, be that purchasing new locomotives or signing customer contracts. So that's how we use the scenarios. In terms of the impact of the scenarios, as the question highlights, we have put forward in our sustainability report those 6 scenarios and coal volumes to 2040 under each of them, but I would note that also at our June Investor Day, and I reiterated today, we summarized a free cash flow range that aligns with those 6 scenarios, or specifically scenarios 2 to 5. That free cash flow range is $500 million to $650 million annually as an average over the next 20 years. And importantly, there are a number of assumptions which go into that free cash flow range, which I would encourage people to read and are -- disclosed at our June Investor Day. The reason we don't also provide dividends, for example, under those scenarios is dividends are dependent on future decisions around capital reinvestment and payout decisions, which are future decisions the Aurizon Board would take on a regular basis. And we wouldn't want to preempt those decisions. If I then turn to rapid decarbonization as a scenario more specifically. That is the lowest in terms of coal volumes. And what I would say is that, that scenario broadly aligns towards the bottom end of that free cash flow range that I mentioned, but again that depends on a number of assumptions which are outlined in the materials I referred to before. And lastly, in terms of aligning CapEx decisions with a rapid decarbonization scenario: We don't align CapEx decisions with any one scenario. Instead, we use those scenarios to stress test decisions and to inform us about rates of return and payback periods that we might target. I hope I've answered the question, Chairman.

Thanks, George. Chris, back to you.

The next question is as follows. "Can the Chair provide an update on the arrangements made with Adani regarding its use of Aurizon's network to the Abbot Point coal port?" Under what conditions will Adani be able to use our company's rail line to transport Carmichael coal? Is Aurizon concerned about its brand continuing to be associated with Adani's Carmichael project?

So as I've said on a number of occasions at forums like this, what we continue to do, as we do with all of our network customers or potential network customers, is -- there's a range of legal obligations that we have under our undertakings and the regulatory rules that are in place. And we continue to apply the same rules to Adani or Bravus, as they're now known, as to any other operator. And that is our obligation and that's what we will continue to do. Chris, back to you.

The next question is, "I am wondering what works and upgrades are going to be needed on the Goonyella line to allow up to 10 million tonnes per year of additional coal from the Carmichael mine as per Adani's initial plans. What is the cost, and who is paying them?

Yes. So in terms of -- so the Adani mine actually won't be going -- the Adani trains, if they get access to the network, won't be going through the Goonyella system. They'll be going through the Newlands system to Abbot Point. Andrew, I might pass over to you to talk about whether it's likely and -- that we'll need to perform any upgrades to the Newlands line in the future.

All right. And Tim -- and again it is only the Newlands line that we are talking about. And look, fundamentally it always depends on what the customer's tonnage profile is over time. If the tonnages remain low, the upgrade requirement is trivial. If the customer decides to have a -- any customer decides to have a larger output then -- and that goes via the Newlands line, then some upgrading may be required, but unless there's a very specific profile given to us, we can't -- there's no more granular information that I can provide.

Thanks, Andrew. Chris, back to you.

The next question is would Aurizon consider a dividend reinvestment plan for smaller investors. "Please keep up the good work."

A dividend reinvestment plan is something we would certainly look at, at a time when we didn't perceive to have excess capital. At this stage and as I said earlier in relation to the dividend question, [ for the last ] 6 years, we've paid out at the top end of our payout ratio range because we have had excess capital. And so the last thing we have wanted to do is to do a dividend reinvestment process. So that -- look. That's something that we will consider from time to time if we get into a situation where we don't perceive ourselves to be in an excess capital position. So that's a future question that we'll address in the future if that time arises. Back to you, Chris.

The next question is the sustainability report mentions the IEA's Net Zero by 2050 scenario. "I note that the IEA has confirmed this scenario will form a central part of the World Energy Outlook to be released later this week." Will Aurizon be implementing this scenario in its coal volume scenarios for future analysis? Will the company ensure that future CapEx decisions are aligned with that scenario given the company's stated support for the Paris climate goals?

Yes. George, this is a -- you touched on this earlier in relation to your presentation, so do you want to just reiterate our position in relation to the IEA scenarios and our scenario planning work?

