Woolworths Group Limited (WOW.AX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, everyone. I'm Scott Perkins, Chair of Woolworths Group. I welcome you to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Woolworths Group and look forward to engaging with you during the course of today's AGM. I'd like to welcome Trevor Eastwood from Dalmarri to our AGM, and thank him for joining us today. I'd now like to hand over to Trevor Eastwood.

[Foreign Language] It's hello and good to see your friends in my language, the direct language. I'm -- my name is Trevor Eastward. I'm the proud son of Uncle Danny Eastwood, a local elder on this land. He's in the elders -- direct elders group, and he does give me permission to do a welcome to country. Now we're all Australian. We all walk this beautiful country as one. I welcome to the country. It's a bit like a healing statement. It's to pay respect to the past, the present and where we are today. It's a way of moving forward. The land we're on today is of the Darug people, one of the 29 clans of the Aurora nation. Now the Darug Land goes all the way up to [ Lidcombe ] into Petersham, down to Liverpool and parts of the Hawkesbury. We're bounded by the 4 mighty Rivers, the Nepean, the Parramatta, the Hawkesbury and the Georges River. We traveled up and down these waterways for thousands of years. So I welcome to the country. It's just acknowledging the land that we've walked on for thousands of years. So when I pay my respects to the country that we're all on today, I pay my respects all the way to the tops of the tree tops, deep down into the deep roots of the ground into all the life-giving waterways, but most importantly, I pay my respects under the stars, which all our ancestors watch over us as we walk this great southern land as one. So big [Foreign Language] and on behalf of the Elders Group, welcome, welcome, welcome. I pay my respects to all the elders, past and present. But most importantly, I pay my respects to you guys for walking this journey together. And in particular, the Woolworths Group because we see -- First Nation people, we see firsthand of the impact that Woolworths has across Australia through employment and sustainability. So [Foreign Language] is like a big thank you from the heart on behalf of the Elders Group. So once again, welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you.

Thank you, Trevor. We are very pleased to be a meeting here, and thank you for joining us today. I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the Darug Country and pay my respects to elders past and present and any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people here with us today or online. It is a privelege to be with you all. Thank you for joining us. Turning to today's AGM. We are pleased to offer Woolworths Group shareholders the option of participating in today's meeting in person and online. Our group company secretary has informed me that a quorum is present, so I declare our 2025 AGM open. For those in the room, I'd first like to outline the emergency procedures for this venue. Please take a moment to identify the emergency exits closest to you. In the event of an emergency, 1 of 2 alarms may sound. The alert arm is a series of warning beeps. If this alarm sounds, please stand by for further instructions from the wardens. If the evacuation alarm sounds, a whooping alarm, all occupants will be directed by the wardens to leave via the nearest emergency exit quickly and calmly and to make their way to the assembly area, which is located through reception leading to our on-grade parking. Once there, please remain at this location until Woolworths Group team members advise you it's safe to return to the venue. If we are required to evacuate, please leave your voting handsets and smart card on your chair. I would like to introduce my colleagues on the stage here today. Starting on my right, our Managing Director and CEO, Amanda Bardwell; Jennifer Carr-Smith, Non-Executive Director. Jennifer is standing for reelection at this meeting and will address the meeting later today; Ken Meyer, who is standing for election at this meeting and will also address the meeting later today; Holly Kramer, Non-Executive Director and Chair of our Sustainability Committee; and Warwick Bray, Non-Executive Director, Chair of our Audit and Finance Committee. Starting on my left is Dom Millgate Dom Millgate, our Group Company Secretary; Kathy Tesher, Non-Executive Director. Kathy is standing for reelection at this meeting and will address the meeting later today; Maxine Brenner, Non-Executive Director and Chair of our People Committee; Philip Chronican, Non-Executive Director and Chair of our Risk Committee; and Tracey Fellows, Non-Executive Director. Also in attendance today is Tom Imbesi, the company's lead audit partner from Deloitte and members of the Woolworths Group executive team. I will now talk through the procedural matters for this meeting. Instructions to help you navigate the online platform are available in the Notice of Meeting and in the online portal guide, both of which are available on our website. The notice of meeting sets out the business of the meeting and explanatory information for each resolution, and I propose that it be taken as read. If you have trouble using the online platform, please contact Lumi on the phone number shown on the screen of your webcast. If we experience a significant technical issue or we are required to evacuate this building, I will suspend the meeting until we are able to recommence or if we are unable to recommence within a reasonable time, I will adjourn the meeting to another day and time. We will provide shareholders with details of any adjournment via the ASX and our website. Those of you participating online today will see a split screen with the instructions on the left and the broadcast and presentation slides on the right. You can maximize the broadcast window by clicking on the full screen icon on the top right-hand side of the window. A vote at today's meeting. In order to do that, you need to be registered as a shareholder, which includes body corporate representatives and attorneys or a proxy. We will vote on each resolution by way of a poll, which will remain open until the conclusion of the final item of business. The final votes for and against each resolution will be released to the ASX after the meeting has closed. For those participating online, you can vote by clicking on the voting tab at the top of the screen, which will open a list of all resolutions and the voting options. You can vote for, against or abstain by selecting the option for each resolution once the poll is opened. If you have multiple holdings, you'll need to log in separately with each individual holding to lodge your votes. For those in the room eligible to vote, votes will be submitted using electronic voting handsets. I'm sure everybody in the room is well accustomed to using the handsets. However, if you have any issues or you're voting and you do not yet have a handset, please raise your hand now and one of the Lumi or registry assistants will help you. If you have not already done so, please insert the smart card into the top of the handset with the barcode at the bottom and facing towards you. Your name should now be displayed across the top of the screen of your handset. To vote using your handset, select 1 to vote for, 2 to vote against or 3 if you wish to abstain from voting on any resolution. Confirmation that your vote has been received will appear on your handset screen. Your vote is automatically counted. You can change your vote at any time while the poll is open. If you wish to cancel your vote and have no selection recorded, press the X button. Only shareholders or proxy holders may ask a question or make a comment during today's meeting. I ask that all comments and questions are directed to me. I may also direct questions of a more detailed nature to the CEO, Amanda Bardwell, or the CFO, Stephen Harrison. There are 2 ways to ask questions in the room by using a microphone in the auditorium or online by submitting written and audio questions via the online platform. For those attending in person, please see the attendant at the microphone nearest to you. We have 2 fixed microphone stands in the middle of the auditorium for ease of access. If you are asking your question as a representative of an organization or group of shareholders, please include that information in your question. To allow us to work through the questions and give shareholders an opportunity to voice the largest range of questions, I've asked the moderator to take the following steps for the smooth functioning of the meeting. Firstly, shareholders who have not already asked a question on the relevant item will be prioritized. Secondly, if we receive multiple questions via the online portal that are largely identical, one of these questions will be read and the related questions answered together. In order to allow a reasonable opportunity for all shareholders to speak, I will limit shareholders to no more than 2 questions or comments at a time. If you have more than one question or comment, please ask them together upfront, and I will respond to you both. If you have additional questions, there will be an opportunity for you to ask them once other shareholders have had a chance to speak. I'd like to stress that it's not in the best interest of this meeting nor respectful of all the shareholders attending for questions to be repeated nor for individual shareholders to dominate proceedings with large numbers of questions. I would like to give all those shareholders wishing to ask a question the opportunity to do so, and therefore, won't permit repeated questioning on essentially the same matter. Finally, we will conduct the meeting in a responsible manner, and ask that shareholders are respectful when asking questions as we will be when answering them. To submit a written question via the online portal, click the Messaging tab at the top of the screen, type out your written question and select the Send icon. To submit an audio question via the online portal, select the Home tab and follow the asking audio questions instructions. Enter the requested details and click Submit Request to join the audio questions queue. Shareholders will be able to listen to the meeting while wanting and waiting to ask their question. If you do have questions, I encourage you to submit them as soon as possible. A member of our communications team here at Woolworths will read aloud questions to the meeting. I will deal with questions in accordance with the item of business they refer to. Every year, we receive a number of questions about individual customer service, product or store-related matters. For those in the room, you can speak with one of our customer service team members in the foyer area after the meeting finishes. For those of you online, if you submit a question without an individual -- about an individual customer or administrative share registry matter, I've asked the team to inform you that the best way to get resolution of your matter is through our customer service channels or through the share registry. Those contact details can be found in the Notice of Meeting and also on the Woolworths Group website. Now ladies and gentlemen, and fellow shareholders on to my address as Chair of Woolworths Group. Today, you will hear both from me and our CEO, Amanda Bardwell. As we share our reflections on the past year, we will explain the factors that have impacted our performance and the actions that have been taken to restore performance and how these are tracking. I will also cover the key areas of focus for the Board including team safety, Board renewal, progress against our sustainability agenda including the conclusion of our 2025 plan and the plans for our next horizon. I look forward to the opportunity to meet many of you and address questions from shareholders during the course of the meeting. The group's performance in FY '25 reflects a series of challenges which resulted in financial outcomes that fell well short of our expectations primarily due to lower EBIT contributions from the Australian Food and BIG W businesses. Group EBIT before significant items declined by a normalized 12.6% impacted by a combination of ongoing cost-of-living pressures from customers, the necessary action taken by the business to lower shelf prices, and the material supply chain disruption from extended industrial action in the first half of the year. Excluding the impact of industrial action, incremental supply chain commissioning and dual running costs and the acquisition of Petstock in the prior year, group EBIT would have declined by a normalized 7.8%. While BIG W sales momentum improved over the course of the year, it reported a loss for FY '25 reflecting gross margin pressure due to clearance activity in Clothing and lower prices as the business continued the reset of its range. Somewhat offsetting this was an improved earnings performance from our New Zealand food business, reflecting good progress on its ongoing transformation and a strong year from our e-commerce business and food service business, PFD. The Board declared a final dividend of $0.45 cents per share, bringing the total full year dividend to $0.84 cents per share, with the reduction on the prior year in line with the decline in earnings per share and also reflecting the $0.40 cents per share special dividend declared in FY '24. Reflecting the group's performance and shareholder outcomes, management’s long-term incentive did not pay out in FY '25 and the group's short-term incentive achieved a partial vesting driven by important safety, customer and sales outcomes. A one-off accelerator incentive was introduced in January 2025 for 150 senior leaders to ensure focus on driving the group's immediate priorities, build momentum and realign the group initiatives under the new leadership. In reviewing the year's performance, I want to make it very clear to all shareholders that neither your Board nor Amanda and the management team is satisfied with recent performance and is addressing this with clarity and urgency. We have put behind us a period where our teams were distracted by external factors including a raft of regulatory inquiries, industrial action and CEO succession. We have adjusted to the new normal of intensified competition, delivering value to our customers while leading on quality, range and convenience. As a Board, we are committed to support management to address the challenges, reinforce a discipline of making every dollar count and simplify the business to drive better outcomes and accountability. We are starting to make good progress. We have reduced costs and taken steps to simplify the business and elevate our focus on our cornerstone food business. We should not forget the foundations of the group remain strong, our iconic brands, vast store network, best-in-class loyalty, digital assets and incredible team. Amanda will shortly outline the clear plans in place to improve our performance in the medium term and capitalize on the significant long-term growth opportunities ahead of us. I would now like to cover the group's performance on safety. Two years ago I spoke about the Board’s commitment to review the FY '23 STI based on the outcomes of the formal investigations into the 2 tragic fatalities in that year. SafeWork New South Wales investigation of the Jesmond supermarket fatality in November 2022 resulted in no further action being taken. However, in June this year, SafeWork New South Wales finalised its investigation, and commenced legal proceedings against Woolworths Group, in relation to the fatality at the Sydney Regional Distribution Center in June 2023. Following a careful consideration of the findings of SafeWork New South Wales, the Board has applied a further discretionary reduction to the executives in roles with responsibility for safety within distribution centers at that time. While we were confident we had a strong safety culture within the group, we identified a number of areas where we could continue to improve. Through focused efforts on risk reduction, proactive injury prevention and early care, we have started to make those improvements and we achieved a 6.2% reduction in our TRIFR in FY '25. In addition, the reduced injury severity and frequency led to an improved injury severity score this year. The Board is committed to upholding the highest safety standards for the group to ensure we maintain the strong foundation and culture that keeps all our team members, customers and contractors safe. Turning now to Board renewal. As announced in August, Holly Kramer will retire at the conclusion of our AGM today after more than nine years of service as a Non-Executive Director. I would like to sincerely thank Holly for her dedication and valuable contribution to the group. During Holly's tenure, she has had a significant impact on enhancing the group's remuneration approach and disclosure in her time as Chair of the People Committee as well as elevating the group's sustainability agenda in her most recent capacity as Chair of our Sustainability Committee, setting a strong foundation for the years ahead. I was pleased to also announce Ken Meyer's appointment to the Woolworths Group Board as a Non-Executive Director. Ken brings extensive food retail experience to the Board, having spent 24 years at Whole Foods Market, a U.S.-based grocery chain renown for its high quality fresh food, in-store experience and customer service. Ken’s entire career, helping to build Whole Foods and subsequently his experience in private equity, has been about food retailing, and in particular, fresh and grocery innovation. We are delighted to have somebody with the depth of Ken’s food and grocery retail experience join the Board. On a personal note, I would also like to take this moment to acknowledge the passing of former Executive Chairman Paul Simons AM in May of this year. As you may recall, Paul attended our AGM last year. We were very blessed to spend that time with him as part of our 100-year celebrations. Over a lunch a few months before his passing with Amanda, I can vividly remember his considered, constructive advice on pricing and fresh food. Paul led Woolworths from 1987 to 1995 during a pivotal time in our company’s history. Paul will be remembered for instilling important customer values into the business which remain as relevant today as they were during his time of his leading the company. Moving now to the group's sustainability agenda. This year marks the end of our 5-year 2025 sustainability plan with meaningful progress achieved across key focus areas. Notable highlights over the plan include the group's efforts to support our community through $480 million in direct contributions, repurposing surplus food to deliver over 165 million meals to people in need through our partners, addressing modern slavery in our supply chain, and removing over 20,000 tonnes of virgin plastic from our own brand products since 2018. Over the last 5 years, the group has delivered an estimated $2.6 billion in net societal benefit through our investment in initiatives addressing hunger and food waste, plastic packaging, decarbonization, healthier eating and human rights. Launching in FY '26 is the next iteration of the group's sustainability agenda, focused on the areas where we can drive the most significant impact including sustainable food systems, waste and circularity, affordable nutritious food, social impact and advancing human rights in our supply chain. I am always inspired by the ways Woolies responds to the needs of our community. Whether that is in times of floods or fires when we help make sure communities have access to essential goods or how we have taken on the challenge of recycling and food waste. We provide many young people with their first job or careers spanning many decades for others. We are at the forefront of the productivity challenge Australia faces as we invest into automation, digital tools and AI and to make jobs more rewarding and Woolworths Group more efficient. As shareholders, these are things that we can all be proud of. Before handing over to Amanda, I would like to take this opportunity to address the shareholder resolutions that will be put to the meeting later today. The resolutions reflect a number of topics including the reporting of farmed seafood, the group's seafood sourcing policy, the classification of beef in relation to deforestation and the utilization of PEFC certification as part of our pulp, paper and timber policy. As outlined in the Notice of Meeting, the Board does not support these resolutions. Starting with seafood. Responsible sourcing of seafood is important in meeting our customers' ongoing needs for healthy proteins. Our seafood sourcing policy requires all own brand seafood sold in Australia to be third-party certified or independently verified as ecologically responsible. Suppliers must also meet relevant legislative and regulatory requirements. As part of our ongoing due diligence process, we obtain advice from external seafood and animal welfare experts, we monitor research, standards and regulations as they continue to evolve. We also engage a wide range of stakeholders including industry bodies, suppliers, government, environmental groups, non-government organizations, scientists and the local community. Specifically on Macquarie Harbor, we continue to be informed by scientific and government updates, including the determination made by the federal minister for the environment and water on 14th of August 2025 that allows salmon farming to continue in Macquarie Harbor. Latest scientific reports have also shown improvements in estimated Maugean skate population, and positive impacts from collaborative government and industry captive breeding and reoxygenation programs. However, we are taking action as a group through adopting continuous improvements that directly address the issues of concern. This includes working with all 3 salmon suppliers to undertake feasibility and gap assessments for the new certification standard issued by Aquaculture Stewardship Council in May this year. The updated ASC certification aims to reflect the latest best practice standards for farmed seafood production globally. In 2024, we committed to investors to disclose our approach to assessing and managing risks and impacts of our own branded farmed seafood on endangered species. We've taken a proactive approach to identifying and addressing nature-related risks, informed by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures framework. We believe this global framework is the most appropriate as it can be applied across all products, all nature-based risks and impacts and ensures an efficient and consistent approach to assessing and addressing nature-based risks through our global supply chain. As outlined in this year's sustainability report, the assessment confirmed no new material risks exist outside of those already being actively managed through our seafood sourcing standards. We remain committed to ongoing appropriate transparent reporting to shareholders and other stakeholders. This includes our commitment to providing additional disclosure on the methodology and outcomes of our risk and impact assessments of own brand farmed seafood in our sustainability disclosures as part of our annual reporting suite next year. Turning to beef in relation to the group's no deforestation commitment. Firstly, I want to stress that we continue to recognize fresh beef as a primary deforestation-linked commodity under our no-deforestation goal. This was outlined in our 2024 sustainability report, the 2025 sustainability report and the group's publicly available no deforestation policy. In accordance with our SBTi validated emissions targets, we have adopted the FLAG methodology which requires us to focus on all 5 of our primary deforestation-linked commodities, namely cocoa, soy, paper, pulp & timber, palm oil as well as fresh beef. As noted in our 2025 sustainability report, the European Commission recently revised the deforestation risk rating for Australia. This risk rating was referenced as a relevant factor when determining prioritisation of effort at the time of setting the group's no deforestation goal. The recent change has informed our approach, but importantly, it does not change the scope of our no deforestation goal and its application to fresh beef. Addressing now resolution 5e. We mandate the sustainable sourcing of pulp, paper and timber products and packaging. We utilize globally accepted and widely adopted certifications, FSC and PEFC, to validate deforestation-free sourcing, in addition to the use of recycled content. Many leading companies and peers globally and domestically use both certifications. We regularly review the integrity of accepted certifications, including through consultation with suppliers, industry and other key stakeholders, and will continue to do so. In conclusion, the year ahead will be a critical year for rebuilding momentum across the group as our leaders set about executing our priorities and delivering on our strategy. Under Amanda’s leadership, Woolworths Group is looking ahead with a measured and determined confidence. As I said right at the outset, your Board and your management team are totally focused on realizing our potential as a group by staying true to our purpose whist intensifying our focus on delivery and performance. Finally, I want to thank all of our team members across the group, who despite the various challenges of this year, remained focused on putting our customers first. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Scott, and good morning everyone. I also acknowledge the traditional owners of Darug Country, and pay my respects to Elders past and present and any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people with us here today or online. It is a privilege to be with you all and thank you for joining us. Let me begin by echoing Scott's sentiment and acknowledging that it has been a difficult year for Woolworths Group. I commenced as CEO in September last year and a number of challenges in FY '25 resulted in a financial performance that was well below our expectations, and those of you, our shareholders. However, we have taken action, to set the business up for the medium to long term, and to reposition the group for sustainable growth. While we acknowledge that it will take time for the full benefits to be realized, we remain confident the steps we are taking will lead to meaningful improvements for our customers and shareholders. Our ambition is to be the first choice for customers in our cornerstone food business and become a more focused, lower-cost retailer. Food is what we are famous for and a thriving Food business provides a strong platform for the group's success in the long term and our ability to deliver strong shareholder returns. Over the medium term, through sustainable growth in Woolworths Retail supplemented by higher growth from our complementary businesses and services, our ambition is to deliver mid-to-high single-digit EBIT growth, which will support our double-digit total shareholder return aspiration. I am confident in our ability to deliver a much improved performance and today I will provide an update on our strategic priorities and how we plan to make Woolworths Group a better and stronger business for the future. But first, turning to our performance in FY '25. Despite food inflation stabilizing, broader cost-of-living pressures continued to weigh on household budgets leading to value-seeking behavior in a very competitive retail market. Our Australian Food business was also materially impacted by extended industrial action leading up to Christmas last year. The group sales in FY '25 increased by a normalized 3.6%. Pleasingly, we saw greater stability in the second half in Australian Food as we worked hard to recover from supply chain disruption, delivered lower prices and focused on improving our retail execution. However, a decline in underlying earnings in Australian Food, together with other one-off costs and lower earnings from BIG W, contributed to Group EBIT declining by a normalized 12.6%. I want to acknowledge that this performance was disappointing and well below our expectations. New Zealand Food continued to make progress on its transformation with an improved earnings driven by momentum in key focus areas of value, fresh and convenience. In BIG W, we saw good customer growth with quarterly sales growth rates increasing sequentially over the course of FY '25. We have also seen items and transactions grow as we worked hard to reposition our range and provide more value to customers in a competitive market. However, we recognize that we need to progress the transformation of the business and expect an improved result in FY '26. During the year, we worked constructively with the ACCC through its supermarket inquiry process, and in March the ACCC released its final report. It found that grocery price inflation has been lower in Australia than in most OECD countries and found no evidence of excessive supermarket prices. In February, we highlighted 3 key focus areas to improve the short-term performance of the business. We are on track to deliver $400 million in cost savings by the end of the calendar year. We are improving our retail execution and have taken deliberate steps to address the areas that matter most to our customers, including value, range and product availability. Customers have told us they want reliable lower shelf prices every time they shop with us. In Australian Food, we launched lower shelf price in May where we have lowered the price on over 750 everyday items with a commitment to longer-term price reductions. This isn't just a short-term investment, this is about lower prices on products we know our customers regularly shop for, and providing genuine, dependable value they can count on. As part of this we've focused on everyday family lines like frozen berries, chicken schnitzels as well as other essentials like flour, bread, rice and nappies. This was in addition to offering more specials with deeper discounts and absorbing cost price increases in key areas like meat. While there's still more to do, we have seen early positive reaction from our customers which has continued into October. They're noticing the improved value for money, as well as improvements in service. During the year we also simplified the way we work, with significant management changes and a new organizational structure that's better aligned to our strategic priorities. Over the last 6 months, we reviewed all of our businesses within the group to ensure each had a credible path to delivering appropriate returns. As part of this, we announced the closure of MyDeal's customer website, and we consolidated or exited a number of businesses to elevate our focus on our core food business. We are committed to providing customers with good value as well as being a lower-cost retailer with a strong ongoing productivity agenda and restoring a discipline of making every dollar count across Woolworths Group. Despite the challenging year, we have made solid progress on our strategic agenda and that gives us confidence for the future. Our New South Wales supply chain transformation reached important milestones during the year, including the opening of the Moorebank NDC and Auburn CFC. I am delighted that our Moorebank RDC has commenced operations this week with the first cartons going to stores. We are also well advanced in the construction of the Sydney Chilled and Fresh DC, with the new automated, temperature-controlled site complementing our Moorebank DCs and will complete the renewal of our New South Wales supply chain. Together, the new sites will materially improve the experience of our team and customers and unlock greater efficiencies across our supply chain network, whilst also strengthening our fresh offer. Through automated technology, our new sites will improve pick accuracy in our sheds and provide tailored pallets for each store, right down to specific aisle layouts, making it faster and easier for our store teams. For our team, new automated pallet builders will help reduce manual handling making it a safer working environment, and our customers will see a real difference with better product availability and fewer out-of-stocks. In Victoria, MSRDC, the group's first automated DC, is the blueprint for the New South Wales supply chain transformation and has played a key role in driving productivity and customer availability with a throughput of 2.5 million cartons per week. This gives us confidence in the benefits we will see from our new, co-located sites at Moorebank. We know we lead in convenience, and one of our greatest assets is our customer reach through our store network and leading e-commerce business. Strong digital and e-commerce growth was a key highlight during the year with group e-commerce sales increasing by a normalized 17% in FY '25. Convenient, on demand options like MILKRUN and Direct to Boot Now are our fastest-growing propositions as customers seek more convenience and sub-60-minute e-commerce sales tripled in FY '25. Pick-up orders are also growing strongly and to support customer demand, we have continued to invest in our store network, which services both our customers looking for a rapid pick-up option and MILKRUN. During the year, we added over 200 Direct to Boot Now sites and expanded MILKRUN to 515 stores. Our capabilities took a big step forward with the opening of our Auburn CFC in May. With capacity to serve 60,000 orders per week, the new automated CFC will free up stores to meet the growing demand for delivery and pick-up services in the high density catchment and growth areas of Western Sydney. Our complementary service businesses are continuing to grow and are an important earnings contributors to the group. Cartology, insurance, mobile and our third-party supply chain business PC+ all delivered solid sales and profit growth in the year and offer significant long-term earnings opportunities. Our team is at the heart of our business and one of our greatest strengths. Despite having to navigate a number of challenges, we have seen the highest Voice of Team scores for our retail store team members since the peak of COVID in 2021, which is an incredible testament to their resilience. Ensuring that every team member goes home safely every day is our primary responsibility. In FY '25, we worked hard to strengthen our safety foundations, rolled out further programs to increase controls for our material safety risks, including plant and vehicle-related incidents. We also launched our new group-wide safety promise, our place, were's safer together, which emphasizes the collective and individual responsibility for safety and wellbeing. Encouragingly, we have seen an improvement in our safety outcomes in FY '25 through our focused efforts on injury prevention and material risk management. We recognize the important role we play in supporting communities in which we operate and were's proud of the long-standing partnerships we have with our food relief partners across Australia and New Zealand. This year, we celebrated a decade of partnership with OzHarvest and we reached an incredible milestone providing 100 million meals to Australians in need over the last 10 years. This is a powerful example of how we live our purpose every day. Yesterday, we released our sales results from the first quarter of FY '26. The group's overall sales performance in quarter 1 was below our aspirations; however, the changes we have made to improve our offer in areas that matter most to our customers, including value, convenience and availability are being recognized. Group customer metrics continue to improve on prior periods and we have seen an improvement in sales trends over the last month. In Australian Food, total sales increased 2.1% and excluding tobacco, Woolworths food retail total sales increased 3.8% supported by e-commerce growth of 12.9%. While customers are recognizing the improvements we are making, we know there is more to do to drive sales momentum in Australian Food. In September, we uplifted our investment in rewards and e-commerce offers and weekly promotions on key family lines like nappies, bananas and chicken breasts, to provide customers with more value and more reasons to choose Woolworths first. Item growth showed a modest improvement over the quarter, but that was offset by deflation in fruit and vegetables in the latter part of the quarter. Growth in on demand propositions was a highlight with e-commerce sales delivered or picked up in under 2 hours increasing by 39% as customers continue to value the convenience. In Australian B2B, sales increased by 6.2% driven by B2B food with growth in PFD and export meat sales. Sales momentum in New Zealand improved over the quarter as competitor activity normalized with total sales growth of 3.2% driven by strong e-commerce growth and successful promotional campaigns. In BIG W, total sales including BIG W Market increased 1.0% with a more favorable sales mix reflecting an improved performance in clothing. Looking ahead, we are cautiously optimistic about our key trading quarter. Woolworths food retail sales in Q2 to date have increased by 3.2% or 5% excluding tobacco as we continue to focus on rebuilding momentum. We are also clear on our longer-term strategic priorities which we shared in August. We have world-class assets and capabilities across our group as well as significant scale that give us a unique competitive advantage and significant potential. These include the strength of our iconic retail brands, our large customer base of over 25 million served each week and a leading loyalty program with 12 million Everyday Rewards members across Australia and New Zealand. We have extensive digital, data and AI capabilities as well as a network of 1,700 stores, a modern supply chain and finally, an experienced team of 200,000 people. Many of our team have given the group decades of service with the average tenure of our store managers around 20 years. While we operate in a highly competitive market, these strengths, together with our plan and our strong leadership team, give me absolute confidence in our ability to deliver long-term sustainable growth for shareholders. Over the next few years, we are focused on 3 key medium-term priorities. Starting with the most important, we want to be the first choice for customers for the freshest Australian Food. We are making meaningful shifts for putting customers first and we are determined to win in fresh, range, and on demand e-commerce, while consistently delivering meaningful and reliable value and reliable experiences. We also want to continue to execute well so that customers can count on us every day. And it all starts with Fresh. Fresh is the gateway where the supermarket shop begins. We have the capability to improve freshness and range and showcase our offer through improvements to our supply chain and merchandising, and through the passion of our team. Customers already recognize our range, but in some categories, we can make it easier to shop, and we know there is more to do to optimize our range. Own brand has delivered strong value for customers, but we know we need to do better. Clearer price tiering, an expanded ‘better’ range and improved quality will enable us to meet more of our customers' needs. We want to continue to lead in e-commerce and expand our on demand delivery and Direct to Boot coverage, personalize and improve customer experiences by leveraging data and AI, and maintain a modern store network that is close to our customers. We are privileged to have 84% of the Australian population within a 10-minute drive of one of our stores. Moving to our second strategic priority, we need to address underperformance in New Zealand Food and BIG W by improving returns and we are making progress here. While our transformation initiatives in New Zealand have delivered encouraging results in FY '25, EBIT margins and returns remain well below our aspirations. We want to build on our momentum to return to double-digit ROFE over the medium term. In BIG W, we need to sustainably improve performance in a highly competitive market and build on our areas of strength. We are taking the right steps to reposition our range to provide better quality and more affordable options to customers as well as extending our range through BIG W Market. Finally, we will grow our complementary businesses and services to support longer-term growth aspirations. These include PFD and Petstock as well as group-wide service businesses such as Cartology, Everyday and Primary Connect. To deliver our strategy, we know we need to get the basics right by providing the retail excellence that our customers expect from us. We also need to be a simpler business and increase accountability. We are restoring an always-on low cost discipline across the group making every dollar count and realizing the value of our various investments. Underpinning all of this is our leading loyalty, tech and AI capabilities which will transform customer experiences, and enable our team to make better decisions. As we look ahead to the important Christmas trading period, we remain focused on delivering a fantastic festive season for our customers. Over the weekend, I was in stores with our teams and I know they are looking forward to helping us deliver great value to all customers throughout the summer. I'm particularly excited about our new seasonal own brand range with over 60 incredible desserts including the new gingerbread cheesecake and the gold Dubai-inspired chocolate and pistachio tarts, in addition to the classics we know our customers love. We are determined to get back to our best this Christmas and give customers every reason to do their entire shop with us, whether that be in store or online. Our focus remains on restoring customer trust, rebuilding momentum and getting back to the level of retail excellence and performance our customers and our shareholders expect of us. While some of this may take some time, I am confident that the steps we are taking will lead to an improved performance. I would like to recognize and thank our remarkable team for their commitment that they have shown whilst navigating a difficult year. I would also like to thank our customers for choosing Woolworths and giving us the privilege of serving them every day. Finally, I would like to thank you, our shareholders, for your patience and support. I will now hand back to Scott. Thank you.