Sure, Tim, absolutely. We do look at the IEA's World Energy Outlook report as we do other third parties' such as the international panel for climate change report. One of the things people reading those reports would note is that they don't tend to provide a specific 20-year outlook for Australian exports, coal exports, that are out to 2040. And so it's not a like-for-like comparison with our scenarios, so what we do tend to do is test some of our assumptions in our scenarios against those third-party reports and their scenarios. And we then use that in our approach, which we've outlined and is really a bottom-up build starting with GDP growth and steel production in specific Asian countries. In terms of how we use those scenarios, as I said earlier, we don't try and align our CapEx decisions with any one scenario. The scenarios are an input into our capital decision-making process rather than an outcome.

Thanks, George. Chris, back to you.

The next question is, "Your share price has underperformed, falling from $6 in September 2019 to $3.80 now, while your EBITDA and revenue growth have been flat. What are you doing to improve profits and the share price for long-suffering shareholders?"

Yes. Despite what you've -- what's been highlighted in that question, which is our operational performance, our financial performance has actually been solid. Our share price hasn't reflected that. It's always slightly dangerous ground to be talking around what impacts the share price, but look, over the last 12 to 24 months, there's probably been a range of impacts, I think, that have impacted sentiment and our share price. I think the decision by China to place a ban on Australian coal has been negative for sentiment. It actually hasn't been a significant impact to our business because that coal, as we have said in our reporting, has found a way through to other markets. We certainly think that that's been negative for sentiment against our share price. In the shorter term, there have been some impacts from the pandemic in terms of some of the markets where coal particularly is destined for. There have been some impacts, which have again impacted more sentiment than actual performance, but there's no doubt that one of the other broader issues that we talk about a lot as a Board and a leadership team is around the impact of ESG on our share price. There's no doubt that some shareholders either aren't able to own our stock or choose not to own our stock because of ESG-related issues, which is a challenge when you're listed on the ASX, but one of the things that -- so let's now just talk about what we're doing about it. And firstly, the performance of the business operationally and financially, as I said and both Andrew and George touched on in their presentations, has been very strong. We're also going through a transition in our business. We want to make sure our above-rail Coal business and our below-rail Network business in Central Queensland are as strong as possible, as efficient as possible and are producing exceptional returns for a very long period of time. That's a key plank to our future and our future performance. And then we want to transition and do more in the bulk space and we've been very clear to the market about that. We want to grow our Bulk business. There are a number of commodities that we haul in that business that will benefit from the energy transition that we're going through at the moment, and we see that as an area of growth for us going forward. So we've got very clear plans about how we're addressing the transition that are going on and we're optimistic about our future. Chris, back to you.

The next question is did Aurizon get any above-rail haulage work from Bravus' Carmichael mine.

That's an easy answer: no. Next question.

Next question is what impacts will rising interest rates and inflation have on future earnings.

George, given we've got you at the table today and you're the CFO, why don't you have a first crack at answering that question?

Sure. Thanks, Chairman. Different impacts in different parts of our business, but what I would say broadly is that higher inflation should flow through and benefit our revenue line. In our Network business, there's a reset of the WACC at the end of June 2023, which will be reset for inflation in particular. So a higher inflation will flow through to a higher WACC. Also, in our above-rail coal haulage business those contracts generally have reset mechanisms which tend to be quarterly. So higher inflation leads to a higher rate per tonne and therefore higher revenue. So generally, higher inflation leads to higher revenues in our business.

Thanks, George. Chris, next question?

There are no further questions relating to this resolution at this point.

Okay, thanks, Chris. Given that we don't have any more questions, I declare that the reports have been received and considered at the meeting. And we will now move to the next item of business. So let's move on to item 2, which is in relation to the election of directors. So Sam Lewis, Marcelo Bastos and myself retire in rotation in accordance with the company's constitution and seek reelection at this year's meeting. Each reelection is an ordinary resolution and will be voted on separately. As a matter of process, I will ask each director standing for reelection to introduce themselves to the meeting. The first item is the reelection of myself, and as such, I'm going to hand the chair of the meeting over to Kate Vidgen. Kate?

Thank you, Tim. Item 2a relates to the reelection of Tim Poole. Tim was appointed as a nonexecutive director of the company on 1 July 2015 and became Chairman on 1 September 2015; and in accordance with the company's constitution, seeks reelection as a director of the company. Tim -- details of Tim's background, qualifications and experience are set out in the notice of meeting. I will now ask Tim to introduce himself and say a few words.