Thank you, Amanda. We will now turn to the formal items of business for this meeting. The items of business for today's AGM are set out in the notice of meeting and will be voted on by a poll, which is now open. As set out in the notice of meeting, I intend to vote all open proxies in favor of each of resolutions 2, 3 and 4 and against resolutions 5a to 5e inclusive. I remind shareholders that only resolutions 2, 3 and 4 to be voted on at this meeting are supported by your Board. Our share registry, MUFG, will act as returning officer for the poll. The first item of business is to receive the financial report and the reports of the directors and of the external auditor for the year ended 29 June 2025. There is no vote on this item. A copy of these statements and reports was published in the 2025 annual report and sent to those shareholders who requested a copy. Shareholders have also had the opportunity to view the statements and reports as well as the FY 2025 sustainability report on our website. I now invite comments or questions on the financial statements and reports. All questions to the auditor should, in the first instance, be addressed to me as Chair. And if appropriate, I will ask Tom Imbesi to address the meeting. I'll firstly deal with questions from the floor and then questions submitted online during the meeting. Are there any questions in the room?

Chair, I have a question from Natasha Lee.

Welcome, Natasha. It's nice to have you back.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Nice to see you again. I did have another option to go to another shareholding meeting, but I thought Scott would miss me if I didn't.

That's the case, Natasha.

Just first comment is actually about the format of your annual report. It's a 2-page, and I didn't see a single-page format. So for people of my age and my eyesight, it's a bit difficult to sort of scroll back and forward across the page. But so some companies do have a single-page format. You could scroll down and read if we can ask that, that be introduced in the future.

I'm similarly afflicted, Natasha. So have you got any good ideas then we will make sure to take them up.

Especially as I read thousands of pages a week.

Okay. I certainly don't want to make the annual report excessively long. I'm very conscious obviously of the paper.

Well it's the same page. It's just page length, just having it in a single-page format.

Okay. Happy to hear your ideas.

Just -- so clearing my interest, I'm involved in a domestic violence charity called Lucy's Project. And I'd like to publicly thank Petstock, which has been a great supporter of that charity. Getting to the sort of the questions. Yes, I've noted how the margins have been squeezed and sort of somewhat encouraging that the first quarter sales were up, although below your aspirations. I suppose I worry about, even though sales percentage was up, how that reflects in terms of margins. Now noting that your competitors, you seem to be sort of pretty much price matching. So in terms of price was kind of like-for-like product, it doesn't seem to be much of a difference like very small, but they seem to be doing better. And I've heard you're talking about some of the problems, the one-off problems you've had and then you're making savings, but I suppose, to what extent have you kind of analyzed what your competitors are doing? And how can that be reflected in to improve your performance? There also seems to be a bit of a disconnect because you want to -- you're talking about a simpler business, but you're increasing the product range. And I know that Aldi kind of maintained their margins by having a more limited product range and I suppose, having specialist over Christmas. But to me, there was a little bit of a mixed message there. So if you'd like to comment about that. On the sort of a more technical side, interest expenses was up rather significantly sort of like a [ 22% ] increase while your borrowings will increase 20%. I would have expected that the actual interest build to be lower than the growth in the borrowings given we're in a declining interest rate market. And obviously, the borrowings -- the new borrowings sort of happened during the year rather than at the beginning. So can you explain why interest rates -- the interest expense, sorry, was up significantly?

Thank you, Natasha. Thank you for your diligence. I hope that first question, there's a lot in it. So I'll attempt to answer all of the elements in that question. You're absolutely right. Our margin was impacted last year and some of that impact were from some quite material exogenous events, principally the strike. The strike was a very important matter for us to draw a line on because it was all about productivity, but it came at a very significant financial cost in excess of $100 million. In addition, during the course of last year, we were running 2 supply chains as we ramped up the new supply chain. And as Amanda has referenced, we're really starting to see really good productivity benefits coming on stream as the supply chain continues to perform exceptionally well. We also had in our results Petstock for part of the year, which made some of the margin comparisons a little bit tricky. In terms of the sales momentum, and thank you for noting it. Yes, we are seeing the early signs of an improvement in our sales trend in the last month, which Amanda has called out. And in terms of margin management and vigilance on competitor structures, we are absolutely vigilant on what best practice looks like across the suite of all of our competitors, how they're performing and where we can learn and do better. But we're also following with conviction, we think the path that's right for Woolworths to restore its sales momentum and get back to growing market share. And Amanda has outlined the key pillars of that, part of which are addressing the customer for where they're at in these quite changed times, simplifying the way we work and continuing to take cost out of the business to empower people to make better decisions and quicker decisions as well as identifying those areas of underperformance within the group. You pleasingly heard and it was evident also in Q1 sales, we've actually had quite strong performances in recovery. New Zealand continuing to be early days, but a significant 40% improvement in profitability last year off a low base with more to come. We saw strong sales in our PFD, our foodservice business, a recovery in sales in Petstock as well as they emerged from the restructuring after the divestments that were required under ACCC. But your reminder and your challenge to us to make sure that our growth is obviously profitable growth is an absolutely sensible one. Our focus is on restoring sales momentum in Australia Food.

Okay.

The second question was on interest and borrowings. That will simply be the interplay between our fixed versus floating rate mix of borrowings. As you say, interest charges were up somewhat. These things don't transmit immediately through to lowering borrowing costs. But with good cash flow management, and Steve and the team are very much on top of all of that and managing our working capital to be as efficient as it can be, obviously, with lowering rates, we'd expect that to be improving into the future. Thank you very much, Natasha.

Chair, we have a question from Mr. David Kingston.

Look, I'm basically here today to support Woolworths. I think the market's overreacted against Woolworths. I think it's a great company. And it has some challenges, but I think I'm confident it will bounce back. Even in the last couple of days, as I expected, Woolworths has rebounded in share price and Coles has come off. I think the market got it wrong. But look, let's acknowledge that Woolworths was once the market darling. Coles now has superior growth. Since mid-'23, Woolies share price has fallen from $40 to current $28. Over the same period, Coles has gone up from $18 to $22. It's a bit anomalous because the revenue from Woolworths Australian supermarkets is more than 25% above Coles. Woolies has 1,300 supermarkets compared to Coles at 860. Both have a similar EBIT margin at 5%, 5.5%. The market, in my view, has got it wrong. Woolies market cap now $34 billion, only marginally higher than Coles. Look, let's look at the growth. It's a short-term thing. I think I'm confident Woolies can turn it around. But even in the quarter just ended, Woolies' supermarket sales up 2.1%, Coles up 4.6% normalized. Getting to my 2 questions, Chair. Look, having been market leader for many years, perhaps Woolies became complacent a few years ago. I feel for you, Amanda, you inherited some legacies after taking the reins from Brad. Who can forget the Transmash on 4 corners when Brad walked out. I accept it will take a while for Woolies to regain full momentum. A vital interest issue, as you correctly say, is consumers trust in pricing, which is referred to on Page 42 of the Woolworths' FY '25 presentation. Rebuilding price trust. Good to see in yesterday's quarterly that the group VOC NPS, a measure of consumer confidence, was up 3 points compared to the prior year, a step in the right direction. So my first question, Chair, is I just appreciate some amplification on the issue of rebuilding price trust when and why was that trust lost? That's my first question. Do you want me to keep going with the second one?

Please.

The second one is a little bit subjective, and you may or may not agree, but I will provide it anyway. In my view, in basic retail, being warm and folksy is important. For example, Chemist Warehouse and JB Hi-Fi, the colors and signage are very evocative. In my view, happy for you to disagree, Coles is more folksy than Woolworths. CEO, Leah, appears in the annual report in a red Coles polo T-shirt along with the team, whereas the Woolies Board, extremely professional, but not folksy in their annual report photo. I appreciate it's subjective, Chair, and it's probably not a question that you're expecting in your Q&A preparation, but I'd just be interested, has do you think potentially subject to review, Woolworths has become too corporate. Certainly, in my opinion, it became arrogant, which is fair enough, it was market leader for many, many years. Does Woolworths need to step it down a level, become a little bit more focus and less professional and corporate.

Thank you, shareholder. Can I just firstly thank you for, I think, an extremely well researched and very balanced set of questions. There's a lot in there. Firstly, can I also share your confidence about the underlying strength of this group and the extent to which there is just an enormous opportunity for us to continue to drive superior performance to take advantage of those very, very strong fundamentals, and Amanda outlined those, whether it's our store network, the brand, our reputation for quality, range, our lead in convenience, leading digital assets and I think a portfolio of adjacent businesses that can make our food business stronger. We lead the market in so many areas, and we now need to convert that into operational performance and shareholder value. I could not agree more. You specifically asked a question on price trust. Again, I think that is a fundamental question, and that's clearly an area where Woolies took its eye off the ball. We took our eye of the ball at a period of quite dramatic change, but we were significantly distracted by other exogenous events and the customer changed their purchasing patterns quite significantly during that period. What I can assure you, and the proof is in the pudding, we have responded. And you're starting to see, as you called out, that lift in customer -- underlying customer metrics that are always the precursor in our experience to sales growth. Customers are recognizing the lower shelf price initiative, now over 750 prices on lower shelf price, continuing good value through specials and of course, our market-leading digital platform and all the boosting offers that are out there that I certainly hope you all take advantage of. All of that is landing with our customers. We're getting improved metrics through our Voice of Customer stores, and we're starting to see it in sales. It's early. We've got a lot more work to do. And I'm confident that Amanda and the team are absolutely focused on that as their #1 priority. The second question was around our folksiness. So putting aside the dress code for the Board, we'll take that one on notice. There's one statistic that I would like to share with you in a minute or actually refer to it as well. And this, I think, will give you some confidence that Woolworths has not got a corporate mentality. Our frontline teams at a store level throughout all the disruption, the loss of sales momentum, the change, the simplification, our frontline team's engagement of Woolworths, belief in the company, belief in their leadership has improved through this and hit a record high last month compared to pre-COVID levels. They are the people who are facing the customer. And actually, they see the positive changes that we're making, simplifying their work, better and sharper on pricing, better availability, investing into our fresh fruit and produce departments and others to really lift performance and win back that customer trust and momentum. So I think at that level, we continue to be inspired by their engagement with the company and the customer feedback we get from them at the front line. But in terms of tone and manner on the annual report, I'll take your observation as noted. Thank you for sharing with us, shareholder.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder [indiscernible].

Welcome, shareholder.

[indiscernible] representing the Non-Smokers Movement of Australia. You probably know where I'm going. Now it's up to you. I was going to direct this question to Mr. Harrison, the CFO, but he's not here at the moment. So this is for you, Mr. Perkins. Now in an article in the Sunday Telegraph in June this year, the Lung Foundation of Australia wrote, "Supermarkets should be banned from selling cigarettes, which kill on average 66 Australians daily, 365 days a year." He also wrote that Coles admitted to selling enough cigarettes to kill 1,600 Australians a year. I repeat, 1,600 Australians a year. Since Woolies has more than 10% sales than -- grocery sales than Coles, we at Woolies kill over 1,600 a year from a tobacco as well. My question is a simple yes or no. With all your respect, do you think the Woolies Board has a moral courage to ban tobacco sales in the near future as Aldi does.

Shareholder, thank you for a very profound question. Through personal family experience and with another hat, I chair the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and have had personal family experience with cancer, it's a -- smoking is a scourge. The regulatory rules, environment, disclosures have all worked in as much as there is a precipitous decline in the amount of smoking in our community. So I personally have absolute sympathy with the point that you're raising. We face a dilemma. The dilemma is, there are still customers who wish themselves to make the choice of smoking despite that. We have, as a Board, contemplated the very action you've talked about, but feel that with the appropriate disclosures and packaging, the restrictions on selling and must be sold through our front -- with identification at the front sales desk that we are doing our bit to comply with the rules and regulations, but ultimately leaving it up to individuals to make their own decision. You do note that this is a very significant decline in our sales. And frankly, we're quite prepared to see cigarette sales trend to 0 over time. That's the reality we face into. So we have a dilemma. I have a very strong personal view on this, but we also have to look after the interest of customers who themselves choose to smoke.

My question was, does the Board have the moral courage to ban cigarette sales in the near future? That was the question. Because, as you know, dead customers can't buy cigarettes or groceries.

Well, we're not about to ban them. We're about to comply with the regulation and the answer is no, so we won't be banning them, but we will be complying with ever stronger regulation, and they are slowly -- not slowly, they are quickly banning themselves. Thank you, shareholder.

Chair, we have a question from shareholder, Tara Jones.

I'm Tara Jones, Program Manager Plastics and Packaging from the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Australia's leading national charity dedicated solely to protecting our precious ocean wildlife. Plastic pollution harms marine life through smothering, entanglement, starvation and reduced fertility. Plastic -- in Australia, packaging makes up 58% of litter collected during cleanups, which includes Woolworths branded products. Packaging can become pollution at each stage of its life cycle, including manufacturing, use and disposal. And research shows that as plastic production increases, so does plastic pollution. Woolworths reported a reduction of 3,200 tonnes of virgin plastic that is new plastic made from fossil fuels in the last financial year. However, this does not necessarily mean a reduction in the company's total plastic packaging use. My question is, will Woolworths commit to publishing data annually on how much plastic it uses overall starting with the 2025-26 sustainability report to provide shareholders and customers transparency about the company's contribution to plastic use and pollution.

Thank you, proxyholder for raising a very, very important issue, and it's one of our sustainability priorities. We have a lot more work to do. We know that our customers are very sensitive to this issue of packaging. And while we're proud of the fact that since 2018, we've taken 20,000 tonnes of virgin plastic out of our own brand and as you mentioned, 3,200 tonnes last year. And we're also proud of the fact that over 80% of our own brand product has packaging that can be recycled. There is a lot more to do. And the challenge is understand -- 2 challenges. Firstly is quantifying the amount of plastic that comes through our stores from not our own brand, but from vendor brands, and we continue to work with them to improve the visibility of that. So I can commit to you that we will continue to improve our disclosure around total packaging. But at this point, we don't have and can't get for all of the vendors who sell products to us, the precise breakdown of recyclability in their packaging mix. But we are working on it, and we would like to be able to do that. The second challenge we've got is a technology challenge. And we saw this in COVID, but there are certain products where customers really want the perceived and sometimes actual security of some form of see-through packaging, which ends up being plastic. Now in our own brands, we have been trialing use of much more cardboard and use of organic-based see-through films to be able to deliver that sort of functionality and protection to our customers. So we're up for this. It's one of the sort of 5 core focus areas going forward of our sustainability program. So I think we might hear from you again next year at the AGM. And hopefully, we'll have some more disclosure that might go some way to satisfying you.

I understand if Woolworths isn't able to disclose its vendor-branded product, plastic use. Is it able to commit to disclosing its own brand plastic packaging use next year in the sustainability report?

We'll look into that. I think there's a good reason we should be able to do that, but we'll look into that. Thank you.

Chair, I have a question from Julieanne Mills from the Australian Shareholders Association.

Welcome, Julieanne.

It's Julieanne Mills on behalf of the Australian Shareholders Association, here representing 800 shareholders and more than 2 million votes. Firstly, I'd just like to say that we support a lot of the views that Mr. Kingston was saying now that we appreciate you've had a really tough year, and we can see the turnaround. But apart from that, can we just talk about BIG W? BIG W has seen a number of years where there's been poor returns. You're now looking at committing to a new separate technology platform. Can you explain how this will provide a better outcome for BIG W? And how does a new IT system give you strategic optionality for BIG W?

Thank you, Julieanne. You're absolutely right. The performance in recent times of BIG W has not been satisfactory and I think nobody more passionately believes that than Dan Hake who runs that business reporting to -- directly to Amanda. So it's receiving a lot of attention. Pleasingly, the underlying customer metrics on BIG W have been improving. And you saw the Q1 sales that, again, I thought were a solid result, not just for the headline number, but for the improvement in the critical apparel category, which is really of the 4 major areas of BIG W, probably the one that we were underperforming most in, and it's pleasing to see that progress. The BIG W, it may look like a supermarket and -- but it's really quite different in terms of a supply chain. And what we felt after the strategic review was that it was important for BIG W to actually have an IT system that was fit for its purpose to drive its own productivity as a lever to improve performance. So that's what we've done by setting up a separate IT instance for BIG W. Yes, that will involve some investment of capital, but we believe there's a good return on that in the medium term.

Can I ask another question?

You can.

There's been a significant reorganization of the senior management since Amanda Bardwell became CEO. And Annette Karantoni, I hope I pronounced that right, has been appointed MD Woolworths Retail with broad responsibility. What is the thinking behind creating such a role or that new management structure? And can you perhaps talk to Ms. Karantoni's experience in that area?

Yes. So the underlying -- and I might pass to Amanda to add something. The underlying -- actually, why don't you go Amanda?

Yes. Thank you. So yes, we're absolutely delighted to have Annette net Karantoni lead W Retail business. Annette has extensive experience in retail and has been with us for decades at Woolworths Group and in fact, started in our meat department. And so from -- in terms of experience from a retail perspective, she has worked across a number of different parts of our group, including supply chain, a number of different buying and operations roles as well. So we're delighted to have Annette lead the group going forward for W Retail. Our intention was to simplify the way that we work. And previously, we had a number of different parts of what we would consider to be W retail now, reporting into different leaders, and it was creating a level of complexity. And so within retail, we now have our supermarkets business. We've bought our own brand business, which was reporting to a different leader into that same group so that we're able to have a more unified experience for our customers as they shop categories. We also had our meat business reporting somewhere else differently, and we've brought that into the W Retail Group alongside our metro business, which also was reporting to a different leader. And so we now have a simplified structure, really focused on our retail stores business under Annette. Thank you.

Chair, we have a question from Shannon.

Good morning, Chair. My name is Shannon Akers. I am representing Australian Ethical Investment. Our funds hold 2.8 million Woolworths shares worth $75 million. Woolworths has 4 shareholder requisitioned sustainability resolutions on the agenda this year, significantly more than its closest competitor, Coles, which has only 1. This disparity reflects growing investor concern about Woolworths' approach to sustainability. Woolworths is perceived to be backtracking on its no deforestation commitment by no longer classifying Australian beef as high risk, despite strong evidence that the beef sector is a leading driver of Deforestation in Australia. The company has not provided a consistent or credible explanation for this change. And as a result, Coles is now seen as overtaking Woolworths in its efforts to address deforestation in its supply chain. Coles is now also ahead on animal welfare, having made more progress on phasing out caged eggs and setting a clear deadline to reach 100% cage-free eggs in contrast to Woolworth's open-ended approach. On seafood sourcing, Coles has been more transparent and proactive acknowledging risks and taking steps such as reducing salmon sourced from Macquarie Harbor and trialing alternatives. So my question is, Woolworths has long been seen as a market leader with higher standards, including on sustainability, but these recent decisions suggest it may now be content to follow rather than lead. Is Woolworths choosing to compete on the lowest common denominator when it comes to environmental and ethical issues? And if that is not Woolworths' strategy, will the company take shareholder requisition resolutions as an opportunity to reflect on its current approach and commit to rebuilding trust with stakeholders?

Thank you for the question, shareholder. Frankly, nothing could be further from the truth across the board. I think you, as shareholders, should all be very proud of what has been achieved across our sustainability agenda. It is a vast and ambitious agenda that -- where Woolworths has taken numerous leadership positions and generated real value for the community. You referred to some specific matters that I think are quite poorly characterized, and I will address those under the shareholder resolutions in respect to farmed seafood and deforestation. But if your underlying question is, is Woolworths about to trade off the progress we've made on sustainability, are our standards changing. Nothing could be further from the truth. And I think when I address maybe the specific questions that are embedded in your question, farmed seafood, deforestation, I think you'll understand our position. So we have absolutely no plans, strategy or aspiration but to continue to play a meaningful and industry-leading role on the areas of sustainability that matter to us. So you will see, going forward, continued leadership in terms of disclosure and standards around climate because it's absolutely vital area for the Woolworths network. Last year, more than 100 days of operational disruption through our network because of climate change, floods, fires, storms. You will expect us to be playing a leadership role in respect of waste, circularity and recycling. We're very proud of the fact that we divert 84% of all of our expired food away from landfill and repurpose that through to meals to homeless people. You'll expect us to take a leadership role in terms of nutrition, where we lead the market in terms of own brand -- Health Star rated own brand sales. You would expect us to also play a leadership role in terms of the social impact of what we do. I'm very, very proud of this organization for the 100 Mini Woolies that set up throughout the country looking -- giving people with meaningful disability, the opportunity for work experience in a Mini Woolies supermarket set up on a school for special needs people. We now have 100 of them across the country. And I'm also very proud of the market-leading position acknowledged independently we have in terms of modern slavery in our supply chain as set out in our modern slavery report. So I think we can assuage your concerns but we would have a very different read of the circumstances in that picture you put together. And I'm going to address specifically some of these matters in the ensuing resolution discussion. Thank you, shareholder.

Noting that there's no resolution related to Coles' losses commitment around cage-free egg commitments. Any comment there?

Well, we have -- we've been very clear on our cage-free commitments. We're 100% cage-free in New Zealand. We're on that journey in Australia. I believe we're about 80%-something, but we had avian flu. So what Avian flu meant that we had to support some of our suppliers who are on this transition to cage-free. So there's no question about the destination.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Danielle Wood.

My name is Danielle and I reside above a Woolworths store in the eastern suburbs where there's 110 units. We love having Woolworths underneath us so handy. However, operations cause disturbance to residents from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., 7 days a week, except for public Holidays. The least Woolworths Group has with the owner of retail, favors retail over residential. This was negotiated before the first brick was laid. My question is with Sydney's increase in mixed-use development, what planning has been put in place to prevent residential in mixed use being negatively impacted, mainly due to lack of sleep and rest?

Thank you, shareholder. I would also invite you -- Ralph Kemler is in the audience here. There he is. To speak to Ralph in particular about any issues you might have with your particular store and our compliance with council regulations, right? So if you've got any specific issues, Ralph runs all of our property and leasing activities, and he'll be able to talk to you about that.

Okay.

The bottom line is it's actually very, very difficult for Woolworths to build mixed-use developments in city precincts because of the very stringent rules, quite rightly so, by the way, the council's place in and around the very matters you're talking about. So we don't set the rules. Councils set the rules and regulators set the rules. So I think genuinely, this is a subject which you're best to take up with your local council in respective of the way in which they authorize these developments. Of course, all of our large developments are open to attenuated public scrutiny and submissions from affected residents and you would obviously be more than entitled to express your views or anybody, any shareholder or any customer affected by one of our developments.

Just before I go, I had...

I did like to thank you for the plug as well. I did note you as well. Thank you.

I have been dealing with your Woolworths management over the last 5 years about this issue. The soundproofing was never done, although it was kicked off as being done, council approved it, and Woolworths have had to do that soundproofing. However, because it wasn't done prior to installation of equipment in the back room, it will never be what it should have been. So I'm happy to speak with Ralph.

Please do that because we don't want unhappy customers, and we set very, very high construction standards. So I'm sure Ralph will have -- will be able to clarify the situation.

I'm sure Ralph is probably aware of it anyway.

Chair, we have a question from shareholder, Jo Wright.

I'm a shareholder and also an employee, a team member. Did not have a prepared question because I promised myself I wasn't going to ask something this year, but anyway, you opened the door with regards to comments about safety in your report. And I'm starting to think that our store is perhaps on a different planet to what you're talking about. Last year, I wrote to you with regards to issues of safety that we were experiencing and you passed the baton to Ms. Bardwell to respond, which she did pretty much immediately, which is appreciated. This year, I wrote directly to Ms. Bardwell with evidence just featuring on our store and the issues we are having. And in the 12 months since, all I can say is nothing has improved. In fact, I think it's got worse. I'm just after a confirmation really from Ms. Bardwell that she's received that letter. And I suppose we're just continually hopeful of change. We're doing everything that we came from a store perspective from the department manager, the store manager, the group operations manager, and we are getting mixed messages, mixed responses but still no change. And from a personal perspective, this issue of safety became very personal for me this year, which I outlined in the letter to [ Ms. Gabel ] it's -- yes, there's been no change. And I'm not sure why -- none of us understand why? And it doesn't seem that there's any consequences for what's happening. And so unless somebody gets fired from a perspective, that will do it. And whether that's at a store level, a mid-level or a top level, not suggesting any member of the Board. I'm just suggesting that the person that's in-charge of these pallets going out to the stores, if there's no repercussions there, then it just falls down through the line.

So thank you for expressing those views. As you'd appreciate, shareholder and team members as an Annual General Meeting. And I think that is anything pertaining to either your employment or particular store condition, especially because you've written to Amanda, I would invite Amanda and you to connect to discuss that in particular. I am very aware shareholder that we have had intense focus on the store given the issues you raised last year and during the course of the year. And my understanding there have been more than 10 meetings on various issues relating to the store. So we are certainly listening -- and as you will have seen, I think, outlined in our annual report, and I've spoken to it today, the health and safety focus and the uplift in results, the rigor of training and the overall safety environment has been truly something that I think has been recognized externally, and we are actually very pleased with that progress. To the extent that I'm hearing that there are safety issues in your store that concerns me, but I would invite you to pick that up with Amanda. Thank you for expressing them.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Mindy Woods.

My name is Mindy Woods. I'm proud Bundjalung Woman and Native Food Chef. The native food industry, $160 million and booming industry. And despite your reconciliation action plan across the group, we're still seeing a lack of representation of our beautiful foods on your grocery store shelves. So I'd like to ask a question of what's being done to address investment into First Nations growers and producers to address this critical gap.

I love this question. I really think there's something in this. And I am sure we could be doing a better job. 55,000 years of provenance, properties, flavor profile, there's got to be something in here for us. We have -- are of course, proud of some of the other areas of progress we have made with indigenous procurement now over $30 million. And we were actually a finalist, the only large retailer, finalist for Supplier of the Year at Supply Nation, which I personally attended, a real area of passion. And there are pockets of excellence around. I think it's [indiscernible] coffee, Dreamtime Tuka right? But there's more we can be doing. And inspiring your chef. I am. Inspiring chefs like yourself, I think, can probably teach us a lot. So I would really encourage you to connect with -- maybe it's Annette and the team and to share your wisdom because Woolies is all about unique products. And they're all about products that customers fall in love with. We've got to get that ramp up. So I would encourage you to share your voice and your wisdom and expertise. So thank you for raising it.

Chair. I have a question from shareholder, [ Jade Marks ].

Hello. I'd just like to say what are you doing about AI because that seems to be the buzzword? And I'd also like to say I really appreciate that you do recycle the food. I think that's a brilliant value. I've got a lot of Scottish blood, so we love being frugal. And also, with the BIG W's thing, assuming H&M recycle clothes, have you ever thought of doing that and maybe turning the clothes into felt or something and then -- and applying the AI into recycling as well?

I'm going to invite you to take that up with Dan Hake, if you could put your hand up, Dan. I don't know whether we actually haven't recycled clothing. But Dan is going to speak to you about it, and if you can share the thoughts. So yes, AI a gigantic topic. We happen to have a Board meeting almost hopefully not quite, but a very significant part of our Board meetings this week were devoted to AI. We've got over 80% of all of our team members engaging in some way with AI today. So it's a foundational capability that will, over time, I think, transform and improve much of what Woolworths' is capable of doing. We already use AI quite extensively in the business, working out the best promotional structure, how to roster people in the best manner, various other pricing dynamics and the way in which we measure customer response to points offers. So there are a number of areas where AI is in place. I think we are in a very good position to, in a careful and considered way, benefit from AI. The data foundations and underpinnings of Woolworths are very, very strong and various AI partners that we speak to validate that for us. So we're just really thinking very carefully about how fast we go and that speed will accelerate. Those applications that can truly improve not only productivity but the customer experience. If you go online and speak with Olive, our customer service agent, a bot online, it's all powered by AI. So I think you'll be hearing a lot more about AI going forward. We think it's got significant potential for the group, not just to make us more efficient, but to improve actually the work experience and satisfaction of our employees as well.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Roger Johns.