Thanks, Kate. Given shareholders are probably getting tired of my voice, I'll try and be brief, but look, I have a background in investing, predominantly in the infrastructure and transport sectors; and have been a director of large public or private companies for more than 20 years. I believe this experience complements the other diverse range of skills and experience we have within the Aurizon Board. Aurizon has a long history and has successfully navigated many challenges, whether it be significant weather events, competition, the regulatory environment or even the transition from a [ government-owned enterprise ] to a public company listed on the ASX. And as I've said in answer to a few questions earlier, [ we are now challenged ] by the transition to a low-carbon world. Aurizon has great people that work incredibly hard and collectively to meet these challenges. I thoroughly enjoy working with the Aurizon team, and it is for this reason that I am delighted to be standing for reelection at today's meeting and hope to receive your support. Back to you, Kate.

Thank you, Tim. The Board, with Tim abstaining, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the reelection of Tim Poole as a director of the company. The resolution before the meeting is that Mr. Tim Poole, who retires by rotation and being eligible, be reelected as a director of the company. I will now ask the moderator if there are any questions on this item of business.

There are no questions at this stage. Happy to wait a few seconds to see if any come in. No questions have come through.

Thank you. I will now put the resolution to the meeting. Displayed on the platform are details of the proxies received in relation to the reelection of Tim Poole. As this item will be determined by poll, if you have not already do so -- done so, please select the voting icon. Selecting this icon will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There is no need to hit a submit or enter button, as your vote will automatically be recorded for item 2a. I now hand the meeting back to Tim.

Thanks, Kate. Let's move on to item 2b, which is -- which relates to the reelection of Sam Lewis. Sam was appointed as a nonexecutive director of the company on the 17th of February 2015; and in accordance with the company's constitution, seeks reelection as a director of the company. Details of Sam's background, qualifications and experience are set out in the notice of meeting. I'll now ask Sam to introduce herself and to say a few words.

Thanks, Tim. And good afternoon, fellow shareholders. I've been on the Aurizon Board now for just over 6 years, and I'm very pleased to be standing for reelection again today. Over this time, I've enjoyed working collaboratively with my fellow directors and management team to best position Aurizon to succeed in the challenging environment it faces by developing and executing against a clearly articulated strategy. I'm currently a full-time nonexecutive director on a number of listed company boards. These are the board roles, coupled with my 14 years as a partner of Deloitte serving as auditor and adviser to major listed companies in the mining services, FMCG and manufacturing sectors, [ that mean I ] bring strong financial, governance, risk and M&A experience to the company's Board and in particular to my role as Chair of the Audit, Governance and Risk Management Committee. So I'd just like to thank shareholders again, for your continued support. Thank you.

Thanks, Sam. The Board, with Sam abstaining, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the reelection of Sam Lewis as a director of the company. So the resolution before the meeting is that Ms. Sam Lewis, who retires by rotation and being eligible, be reelected as a director of the company. I'll now ask Chris whether there are any questions on this item of business.

At this stage, there are no questions.

We might just give it a few more seconds, Chris.

Sure. No questions have come through.

Okay, I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. Once again displayed on the platform are the details of the proxies received in relation to the reelection of Sam Lewis. Once again as this item will be determined by poll, if you have not already done so, please select the voting icon. Selecting the icon will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. And again there is no need to hit a submit or enter button, as your vote will automatically be recorded for item 2b. Okay, so let's move on. The next item of business relates to the reelection of Marcelo Bastos. Marcelo was appointed as a nonexecutive director of the company on the 15th of November 2017; and in accordance with the company's constitution, seeks reelection as a director of the company. Details of Marcelo's background, qualifications and experience are set out in the notice of meeting. I will now ask Marcelo to introduce himself and to say a few words.