Just a quick I think -- a couple of things. We've got this beautiful reports up here. Before the meeting, could we actually have like an every day -- a day in the life of Woolworths Limited. So that shareholders can get some perspective, like we say, supply chain, why can we have some on the DC centers and the actual chain to the stores. Going on the stores problem with the noise in that, in the U.K. they've studied noise. We've got -- I realized that it's not just that [indiscernible] store. There's other stores that have noise problems. It might be that with Woolworths who handle with the fleet contractors to actually establish some noise levels with these trucks? And also the refrigeration units with these trucks because in the U.K. and Europe, I think they've got standards for that, noise standards. Also on the supply -- on the DCs, do they actually -- does Woolworths actually use the rail transport industry for carrying any of their products?

Okay. Thank you, shareholder, for those questions. I think it's quite a good idea, the day in the life of. In the annual report, you'll see and also in the sustainability report is a decent chunk of that, which looks through our entire value chain, and I'd encourage you to have a look at that, but there might be something more in it. In terms of noise levels, there absolutely are noise curfews that apply and restrict the time of truck arrivals. It's a sort of a commonplace regulatory threshold and standard that we must comply with. Thank you for those questions, shareholder.

Chair, I have a final question from shareholder, Natasha Lee.

Bring us home, Natasha.

Just very quickly, look, I'm a great fan of your rewards points as well. The only minor gripe about is that sometimes you have kind of vague wording like selected items, and it's very difficult to actually identify which items qualify for those bonus points. You have a little icon saying like, click for more details. But when I click it, all I get is a bigger picture of the things, so I can only identify the products in the photograph. So if you could work on that to actually kind of list the types of items, which qualify for those bonus points would be appreciated. The other thing is on your kind of climate risk and stuff. There wasn't specifically anything about sort of perishability of the products. Now you talk about being fresh foods and stuff. Now obviously, with climate change, there is the potential for the shelf life or even in the transport of goods for it to be diminished because of the impacts of climate change. So I just thought you should address that explicitly.

Thank you, Natasha. We'll take away your wording point. Your point on temperature control, supply chain, the impact of climate change on produce is a very important one. We have undertaken studies -- early studies as to how various climate scenarios might change the face of Australian agriculture as to parts of the country that become more or less suitable for growing the produce protein that they currently do. So it's a very important point and one that we are quite alert to. So thank you very much.

Chair, I apologize. I do have one final question from shareholder, Roger Johns.

I think another thing with this -- I'd like to know if you actually embrace innovation because we talk about HI, I mean, AI, we've got HI in the human intelligence, and that's what we should be harvesting for some of the particular problems the company has got like the plastics problem, like wrapping around pallets and that. I think that really the company could have some kind of a notification, we're looking at solution to this problem and giving some inducements to some employees to offer these -- some innovative ideas to this. And this would probably help along. Just one thing is we're in refrigerated. With the company's cloud in the refrigerated industry, we could even have it to the stage where the use by date is on the barcode. And that means that we're tracking the life of the product in there and also the use by date.

Great. Thank you very much for those questions, shareholder. I can assure you, actually, Woolworths is a highly innovative company, and that's just not what we think. We spend a lot of time with international retailers, have a lot of joint projects through a shared venture fund with 4 or 5 of the world's leading retailers. So there is a very active agenda and I think quite a proud track record of innovation. Amanda, in her prior job, really oversaw the building of our entire digital and e-commerce business, which I think is widely seen to be the market leader here in terms of overall sales, but also just tracking through the various innovations that led to that growth. In store, Rob McCartney is here. And if you wanted, shareholder, to go and speak to him about innovation, he'll have your ear for a couple of hours, I can assure you. We've got trolley innovation. Smart trolley is in trial at the moment. We've been trialing video technology in stores. I think we were one of the first retailers in the world to work with Everseen on video technology to try and prevent theft at checkout so that we understood when people were not declaring what was scanning, the technology depersonalized was identifying the items that were failing to be scanned. And I could go on. So I think there's a rich history of innovation, a real culture to embrace it with a strong financial discipline as well because we don't want just all bright shiny things. They have to make a difference. That was a vote for you, Steve. So there we go. Thank you, shareholder. Are we ready to go on to online.

I apologize. I have 2 more questions.

Right. Okay.

Thank you. I'd like to invite up Julieanne Mills again from the Australian Shareholders' Association.

Immediately after the Federal Court decision on underpayments, you estimated that the cost of the company could be as much as $750 million pretax. This is not an insignificant amount and underpayments have been an ongoing issue for a number of years, now with significant payments already made. How and why does this miscalculation of pay occur? And yes.

Thank you, Julieanne for the question. As you'll be aware, all shareholders in 2019, we self-reported to the regulatory agencies that we had discovered an error in our payment system. And we set about very assiduously getting to the bottom of it. A huge amount of effort was done in understanding the root cause, remediating our systems, reporting publicly about it, and we have repaid almost everything that we believe we have owed to our employees. And as of today, I don't believe we had a single employee complaint around that process. It was a monumental effort and one that I think actually ended up building quite a lot of trust with our employees just by the way in which we handled it, and I want to call out the work of our prior CEO, Brad Banducci, on this, championed now by Amanda and overseen by Karen Katz, our CPO, some quite extraordinary work done in that regard. When the court decision came out a bit over a month ago, and I'm limited as to what I can say because it's a live piece of litigation. But I think the retail industry and certainly, we were genuinely surprised by elements of that decision that represented a significant departure from accepted practice in retail. And there are some quite detailed judgments that we made in remediating our employees on which we got external legal advice, obviously, that led to us completing that remediation process. Those legal judgments on interpretations of various clauses, including set off overtime, meal breaks has surprised the industry. So there is a lot of water to go under the bridge on this topic. Because we have check-in, check-out data, and we capture that for our employees, we had no choice but to report the potential range of impacts from that preliminary court decision, which is what we reported to the stock exchange some period of time. But there was a lot of water to go under the bridge, and that's really all I can say on the topic.

Okay. So you don't actually have any further updates as far as...

Chairman, I have a question from shareholder [ Wolfgang Schwartz ].

Most of us who are Rewards members, once you shop and you swipe your card and then you pay with credit card. And once you get home within 10 minutes, you get site of an e-mail and tells you to buy this and this Woolies knows exactly what you bought every item and they send it in different offers. So first is the question, when I joined this Rewards program a long time ago, you have our e-mails, our telephone number, our addresses, our name everything. How safe is our data with you seeing all the hacks that you have had, different companies experience. So what I have done lately, maybe I shouldn't do it, I just put $100 in I pay cash. It's anonymous. They don't know who I am, and I don't get the e-mails anymore, any offers either. But the question is basically the safety of the data that you hold from all those who are in the Rewards program.

It's a very good question, shareholder. So we, of course, invite our customers to opt into our loyalty scheme in order to provide that information and in order to receive the offers and all the benefits of that loyalty scheme. Rest assured, we take this issue incredibly seriously. And one of the core focuses of our IT regular updates, we had one yesterday in the Risk Committee that also focuses on cyber, and that also goes to the Board as well is the security of our customer data. It's absolute prime importance to us. So when we think about where that data is stored, who has access to that data, the quality of the infrastructure that supports that data, how long we keep that data, we believe we have very good practice around the security of that, so much so that I would encourage you to take your Everyday Rewards card out and scan again. For the minimum period that we are required to, which I believe is 7 years. 7 years, I think it is. Thank you, shareholder. If there are no more questions in the room, I'll turn online to questions.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Christopher Harkin. Recently traveled to Bendigo and went to BIG W Bendigo. It appears that the store has been recently updated. The store is bright and modern much better than the stores in Ballarat and Geelong well done to the Bendigo team. The map on the floor at the entrance is really helpful and should be repeated in other stores, will other stores be updated like the one in Bendigo?

So yes, thank you for the question, shareholder. And yes, we have been in a very careful way working with Dan and the team, upgrading our BIG W network. Of course, that is dependent on the financial returns. So we are pleased with some of the results from recent renewals, and you'd expect that those are sustained and we can generate the right returns that there will be continued renewal program within BIG W. But thank you for the observations. I'm sure Dan and the team will take that back.

Chair, I had a question from shareholder, Stephen Main. At the close of trade last night, Sigma, the owner of Chemist Warehouse, had a market capitalization of $35.6 billion, $2.7 billion more than Woolworths on $32.9 billion. Surely, it is time for the arcane restrictions on pharmacy to be lifted now that Chemist Warehouse has gained the system to reach a market share of close to 50%. What are we doing to lobby governments to allow more pharmacy products to be sold in our supermarkets? And does the CEO agree Chemist Warehouse has gained the system, taking substantial value away from the likes of Woolworths and Coles.

So I don't think we'll take this -- I think it's a very good question. There's quite a detailed obviously, response required to really get into the nitty-gritty of pharmacy regulation that is quite arcane in Australia and differs by state by state. Needless to say, we closely look at those regulations and consider whether we can compete. There is a real impediment for us to be able to do that just given the way the regulations are set up in pharmacy ownership. So I will take that question on notice. I don't know, Amanda, if you wanted to add anything to the question?

Look, I think I would just add and say that we recognize that the everyday need space and particularly personal care category has become increasingly competitive. That does mean that Woolworths too needs to become even more competitive in terms of our price and offer. We have an incredible advantage in the sense of the number of customers that do visit our stores each and every week. And so the way that we're thinking about it is how do we continue to improve our offer so that customers choose us first. Thank you.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Christopher [ Harke ] according to the annual report on Page 108, the current -- total current assets were only about 57% of total current liabilities. Had all inventories, $4.1 billion being sold on balance date and used to pay trade payables of $8 billion, the company would have had 0 stock but still owed around $4 billion for trade payables. What steps have the auditors taken to satisfy themselves that the current -- the coverage of current liabilities is sufficient? Can the Board explain how such a low coverage of current liabilities is appropriate? What steps are management taking to improve this situation?

Thank you for the question, shareholder. This is a common feature of supermarkets globally. This is a common feature of supermarkets globally. And it really reflects the very fast stock turn we have and our payment cycle. So us, like many, many supermarkets operate with negative working capital, which actually isn't a bad thing because the auditors, of course, consider solvency and our ability to meet our liabilities during the course of their audit report. So there's no solvency question that's addressed through the audit and you get the comfort of that through the audit report. There's no mismanagement issue. That's simply the benefits of working in a business that has extremely fast stock turn where our payment terms to our suppliers enable us for the liabilities to exceed assets. So there's nothing really to be concerned about the shareholder. If you wanted to ask any more detailed questions in respect of industry practice, I would invite you to connect with Stephen Harrison, our CFO.

Chair, I have a question from stakeholder [ Blake Furman ]. Are lower shelf prices going to be reviewed? For example, in 2024, Woolworths Corned Beef was reduced to $8 per kilo from $10 per kilo, and now it is at $10 per kilo. Prior of price dropped winter. It was cheaper than current price. So is that product really a lower shelf price?

So lower shelf prices are proving to be a very important mechanic to showcase our price competitiveness and build trust with customers. So we absolutely need to deliver reliable, well-targeted, sustainable value to our customers. What the shareholder -- and it's a very good question. What the shareholder, I think, is referring to is we've been through also a period of significant inflation, really going through COVID. Thankfully, it's been tapering. And I think now we've had -- correct me if I'm wrong, Amanda, it might be 8 quarters, 7 quarters of reducing inflation over time. So these prices coming down. Under the Grocery Code, of course, we need to, in good faith, consider supplier requests. If they're facing significant cost increases, then as we carefully consider those, we pass those on to customers with regret. So I think without knowing the specifics of the corned beef market, I am aware that during this period of time, there was significant price inflation in beef, and you probably have all seen that in supermarkets with the price of minced, for example, which probably explained that underlying movement in that intervening period. Thank you, shareholder.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, [ Gee Do ], especially in the context of team simplification and cost saving as well as in light of the concern of being too corporate as having been raised in a previous question. What has been and will be implemented to manage workplace law risk such as the general protection contravention case lost to [ Ralph ] in 2022?

So as we -- thank you for the question, shareholder. As we implement any changes to our workplace and obviously, there are -- with simplification changes, what we're trying to do is to give people a greater sense of empowerment, enable better decisions to be made and make those decisions quicker. Any time that we are undertaking significant change in our workplace, we are, of course, very mindful of our obligations that we owe to our workforce under the various agreements and awards that govern those relationships. So they're all carefully considered in the context of making any of these changes. Thank you, shareholder.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Christopher Hakan, with joint shareholding with Stephen Hart. The new Woolworths store at Charlemont VIC is a positive contrast to some other stores in the Geelong and Southwest Victoria region. What are the company's plans to freshen up some of the older stores?

Thank you for the question, shareholder. Store renewals are a topic that are close to all of our heart. They transform the customer experience. They're great for the community. It creates a real buzz when Woolies reopens with new products and a better shopping experience. So we have been progressively renewing the entire fleet, and we're probably about 2/3 of the way through that. But there's still more to do, and we do those to improve customer experience, but also to generate a good return. So while I can't comment on the particulars of the Geelong precinct and the renewal sequence there, I would offer the shareholder a connection with Rob McCartney, who can give additional color on the particular state of renewal plan in that area. Thank you for the question.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Blake Furman. Regarding speaker, it says that current and former team members can report issues involving code of conduct, et cetera. But recently, a former team member reported a big issue that happened but due to duration of events, it has been closed and the team member feels they have not been heard even though the team member has evidence.

So thank you for the question, shareholder. We take speaking up incredibly seriously. We have very, very strict legal liabilities around the speaking up process. We receive training as a Board about it, and I know that our teams take it very seriously. It's reported in detail to the Board. We understand speak-up trends. We understand the composition of various speak-up matters. We understand consequence management. So I'm very surprised to hear that there would be a speak-up case where somebody doesn't feel that they have been heard. I would encourage that employee to resubmit a speak-up matter through the established channels we have, and I'm sure that will be considered. But that's certainly at odds with what we as a Board see and what we track with, I think, a fine degree of detail.

Chair, I have a question from a shareholder, Blake Furman. Due to safety issues that do occur within stores, teams are struggling due to demand, especially in fresh and online, not having enough team members to compete with the expectations within the in-store structure. With the in-store structure in line with rising demand be looked at again to make sure teams don't need to work unpaid periods, including management.

Thank you for the questions, shareholder. I can assure you that nobody is -- we understand our rosters. We understand check-in, check-out. We understand hourly pay. We understand best better off overall tests as it relates to grade and salaried employees, we take this very seriously. So any underpayment situation that, that might -- you might be indicating would be something that I would very much encourage you to communicate with Karen Katz or through speak up or directly to the Board or to Amanda. So there's no -- it should be no question on that. We absolutely consider as part of annual budgeting, but more importantly, day-to-day trading rhythms, the way in which sales present themselves intra-week to make sure we've got the right amount of labor, the right team, the right time, the right task in our retail stores. There's nothing worse than getting -- as we do the whole time, a voice of customer score from a store which has had insufficient labor to actually make the store well presented and to deliver on our customer service promise. We're very incentivized to get labor at the right time, doing the right job. So yes, we do reconsider it. Actually, it's a topic that Amanda and I have been talking about in respect of the peak summer trading. It's a specific topic. So I think the shareholder can rest assure that who might be an employee as well. I'm not sure, but that we will -- all of -- we are very aligned in our incentives to deliver the right amount of labor for the right customer outcome. We've invested a lot in the systems and processes that enable us to determine what -- when we should have labor in stores to match item demand and item velocity.

Chair, I have a final online question for this item from shareholder [ Eddie Go ]. As a shareholder for the last 30 years, I was wondering, is there any chance for the share price to go back to $40? Or are you saying, just keep on dreaming, where it stands now is really depressing?

I've got to be -- I'll have the lawyers all over the answer to this question. But given the question was, is there any chance to go back to $40, the answer, shareholder, is yes. We're very, very focused on that. Thank you very much. There are no more questions in the room. I will now conclude discussion on Item 1. Thank you. I can confirm that the financial report and the report of the directors and external auditor for the year ended 29/2025, have now been received. The next item of business is to consider the remuneration report, which is set out on Pages 80 to 103 of the 2025 Annual Report. This is an advisory resolution that gives shareholders the opportunity to provide feedback on the group's remuneration policies. The remuneration report sets out the details of the company's remuneration framework and the remuneration arrangements in place with the Directors, Managing Director and CEO and other key management personnel. I now invite questions on Resolution 2. Are there any questions in the room? If there are no...

I apologize. I have a question from -- Julieanne Mills from the Australian Shareholders Association.

Thank you, Chair. The ASA would like to comment on why we decided to vote against your remuneration report. Essentially, it's due to the one-off accelerator incentives that were introduced in December. While these one-off payments may help motivate staff and encourage fast improvements, they arise largely from poor planning and oversight by the Board, including the reputational and operational consequences of prior decisions. Importantly, shareholders were not asked to approve these payments. We appreciate it has been a tough year with many distractions and not all of that difficulty is down to the Board or management. However, executives should be compensated and incentivized within the parameters of existing shareholder approved remuneration policy. Can you please justify going beyond that policy by adding these extra payments?

Thank you for the question, Julieanne. Let us go back to December when this award was put in place. The clear feedback that we had from our shareholders and the clear mandate that Amanda brought to the Board and we totally supported was to invest quickly to restore momentum and sales trading and confidence, frankly, in the business that had emerged from a period of quite some significant operational and reputational disruption. It was at a time where it was clear that other financial metrics in the STI were unlikely to vest. So what was put in place was a very targeted set quite modest to 150 people in the organization around some very specific things that we wanted to achieve in the next 6 months and the 12 months thereafter. One of which was the simplification program for the second half of the year to get that up and running and validated, and the team did a good job of that, moved very swiftly on it, and that was recognized in the Accelerator payout. The other part of the Accelerator payout was H2 EBIT that was not reached. So overall, the Accelerator was complementary to STI, modest in size, well distributed and deep into the organization and reflected the very priorities that we were hearing both from our shareholders, but also -- and principally, from Amanda and the management team as to what was needed in the short term to really start to kick start the momentum. I know we had a detailed discussion on this when we met with yourself, and so I hope that adequately answers your question. If there are no more questions in the room, I'll turn now to online questions.

I apologize, Chair. I have a question from a shareholder, Mr. Vincent.

Welcome shareholder, apologies cutting you off there.

I've been to a lot of annual general meetings, and this is the first one I've been to where you can't get a hard copy of the Annual Report. I'm just wondering if in the future, you could please make hard copies of the annual report available. It's fine for us to read them on the screen in our office, but when we come here, it's a little hard on the phone.

Yes. Sorry about that, shareholder, we'll get that sorted. There are no more questions in the room. I'll turn now to online questions.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Stephen Mayne. Thank you for offering a best practice hybrid AGM that could chair Scott Perkins, please explain why he doesn't do the same at Origin Energy, which he also chairs? Also, will you follow the lead of Qantas, Suncorp, Tabcorp, Stockland, ASX Group, Computershare, Myer and many other companies by disclosing how many of the 370,000 retail shareholders voted for and against this remuneration report item like at the scheme meeting? This will make public Woolworths retail shareholder sentiment on issues like remuneration and forestry practices rather than having the voting results dominated by U.S.-based index funds and the likes of Australian Super. Such disclosure will also stimulate further retail shareholder participation. Last year, you rejected this request, why? You have the data, so please let the sunshine in on Australia's chronically low retail shareholder voting rights.

Right. Thank you, Stephen, for your question. On the first bit of it, I would invite you to direct those questions to Origin Energy. It's a Woolworths meeting. But -- so I'll leave you to do that. On the second question, I have to confess, we have not considered that point recently in the last 12 months. So I will take that on notice. I would encourage you to Dom Millgate, our Company Secretary, on your perspectives on it. And I assure you, we will consider that for the next AGM. I'm just really not that well equipped to answer that question. So please don't think I'm shirking it. Last year was a no. This year is -- let's properly consider the arguments. And furthermore, Stephen and I'll be more than happy to meet with you and discuss the pros and cons and get your perspective first hand.

Chair, I am showing no more online questions for this item.

Thank you. That concludes the discussion on Resolution 2. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you have not yet lodged your vote for this item of this business, please do so now. The proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the screen. I intend to vote all open proxies in favor of this item. A voting exclusion applies to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting. I will now move to the reelection of Board-endorsed Nonexecutive Directors, Jennifer Carr-Smith, Kathee Tesija as well as the election of Ken Meyer as a Board endorsed director. The process for nomination of directors standing for election and reelection involves an assessment by the Board of the relevant directors' skills, expertise and his or her performance and contribution to the Board during their term and in particular, over the last 12 months. The results of this assessment form the basis of the Board's recommendation to shareholders. Having followed that process, the Board other than each candidate in respect of their own candidacy, unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the reelection of Jennifer and Kathee as well as the election of Ken to the Board of Woolworths Group. I will start with Agenda Item 3A, the resolution to reelect Jennifer Carr-Smith as a Nonexecutive Director. Jennifer retires by rotation at this meeting and offers herself for reelection. Jennifer has served on the Board for over 6 years and has extensive experience and leading retail consumer businesses, including across the food and grocery sectors. She has a track record of building and scaling companies, disrupting incumbent businesses and online retail operating experience that both leverages digital, data and technology. Jennifer continues to provide a valuable contribution to the Board. Details of Jennifer's biographical information are set out in the notice of meeting. Before turning to questions, I invite Jennifer to say a few words in relation to her reelection.

Thank you, Scott, and good afternoon, everybody. It has been a pleasure and a privilege for me to serve on the Woolworths Group Board for the past 6 years, and I appreciate the opportunity to present to you myself as a candidate for reelection. During my tenure, I'm proud to have worked with my fellow directors and the Woolworths' management team. I've been committed to ensuring that we evolve for the changing needs of our customers that we balance cost control for today, with investments for tomorrow. And we continue to support our team members through the many challenges in the retail environment. I'm particularly proud of the work our sustainability committee has undertaken and the progress we have made across all topics on that agenda. This is leading the way for Australia, New Zealand and also across the globe. Looking ahead, we are at a pivotal moment for the company, and I look forward to working with my Board colleagues with Amanda with the executive team to develop and execute on our strategic agenda. I commit to providing prudent guidance, oversight and ensuring that we stay true to our values, which make Woolworths Group such a strong and trusted organization. As a Nonexecutive Director, I bring 25 years of experience in retail, e-commerce and operations and have been a CEO and a COO in both large and small businesses. I worked across the grocery and food sectors, including current board roles in agriculture, protein and dairy. As U.S. national, I also bring an international perspective to contribute to a variety of topics. Since retiring from my executive career, I've participated in Boards and currently, Woolworths Group is my primary commitment. I can assure you that I have the time, the capacity, the passion and the energy to continue to serve and meet my Board and committee obligations. And I thank you for your support for my reelection.

Thank you, Jennifer. I now invite questions on Resolution 3A. Are there any questions in the room? .

Chair, we have a question from shareholder, David Kingston.

My comments are in relation to all 3 of the directors being proposed for reelection. Look, we all look to see these of all 3 are excellent. So a great opportunity to draw upon those CVs. And we all understand the power of America. It has 5% of the world's population. It contributes 25% of the world's GDP, and it's got about 2/3 of the world's stock market capitalization. So how is that for disproportionate. However, Chair, picking up on my issue earlier of is Woolworths at risk of becoming too corporate. It is surprising that the 3 excellent candidates up for election today are all American. I'm not sure whether they live here or live overseas. And I totally respect their excellent talent. And I totally respect the huge relevance of America to contribute trends to Australia and the benefit of it. It's just surprising Chair, that you're putting the 4 shareholders today, 3 Americans for reelection. I appreciate your thoughts on that. Thank you.

Thank you, shareholders, and thank you for the balanced way you raised that issue. If I am in -- with Walmart, with Loblaws, with H-E-B, with Tesco, with Ahold, with Carrefour, we could be having a discussion on rewards, own brand, promotional depth, in-store technology, adjacent businesses, retail has rapidly become a global game. And hence, the relationships that we have with global retailers, we get a lot out of it, and we also contribute a lot to it. That didn't really used to be the case. So when it comes to making -- to adding directors to the Board who've got deep retail experience at scale because let's face it, there aren't a large number of at-scale retailers in Australia. We, of course, look to best practice overseas. And that best practice delivers, I think, has delivered to Woolworths' great insight over the years. So I think your question is quite reasonable. But I think the underlying reason why we as a Board and our shareholders, I think you'll see regardless as a positive, is that as retailers become more global, we are getting the best of the globe around the Woolworths Board. Now balancing that, myself, Maxine, Phil, Warwick, Tracey are all residents here. So there is a strong local anchor to the Board to ensure we stay -- have our finger on the touch in terms of the local market nuances conditions that is so important to Woolworths' performance and future prospects. So thank you for the question.

Chair, I have a question from Julieanne Mills from the Australian Shareholders Association.

Thank you, Chair. I'd just like to support the same view as the previous speaker. But also, we would like to thank Holly for her contribution to the Board. And over the years, we've had a wonderful relationship with her and just appreciate the efforts. Holly has had a long history in the retail industry in Australia, and you are replacing her with Ken, who we're very excited by. We appreciate his experience. But again, we also had that concern around having 3 American directors on the Board and actually understanding the -- having sort of people in the room that actually are in Australia and understand the nuances around the market. So that is a concern for us, especially given the rep track scores that you've had of late. So it's not really -- the question I suppose is, would you please consider replacing the next director with an Australian Director?

Thank you, Julieanne. I believe I've answered that question.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, [ Bruce Bennett ].

Thank you. Chair. As a long-term shareholder, I'm very impressed with how the company is performing and having gone through a lot of the period of when we had to divest of the Endeavour Group and all the other things, which has been a very -- it's good now that we're focusing back on our core food and vegetables. But in terms of the directors, I just would like to know how do we ensure that directors' interests align with shareholders? And is there a minimum shareholding that the Board requires for directors to have to ensure that their interest to, in fact, align with those with other shareholders?

It's a very good question, shareholder. Thank you. And there absolutely is a minimum shareholding requirement that over time, we allow directors to build up to a period of time. They must hold 100% of their base fees in Woolworths stock. Thank you for the question. If there are no more questions in the room, I'll turn now to online questions.

Chair, I have an online question that is more general in nature regarding AI, would you like it at this time?

Okay. Doesn't sound like a rem question, but I don't think it's going to be a better time. So let's do that.

Chair, this question comes from shareholder, [ Xidu ]. Given the application of AI in online advertisement, pricing and sales, and there have been public issues regarding promotion practices. Have there been any efforts, initiatives, measures or plans about AI safety? By AI safety, I mean the possibility that an AI system itself might make bad decisions. For example, if an AI is in control of pricing and/or specials, setting prices or promotions.

Thank you for the question. It builds on the answer I gave to the earlier shareholder question, which is more broadly directed at AI. So absolutely considerations around AI security. The data that is or isn't shared with the AI agent, AI LLMs that we might be using, how AI manifests itself in terms of practical customer advice are very front of mind. So I think the shareholders' question is a completely fair one and certainly forms part of our AI deliberations.

Chair, there are no further online questions for this item.

Thank you. That concludes discussion on Resolution 3A. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you've not yet lodged your vote for this item of business, please do so now. The proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the screen. I intend to vote all open proxies in favor of this item. I'll now move to agenda Item 3(b), the resolution to reelect Kathee Tesija as a Nonexecutive Director. Kathee retires by rotation at this meeting and offers herself for reelection. Kathee has served on the Board since 2016 and has extensive retail experience in the U.S. market. Her international insights into consumer behavior across retail markets, practical operating experience leading the merchandising and supply chain functions for a very large international retailer and an understanding of strategy, digital and data has enabled her to continue to make a valuable contribution to the Board. Details of Kathee's biographical information are set out in the notice of meeting. Before turning to questions, I invite Kathee to say a few words in her best Australian accent in relation to her reelection.

Thank you, Scott, and you're not going to like my Australian accent. Good afternoon, everyone. I am seeking your support for reelection to the Woolworths' Board, and I want to share why I believe my experience and my passion make me the right person to help guide the company forward. My executive experience spans over 3 decades at U.S.-based Target Corporation. I've lived and breathed retail from many different angles, leading commercial teams across stores and digital platforms, overseeing sourcing, product design and development and supply chain as well as merchandising operations, but more than the operational expertise. What drives me is something really fundamental, truly understanding what consumers and customers want and need, then delivering shopping experiences that meet them where they are. We all know the reality that Woolworths Group has faced significant challenges these past few years. But I've seen firsthand that challenges are also opportunities for transformation. What matters now is our commitment to improvement and I'm absolutely committed to that work alongside this Board and management team. The retail landscape is evolving rapidly, including changes in consumer behavior and expectations regarding value and convenience. The balance between physical and digital experiences aren't just trends, they are foundations for our future success. This is where my passion lies, translating consumer insights into tangible value and real convenience for our customers. Woolworths Group serves millions of Australians and New Zealanders every week. This is both a privilege and a responsibility. With your support, I'm ready to continue bringing my experience, my customer-first perspective and my unwavering commitment to creating value for our customers and shareholders. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Kathee. I now invite questions on Resolution 3(b) Are there any questions in the room. If there are no questions in the room at this time, I'll turn to online questions.