Thank you, Tim. And good afternoon to all. I'm very pleased to be here today before the shareholders after more than 3 years as a member of the Aurizon Board. It has been an incredible experience to collaborate towards the sustainability of the company. Aurizon is vital for the economic growth of Australia. I am honored to be part of this [ growth ]. The past 3 years have been dynamic and filled with challenges, which have all resulted in positive changes for the company. I can't forget to mention the pandemic, which has filled the past 18 months of our lives with unprecedented challenges for [indiscernible] and for business. Without a doubt, the reasons Aurizon has remained on track and has performed equally well has been because of all the employees, the company management and our Board. Everyone cooperated well to support the success of the company. I started my career as a mechanical engineer more than 35 years ago. I have had the opportunity to work globally with various commodities, which have collaborated towards my professional experience. I held executive positions in iron ore, gold, copper, nickel, zinc and coal. I worked as an executive director of Vale, CEO of BMA, President of Nickel Americas and Australia for BHP and COO of MMG. In these various roles, I have had responsibilities of overseeing all the aspects of the mining business, from feasibility to operations, mining to logistics and marketing. I am currently Chair of Aurizon's Safety, Health and Environment Committee and a member of Aurizon's Network group. I'm also a nonexecutive director of ASX-listed company Iluka Resources; and Anglo American plc, listed in London Stock Exchange. I want to recognize more than ever the importance of meeting shareholders' expectations of financial performance; and care for the environment, community, health and safety. I believe that I'm prepared to continue to collaborate towards the success of the company as a member of the Board. Thank you for your support.

Thank you, Marcelo. The Board, with Marcelo abstaining, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the reelection of Marcelo Bastos as a director of the company. The resolution before the meeting is that Mr. Marcelo Bastos, who retires by rotation and being eligible, be reelected as a director of the company. I'll now ask Chris if there are any questions in relation to this resolution.

We do have one question online, and it's as follows. "Mr. Bastos, given your mechanical engineering background, can you give us some background as to where the Board is in considering rolling stock powered by batteries or hydrogen?"

Well, the company has a case study that's a research program for battery and fuel cell technology to displace diesel, and we support it. So we want to -- of course, to see the results. This program is still being developed and in collaboration with The University of Queensland. And the definition of mainline rail system requirements, the identity of the battery -- identifying the battery technology system and optimal combinations, it's still ongoing, but we look to that as a very promising project.

Thanks, Marcelo. Andrew, is there anything you want to add to that in terms of some of the collaboration that we're doing with other partners and also on the university side?

Yes. Look. I mean it's a fairly wide collaboration. We're still working through some final details to make a broader announcement about that, so it's not appropriate to go into the individual names of the various organizations, but it's extremely strong representation from across a rail haulage industry. The project is one that I would see is something that is actually able to deliver some goods in the near term because we're looking at existing technology and the application of existing technology but in the rail space. And part of the bet is that battery technology does, as everyone is betting on battery technology, improve over time because, with current technical limits on batteries, it's not going to be a great replacement, but in coming years with the amount of money that's being spent and directed in the development of the batteries behind this, our application, you'll see the ability of the batteries to deliver the energy requirements that are needed for the rail application, that we're determined to put it towards sort of coalescing. So I mean that's what we're trying to do, and we're trying to do it with some leading players in the Australian industry.

Thanks, Andrew. And thanks, Marcelo. Chris, back to you, to see whether there are any other questions.

No other questions on this resolution at this time.

Thanks, Chris. Well, then I'll put the resolution to the meeting. Displayed on the platform are details of the proxies received in relation to the reelection of Marcelo Bastos. Once again as this item will be determined by poll, if you have not already done so, please select the voting icon. Selecting this icon will bring up a list of resolutions and will present you with voting options. To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. And again there is no need to hit a submit or enter button, as your vote will be automatically recorded for item 2c. Okay, let's move on to item 3. Item 3 is an ordinary resolution which relates to the grant of performance rights to the Managing Director and CEO. As explained in the notice of meeting, on Pages 4 to 6, these performance rights [ will be ] granted in accordance with the terms and conditions of the company's long-term incentive plan. The resolution before the meeting is that approval be given, for all purposes under the Corporations Act 2001 and the ASX listing rules, including ASX listing rule 10.14, to issue to the Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Andrew Harding, 654,613 performance rights pursuant to the company's long-term incentive award, on the terms summarized in the explanatory notes to the notice of meeting. The Board, with Andrew abstaining, considers the grant of performance rights to the Managing Director and CEO appropriate in all the circumstances and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the grant. I'll now ask Chris if there are any questions in relation to this item of business.

There are no questions at this stage. Happy to wait a few moments.

Yes, let's do that.

No questions have come through.