Chair, there are no online questions for this item.

That concludes discussion on Resolution 3(b). Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you've not yet lodged your vote for this item of business, please do so now. The proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the screen. I intend to vote all open proxies in favor of this item. I will now move to agenda Item 3(c), the resolution to elect Ken Meyer as a Nonexecutive Director. Ken was appointed as a director on 1 October 2025 and accordingly seeks election by shareholders under the ASX listing rules and the company's constitution. Ken brings extensive food retail experience to the Board having spent 24 years at Whole Foods Market, a U.S.-based grocery chain known for its high-quality fresh food, in-store experience and customer service. He played a key role in the growth of Whole Foods to more than 500 stores across the U.S. and U.K. and its eventual sale to Amazon. The Board considers Ken's extensive experience in food and grocery retail including leadership and retail operations, supply chain and fresh food innovation, aligns with the Board's focus on retail excellence and fresh food and further strengthens the mix of skills and experience on the board. Detail of Ken's biographical information is set out in the notice of meeting. Before turning to questions, I invite Ken to say a few words in relation to his election.

Thank you, Scott, and good morning, everyone. It's great to be here. I do not have an Australian accent, but I am very passionate about learning about everything Australia. So it's an honor to be nominated to the Board of Woolworths Group. I'm deeply grateful for the confidence placed in me and for the opportunity to contribute to one of Australia's most enduring companies. Woolworths is currently at an exciting inflection point, continuing to lead fresh foods, strengthening its omnichannel presence, deepening sustainability commitments and ensuring supply chain resilience in an evolving retail environment. My own career, dedicated to food retail and innovation, I spent 24 years at Whole Foods Market, ultimately serving as Executive Vice President of Operations of North America and the U.K. During that time, I helped drive the company's expansion in fresh food innovation and the integration with Amazon, gaining a deep understanding of operations, culture, customer experience all intersecting to create long-term value. As an executive partner of Shore Capital, I continue to work with management teams across the food and beverage sector, guiding growth, transforming digital in operational excellence. I also have cofounded Primo Fair, which works with international food brands entering new markets, reflecting my passion to connecting consumers to quality and innovation. I believe this combination of operational experience, investment insight, international experience and perspective aligns closely with Woolworth's strategy and enduring purpose. I look forward to supporting the Board and management as we build the group's strong foundations to deliver sustainable growth, community impact and long-term shareholder value. Thank you very much. And by the way, I typically, wear a tie once a year for shareholder meetings. So in my life, it's been a very much different casual environmental address. So just as a side note, sir. Thank you.

Thank you, Ken. I now invite questions on Resolution 3(c).

Chair, we have a question from David Kingston.

Thank you. It may be a challenging question, Ken, because you're the new person, but sometimes the new person can look at things objectively without any historical connection. But look, we're all concerned about BIG W. It's had a write-down this year impairment of $346 million, it's been a laggard for many years. There have been chronic excuses coming out periodically. The annual report and the presentation talk about it's going to migrate to more an e-commerce platform. Again, I'd just be interested in your views as the newcomer as to Americans are known for being fairly clinical, perform or cut. Just on your views about whether BIG W is worthwhile continuing with clearly in that space. Kmart is shooting the lights out. Target struggling. The Chinese sites are doing very well. It's very competitive. So I'm not particularly critical. It's just in a difficult space. But I just hear every year, excuses about Kmart, about BIG W, and is it time to take the axe to it?

Thank you, shareholder. I think it's entirely unfair to ask Ken to comment on that, having just arrived at the Board. And given this is -- this resolution is about his election, I will extend the courtesy of you to respond just with the restatement of the Board's view which Ken, of course, has started to contribute to, but I don't think it's appropriate that we throw him in the deep end right in front of everybody now having just arrived. There's no question that your diagnosis on BIG W's performance is right. So category by category, we have been working through BIG W's performance with Dan and the team, strengthening the team around him and category by category, we are starting to see improvement. The critical category to get right has been clothing, and we're seeing some early and pleasing momentum in that category, which Amanda spoke to, we saw in the Q1 sales. We've also got, I think, a home category that's starting to perform better, and we're seeing that in customer numbers and sales, and we've got a long-standing presence as I think Australia's largest bookseller, the largest retailer of Lego and a well-established capability in play for that part of the business to keep performing. The area that needs most urgent work is the everyday category, that everyday category is obviously, we're spending a lot of time on getting the customer proposition right there, and we do think that BIG W can play an important role in everyday, in particular, for bulkier items whether it be in pet food, everyday cleaning needs, dishwashing, et cetera. So you'll hear more on BIG W's performance going forward, and I can assure you, shareholder, we're not at all defensive to the challenge. There are no more questions in the room, I'll turn now to online questions.

Chair, there are no online questions.

That concludes the discussion on Resolution 3(c). And thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you've not yet lodged your vote for this item of business, please do so now. The proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the screen. I intend to vote all open proxies in favor of this item. The next item of business is seeking general shareholder approval for a grant of LTI rights to Amanda Bardwell as Managing Director and CEO for financial year 2026. The proposed FY '26 LTI grant to Amanda is 117,024 performance share rights. I'd like to stress that Amanda will only receive the maximum value of this award if our performance metrics are exceeded over the 3-year period to financial year 2028. Details of those performance metrics and the other key items, key terms of performance share rights, including a voting exclusion, which applies to this resolution is set out in the notice of meeting. I now invite questions on Resolution 4. If there are no questions on the room on resolution 4, I'll turn now to online questions.

Chair, there are no online questions.

That concludes the discussion on Resolution 4. If you have not yet lodged your vote for this item of business, please do so now. The proxies received for this resolution are now shown on the screen. I intend to vote all open proxies in favor of this item. A voting exclusion applies to this resolution is set out in the notice of meeting. I will now move on to the next item of business. The next item of business relates to resolutions requisitioned by a group of shareholders. Resolutions 5(a) to 5(c) were requisitioned by a group of shareholders holding approximately 0.004% of Woolworths Group shares under Section 249N of the Corporations Act. Resolution 5(a) seeks an amendment to the Woolworths Group constitution. Resolution 5(b) and 5(c) are contingent advisory resolutions that will only be put to the meeting if 75% or more of the votes cast by shareholders entitled to vote on Resolution 5(a) are in favor of the resolution. Resolution 5(a), 5(d) and 5(e) were requisitioned by a group of shareholders holding approximately 0.005% of Woolworths Group shares under Section 249N of the Corporations Act. It is the Board's intention to allow shareholders as a whole a reasonable opportunity to ask questions on each of the resolutions 5(a) through 5(e), even if Resolution 5(a) is not passed by the requisite majority, and resolutions 5(b) through to 5(e) are ultimately not put to the meeting. I will now turn to Item 5(a). The proposed amendment is intended to insert a new provision into the company's constitution, which would enable shareholders by ordinary resolution to express an opinion or request information about the way in which a power of the company vested in the directors has been or should be exercised. The Board respects the rights of shareholders to express an opinion or to engage in dialogue with the company, and we see that here today. The Board further acknowledges the rights of shareholders to request the requisition to resolution, which seeks to amend the company's constitution. The Board firmly supports the engagement with Woolworths Group shareholders and stakeholders and the group has in place a number of avenues available to these parties to express their opinions about the management of the company. Woolworths Group has extensive dialogue and interaction with shareholders and stakeholders and consider their views in the preparation of our strategy and plans. The directors, therefore, do not believe that the amendments contemplated by this resolution is required for shareholders to be heard and to express opinions about the management of the company. The Board also recognizes the importance of addressing the issues raised in the requisition resolutions. For these reasons, as further detailed in our notice Of meeting, the Board does not consider changing the constitution to be in the best interest of the company. Consequently, the directors recommend that shareholders vote against Resolution 5(a). As the item relates to the amendment of the constitution, a special resolution is required in order for the resolution to be passed. That means at least 75% of the votes cast must be in favor. The matter is now open for comments and questions. Are there any questions in the room?

Chair, we have a question from [ Jeff Cussons ].

Thank you, Chair. I would like to speak to these resolutions as a group rather than to take them one by one with your agreement because the issue that arises from all of these resolutions is one of reputation and risk. That is the issue at hand here. And I don't know whether shareholders are aware that the current reputation of this corporation since last of all corporations measured in Australia used to be well up the reputation index, but it's now absolutely at the bottom. I don't know if people were aware of that. But you would note Chair that global research indicates that about 1/3 of all shareholder value is attributed to reputation 1/3 of all shareholder value. So when we strike these sorts of issues, we're not just talking about insignificant things. We're talking about the wealth of all these people in the room and all these people who are listening. So you have a current reputation right at the bottom. Some of these resolutions might help you to improve that reputation. For instance, there's one there that says no more and no less that Woolworths should adopt one of the world's best practice measures for its sustainable sourcing policy. That's all it says. The response from the Board was, no, vote against that. Now you've mentioned best practice many times in your answers to all kinds of questions today. But when it comes to this issue, you say vote against it. How extraordinary, that a Board that's trying to lift itself up off the floor advises its shareholders to vote against a resolution that might improve its reputation. And then your practices in the marketplace. A lot of these resolutions relate to Tasmanian salmon and the very endangered species in Macquarie Harbour, the Maugean skate, but they come back to reputation because on all your packs of Tasmanian salmon, you say on every one of them on the own brand packs, all Woolworths' Tasmanian salmon is sustainably sourced or I think you used the term responsibly sourced. Now your competitor, Coles, used to put that on their packs, but they don't anymore. They don't anymore, not Coles. They took it off because they say, hells***, that we would try to suggest that these products are sustainably sourced. The World Wildlife Fund, who used to put their brand on Tasmanian salmon, they took it off quite a long time ago. The RSPCA, the leading animal welfare organization in this country has now taken their brand off, but not Woolworths. That's looking after reputation. That's looking after shareholder value. I think not. Imagine, sir, under your leadership of this company, if there is another fishkill in Macquarie Harbour of around 1 million kilos as there was, which is very likely because the water in Macquarie Harbour is getting warmer at about 3 or 4x the global rate, and those fish don't live in that water. And imagine if all these groups who are here today who are interested in this matter have got drones flying all over that fishkill, and they see the salmon producers scooping up the dead and diseased fish and putting it along with the live fish into the packs of Woolworths responsibly sourced salmon, and that is what they do, as I hope you know because the industry itself has said that's what they do. It's not me saying that. That's what the salmon industry say they do. I don't know everybody knew that, but you buy Woolworths own brand salmon, and it's got in it the diseased and dead fish along with the good and live ones. And I think it was the CEO, wasn't it, of the leading salmon organization in Tasmania, who said, yes, that's true. That's normal practice or something like that. He said. Now I give you a quote not from an environmental group or a grain group, but from Forbes, the leading business magazine, normally supports business. But that's -- this is what they said about Woolworths in this issue. They said, "For investors, this is about valuation and trust. If the company fails to act on a well-documented biodiversity risk, how can shareholders have confidence in its management of less visible risks across complex supply chains." It's a pretty darn good question, Chairman. I think we'd all like to hear the answer to it. I spoke to your predecessor, Gordon Cairns some years ago about this. We had a long phone conversation. And he said to me, we're looking into it. We're going to do something about it. Let's hear what it is, Chairman. I think everyone here would like to know. Thank you.

Thank you very much, shareholder. So you've covered, as you indicated in your response, all of the resolutions at once. I don't -- I'm going to respond in detail to each of these resolutions as they go by, but I will address the issue of reputation. The shareholder is absolutely right. Woolworths reputation is not where it used to be, not where it needs to be. It happens to be one of the key metrics in the long-term incentive for all of our management. We are quite unique where a very small number of Australian companies actually focus on rebuilding reputation and link it directly to remuneration outcomes. So the question is what drives reputation, and what actions should we take in order to drive reputation over the long run? In my answers to the questions that -- the resolutions that are about to be put before us, I will also respond through the lens of reputation as to why we have undertaken the decisions we have at this point in time. So I will come back to the core point that you've raised. But what I don't want to do now is to repeat all of the detailed answers that we will give to the resolutions in advance of them being put by others. I will come back to the point.

Yes. However, they are all grouped together, as I think you know, and they all go back to the fundamental marketing proposition that Woolworths puts out. And marketing is something I do know a little about, as you may be aware. So you don't market, we're the lowest price group. You don't market we have the widest range. We're the fresh food people. So please address this issue rather than trying to divert it into and carve it up into little areas. If those events occur on your watch, how can you sustain the fundamental marketing proposition of the fresh food people? Why do you put your entire marketing program and the reputation of your company, they're both linked. Why do you put that at risk? I know a couple of the directors sitting up on that stage. I've worked with them before. I can't believe a Board of Directors that you do not deal with these risks when other people at least have started and Woolworths is just seems to be in the bunker and the Board is saying, we run this company. We're not going to listen to anyone. We'll do what we want to do. That seems to be the attitude. And in my long business career, I've seen boards do that before. It never ends well. I would like a response to that.

So Mr. [indiscernible], I couldn't -- frankly, I just couldn't disagree with you more that this Board is not thinking very carefully about the issues that are in that. Well, I'm going to actually address your question. And the reason why I proposed to address this separately is, I believe there are a number of shareholders who want to speak on that, not just you, sir. So by giving them the opportunity to speak later on, I was going to address in detail. But I will rise to the occasion and I'll address all the resolutions in one. And hopefully, at the end of that explanation, you understand the quite difficult judgments that we face in respect of the particular resolutions that we've been put. And you can also ask further questions as to whether you think that we have been asking the right questions. Before I do that, I want to ask see if there are any other questions in respect of 5A, which is the change to the constitution. If there are no more questions on that, I will now turn to questions online.

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Stephen Mayne. At last year's AGM, 30.4% of directed proxies supported a shareholder resolution on salmon farming practices, which the Board opposed, yet you dismissively stated in the notice of meeting that the resolution was proposed by the owners of just 0.004% of the company, something you have done again this year. How impactful was this big shareholder protest vote last year? And have there been any similar protest on any of this year's shareholder resolutions? Did any of the proxy advisers recommend a vote in favor? I also don't understand your opposition to a constitutional amendment to allow for opinion-based shareholder resolutions. Why not voluntarily amend the constitution at next year's AGM to elapse these, but only from shareholders speaking for more than 5% of issued capital, similar to the voting power required to call an EGM.