Okay, I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. Once again displayed on the platform are details of the proxies received in relation to item 3. The company will disregard any votes cast in favor of item 3 by or on behalf of Andrew Harding or his associates; except [ where the vote ] is cast by the Chairman or as a proxy for a person who is entitled to vote in each case in accordance with the directions on the proxy form or by a person acting solely in a nominee, trustee, custodial or other fiduciary capacity, provided certain conditions are met as set out in the notice of meeting. The company is also required to disregard any votes cast by a member of the key management personnel of the company or any of their closely related persons as proxy where the appointment does not specify the way the proxy is to vote on item 3. However, this restriction will not apply to the Chairman where the appointment expressly authorizes the Chairman [indiscernible] on item 3. Once again as this item will be determined by way of poll, if you have not already done so, please select the voting icon. Selecting this icon will bring up a list of resolutions and will present you with the voting options. And again, to cast your vote, simply select one of the options. And there is no need to hit a submit or enter button, as the vote is automatically recorded for item 3. Okay, let's move on to item 4. Item 4 relates to the adoption of our remuneration report of the company for the financial year ended 30 June 2021 as set out on Pages 26 to 40 of the company's 2021 annual report. The remuneration report sets out the Board's remuneration policy for its executives, employees and directors. The company strives to ensure that its remuneration report is clear, transparent; and demonstrates the Board's objective of ensuring the alignment of executive reward with the creation of shareholder value and that current market practices have been duly considered in terms of both quantum and structure of the company's remuneration framework. The resolution before the meeting is that the remuneration report for the financial year ended 30 June 2021 be adopted. The Board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of adopting the remuneration report. I'll now ask Chris if there are any questions in relation to our 2021 remuneration report.

There are no questions at this stage, but we'll give it a few moments. Nothing has come through.

Okay, well, I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. Again displayed on the platform are details of the proxies received in relation to item 4. Company will disregard any votes cast on item 4 by any member of the key management personnel of the company and their closely related parties, except where that vote is cast by them as a proxy for a person who is entitled to vote and in accordance with the directions on the proxy form. This restriction will also not apply to the Chairman where the appointment expressly authorizes the Chairman to vote on item 4. Once again as this item will be determined by poll, if you have not already done so, please select the voting icon. Selecting this icon will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with the voting options. And again, to cast your vote, simply select one of the options. And again there is no need to hit a submit or enter button, as your vote will automatically be recorded for item 4. All right, let's move on to item 5. And item 5 is an ordinary resolution which relates to the appointment of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as the external auditor of the company in accordance with the Corporations Act, with effect from the conclusion of this AGM. The reasons for and process behind the change are outlined in the explanatory notes to the notice of meeting in respect of this item of business. The resolution before the meeting is that, subject to the resignation of PwC as the current auditor of the company, for the purposes of section 327B of the Corporations Act and for all other purposes, approval is given to the appointment of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, having been nominated by a shareholder and given its consent in writing to act as auditor, be appointed as auditor of the company in accordance with the Corporations Act, with effect from the conclusion of this meeting; and the Board be authorized to agree Deloitte's remuneration in connection with the appointment. The Board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of appointing Deloitte as the company's external auditor. At this time, I would also like to acknowledge the very significant contribution of PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the company. PwC has been the company's external auditor since Aurizon listed on the ASX back in 2010. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to all that -- the PwC partners and staff that have worked on our audit during the last 11 years; and in -- and a particular thanks to Nadia Carlin and Tim Allman, who have been our signing partners in recent years. We have a strong relationship with PwC, and we expect it will continue in the future. I will now ask the moderator if there are any questions for me on this item of business. Chris?

No questions at this time. No questions have come through.

Okay, I'll now put the resolution to the meeting. Once again displayed on the platform are details of the proxies received in relation to this item of business. Again as this item will be determined by a poll, if you have not already done so, please select the voting icon. Selecting this icon will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options. Again, to cast your vote, simply select one of the options. And there is no need to hit a submit or enter button, as your vote will be automatically recorded for item 5. Okay, so in a couple of minutes, I'll close the poll, which will mean that shareholders, proxy holders and other representatives will no longer be able to submit votes through the Lumi platform, so please ensure that you have cast your vote on all resolutions. I'm now just going to pause for a few moments to allow you time to finalize your voting. [Voting]

Thank you, everyone. I'm now going to close the poll. The results of the voting will be notified to the ASX in accordance with the Corporations Act and the ASX listing rules and will also be placed on our website as soon as they become available. As there is no further business for today, I declare the meeting closed and thank you for your attendance.