So thank you for the question, shareholder. You'll see shortly we'll display all the votes as they've fallen for each of the resolutions, including the ones that were 5A not to be passed, we wouldn't have been required to put to the meeting. So we're going to be very transparent around that. As is normal practice, we are required, I think, under the Corps Act, when we talk about the people who have requisitioned these resolutions to refer to the quantum of shareholding they make. Mr. Mayne's point is a perfectly valid one. There might be lots of shareholders who had a small number of shares have made that point. So I don't shy away from that. And I think going forward, I'm actually more than comfortable to refer to the numbers of shareholders I don't think that's a significant issue at all. What is a significant issue is the substance of 5A. So the Corporations Act, our constitution and common law have a very prescribed series of occasions where shareholders advise the company through a vote, and we're seeing that today. Certain things are put to an Annual General Meeting for a vote. There is no notion under Corporations Act or our constitution for well-meaning shareholders pursuing whatever passion project they might have to venture into the company and require management to do certain things. to report on something. And you could, I think, predict the sort of floodgates that might be opened by that approach. This is not the right occasion to debate this issue. This is a law reform issue that goes to the heart of the Corporations Act and to ASX constitutions. So we would welcome that debate, but we don't think that Woolworths' Annual General Meeting and these requisitions should be -- is the appropriate forum to debate what would be a fundamental change to corporate governance in Australia. And that is clearly the voice from our shareholders as well, and you'll see that shortly in the proxies as they come up. Are there any other questions online?

Chair, I have a question from shareholder, Blake Fuhrmann. Regarding the Board's recommendation of going against this amendment of constitution, wouldn't it be better if shareholders had more of an impact of opinion of businesses management to have a more open perspective of everyday living experiences and to have more transparency between business and consumers to rebuild the trust that is currently lost.

Thank you, shareholder, for the question. As I think I outlined, and I think it's genuinely the case, we are open to our shareholders -- we're open to answering your questions. We have -- we dedicate a huge amount of resource during the course of the year to meeting with shareholders. We -- meet with proxy holders. We meet with NGOs, we meet with interested parties. So I don't think there's any evidence of this Board not being open to engagement. Just yesterday, shareholder, this entire Board disappeared into a store and did a shop with a customer. shop alongside a customer and a value-oriented store, so we personally could be reminded of those issues that those customers were facing as they solve their budgetary needs. We all work together, we were all alongside different customers, all from different walks of life, trying to solve their budgetary needs and how Woolworths could actually do an even better job. So we're very acutely aware of the need to stay close to customers at this point in time.

Chair, there are no further online questions.

That concludes the discussion on this item. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. The proxies received for Resolution 5A, B, C and D are now shown on the screen. As I mentioned earlier, Resolution 5A is a special resolution and will only pass if more than 75% of the votes cast are in favor. I intend to vote all open proxies against this item. If you have not yet lodged your vote for this item of business, please do so now. Based on the proxy instructions received and votes represented today, 75% of the votes have not been cast in favor. And accordingly, the proposed amendments to the constitution have not been passed. As such, resolutions 5B through 5E will not be put to the meeting. As I said earlier, we welcome shareholder debate and feedback, so I will allow a reasonable opportunity for shareholders to ask any further questions on resolutions 5B through to 5E. I will also remind shareholders to consider if their questions have been effectively been answered in prior discussion. I now invite questions on 5B and 5B. But before doing that, I pledge to Mr. Cousins, that I would address in aggregate, all of these as one item. I do appreciate that might lead to repetition, but I hope that this will -- maybe will answer some of the questions that might be in the queue behind Mr. Cousins. So let me first turn to the issue of salmon in Macquarie Harbour. I want to make it very clear that Woolworths salmon procured from Macquarie Harbour. Woolworths salmon or seafood procured from anywhere must be sustainable. If it's not sustainable, we won't sell it. So the question is how we come to that judgment and what evidence that we consider. And we must, of course, adopt a principle-based approach. In the last 12 months, there has been new information on the state of Macquarie Harbour and the fundamental issue at hand, which is the endangered status of the Maugean skate. That new information has been, firstly, information from the University of Tasmania from the Department of Marine and Antarctic studies, which indicated that Maugean skate population have recovered to a level not seen for more than a decade. That evidence indicated improvements in oxygenation levels in Macquarie Harbour. Since then, we have also seen the government come out firmly in support of the industry and doing what they can do to support salmon farming in Tasmania and in Macquarie Harbour. Furthermore, there are 3 agencies, independent expert agencies that provide certification to our suppliers in respect of product sourced from Macquarie Harbour and Tasmania. Two of those certifying authorities, BAP and GLOBALG.A.P., continue to certify seafood from Tasmania as sustainable. The third certifying agency, ASC, has launched a new standard in May this year that we think looks like best practice, and we are now working with all of our suppliers to see whether they can also rise to the standard of that certification as well. So we have 2 independent bodies who certify our product out of Macquarie Harbour as sustainable, and we'd like to see a third. Furthermore, the Tasmanian government has announced in recent days another independent expert inquiry into the state of the industry in Tasmania and its sustainability aspirations and what can be done to further improve them. So we have improving science from an independent agency. We have the government determined to do what it can to support that industry. We have 2 certifying authorities and potentially a third working with all of our suppliers. And we have a government report inquiry commenced in recent days. In that context, ladies and gentlemen, we did not think it was the right thing to do to resolve from the sustainability credentials and certification of seafood sourced from Macquarie Harbour and from Tasmania more generally. However, if the evidence changes, so too will our position. This is not a crusade by Woolworths. We make these decisions very carefully, and we take into account all of those factors. And we also take into account the livelihoods of our suppliers and the local communities and the customers who enjoy and rely on that product. But first and foremost, we'll be guided by the science and the certifying bodies. And if we're not satisfied that, that seafood is sustainable, we will withdraw the nomination.

You would be well aware that the certifications you rely on are largely driven by the salmon industry. The best one is the ASC. You don't use that. There is also complete illogic in your comments regarding the recovery of Macquarie Harbour, as you put it. There's a lot of scientific debate about that. But even if there wasn't, Woolworths' policy when the Maugean skate hadn't recovered was still to support salmon farming. So why do you rely on the concept? There's no logic in what you have said at all, and there will be scientific contest to what you said. But even if there wasn't, your policy when it was the most endangered and one of the rarest secretes on this planet was still to carry on as you are right now. So there's not a word of truth in what you've just said, Chairman, I'm sorry, but I have to put it that way.

Well, I have to correct you, Mr. Cousins. Unfortunately, I have to correct you.

Right. Please go ahead.

So the first comment you made is that we have no interest in ASC.

I'm sorry, but you don't use it.

We don't...

And then when it's suggested, you might use one of the world's best practice standards, you say to all the people in this room and all the people listening, don't vote for that. We don't want to be best practice. Coles have taken their, they've removed their labels like that from their salmon because they know it's ludicrous. Something to say it's responsibly sourced, but you don't do that.

Sir I do want to correct the allegation. We do take ASC seriously. We have been talking to ASC. And as I explained to everybody in the room, we are working with a new standard as of a couple of months ago. We are working with our suppliers to see if they can meet that standard, and that is what we would like to happen. Which would leave us...

Gordon Cairns -- exactly what Gordon Cairns, your predecessor said to me directly on the phone 3 or 4 years ago, 3 or 4 years ago, and you are still considering it.

No, that's not the case, sir. Sorry. We are considering the application of a new standard devised and publicized in May. We're working with our suppliers to that standard. We hope to get 2 of them, we think, done maybe by the end of the year. That will leave 3 certifying agencies certifying Macquarie Harbour. That's what I said.

All right, Chairman. Well, I just say this to you. This is the first time in my 50 years of being in business that I've ever spoken from the floor. I've spoken on that stage as a Chairman, and I've spoken at some of -- I Chaired the merger meeting of probably the biggest merger in Australian history at that time, but I've never ever spoken from the floor before. I do it today because I think this Board is completely misguided and is doing the wrong thing about its shareholders and its customers. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cousins, for expressing your views. I can assure you, again, shareholders and all customers listening, if Woolworths isn't completely satisfied on the sustainability of seafood Macquarie Harbour, we will withdraw that nomination. We carefully consider the evidence before us. We engage with all the NGOs and those who've got a passionate belief in it, and we respect that. and we will report in a very transparent way going forward on the status of that. But at this point, with improving science that we rely upon the experts for validating authorities, government policy and independent review, now is not the time. Mr. Cousins, I think I also pledged to consider some of the other generalized resolutions. Would you still like me to do that? O would you like others to have a chance to ask a question?

No, I think I've had my [indiscernible]

Good for you. Thank you very much, sir. Are there any other questions in the room in respect of these resolutions?

Chair we have a question from Dr. Leonard Guerra.

Good afternoon, Board, and thank you, Chair, for the opportunity to speak. I'm Dr. Leonard [indiscernible] scientist with specific expertise in their biology and fishery management. I currently work with the Australian Marine Conservation Society. Now Chair, I'm sorry to say this, but you say that the population has recovered. That is actually incorrect and consequently, very much risks misleading your shareholders. Firstly, and you mentioned that Woolworths, and I'm pleased to hear this, that will follow and be guided by evidence as it comes to hand. So on that note, I implore that the Board consider the case that I put forward based on the evidence and this evidence coming from the very report from the University of Tasmania that you quote. There are some critically important caveats when interpreting the population estimates, this is the Maugean skate, everyone, reaching 2014 levels, caveats with which the authors of the University of Tasmania report described themselves. First, it's biologically implausible that the relative abundance of Maugean skate has increased by 425% from 2022 to 2024, given that the natural rate of increase for their population per annum is no more than 8.8%. The IMS report does not claim population trends as "significant" increase in terms of the magnitude of change, only that there are statistically significant differences reflected in the catchability. So this is the CPUE they use to measure relative abundance since 2022. Second, 2014 population levels reflect a heavily impacted population, which have been on a seat decline since 2008 and was yet to be wiped out by an estimated 47% in 2019. Third, despite tentative signs of juvenile recruitment in Maugean skate in 2022, small animals were not caught in 2024, suggesting that recruitment may not have continued. Assuming that any of these juveniles do, in fact, survive from 2022 to reproductive age, so a reproductive age is around about 4 to 6 years old. And when we look at females in particular, the earliest this would occur is in 2026. Fourth, the majority of females captured in 2024 were adults nearing the end of their lives. So I repeat, the majority of females captured in 2024 were adults nearing the end of their natural lives, of which an estimated maximum age is around about 10 years old. So with the information I present before you and noting that the very definition of endangered is a very high extinction risk, this remains and the scientific evidence to date does not preclude the necessity for a precautionary approach to actions. Thus my question to the Board, from this day 4, how will Woolworths apply the precautionary principle to sourcing salmon from Macquarie Harbour?

Thank you, shareholder, for your question. I totally respect your domain expertise and passion for this topic. How -- clearly, so I'm not well equipped to engage in a debate around the science on this. We do rely on independent experts. We rely on the conclusions of those scientific studies. But as you rightly point out, there are, of course, going to be risks and judgments that go into that, which is why Again, this is not -- we're not -- despite what others might think, we haven't got our head in the sand on this issue. And if the evidence -- we believe the evidence suggests that change is warranted, we will change. What I would like to do, sir, is to connect you with our sustainability people so you can share your own opinion because clearly, you've got a lot of domain expertise. We do rely on the University of Tasmania in their department. We rely on -- we've had an independent expert review that as well. We rely on the certifying agencies, but you've clearly got an informed perspective, and there's no reason why you shouldn't have access to the best people from our team to be able to share that.

Thank you sir. And honestly, this is not my opinion [indiscernible]

Chair, we now have a question from proxy holder, Jess Colin.

I've traveled here from Tasmania. I live on the Huon River, and I represent communities. 7 out of 10 Australian Tasmanians surveyed would like to see farmed salmon industry moved out of our inshore sheltered and biodiverse waterways. And also, please do not call me passionate because I'm here representing an entire community of people, and I'm talking to an issue that is very, very serious in our waterways. I'm a mother. I have 2 teenage children. One has grave fears about extinction and the other has become numb to the fact that for many species, extinction is inevitable. I'm concerned about the position that you on the Board appear to take, Woolworths is promoted as the fresh food people. And I ask you, were you selling diseased salmon labeled as responsible last summer when millions of fish died from disease and balls of prichard fat were washing up on our beaches. I can guarantee you the residents of Bondi would not have thought that was okay. Salmon Tasmania CEO, Luke Martin, conceded in the media that it was standard practice to harvest diseased salmon for human consumption. And the Tasmanian government disclosed that all lices in Tasmania Southeast were infected with Rickettsia salmonis bacteria, resulting in the Piscirickettsia disease. It's likely that you were selling it and even continue to be. During this outbreak, industry was caught on camera treating their livestock so rigidly that RSPCA withdrew all endorsement of any farm in the Tasmanian salmon industry. RSPCA have never endorsed salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour due to animal welfare concerns and poor water quality. Last summer, over a ton of antibiotics was dumped directly into our waterway near my home to treat infected fish. The salmon too sick to eat died anyway. And the antibiotic oxytetracycline was found for weeks afterwards in the bodies of our wild fish. This is not responsible management. The industry is currently applying for increased permits to -- emergency permits to continue using even more antibiotic. And recent documents have just been released to the media that they have been seeking government advice on how to get out of federal governance regulation in order to use this antibiotic off-label. It's not responsible. If this kind of farming irresponsibility were carried out on a cattle farm, sheep farm or any other livestock farm, it would not be tolerated because it's irresponsible. What is happening to the Maugean skate in Macquarie Harbour is irresponsible, yet you continue to label it as responsible. The fresh food people have a lot to answer for when it comes to these sick fish, which are threatening the extinction of a living dinosaur. Are you going to act and carry out your due diligence as your counterpart at Coles has done and remove these labels? Do you sell diseased salmon? Is that something that you look into and you make sure you're doing your due diligence for your customers on? Or have you, the Board of Woolworths, simply resigned yourself to complicity in the potential erasure of species in your unwavering support of this industry in the face of the evidence that has been provided before you through meetings with your Board and through shareholder questions. Will you discontinue the sale of salmon farmed in Tasmania as responsibly sourced? And I also want to add just to address the answer that you gave before, the review of the industry that the Tasmanian government has promised is not going to be a review. It is going to be a study. And in the terms of reference that were published just the other day, the government made it very clear that there were to be no recommendations put forward by that study. No recommendations for improvement are going to be picked up by the government or industry as part of that study.

Thank you, shareholder, for posing the question. I want to avoid repeating myself, but I also want to address some specific aspects of your question. I think in the prior -- my prior answer, I've addressed why we continue to have an extreme degree of vigilance at the Board level and our sustainability team. I know it's something that Amanda spends a lot of time on personally that the judgment call that we have made in this regard. And again, for the record, we are not -- this is not a crusade. This is not blind support of the industry. We believe we are making a principal decision. And if we think that the evidence changes, we can't get certification, then we will withdraw sustainability from the salmon source from Tasmania. In respect of the infection event that you rightly point to, I thought it was very distressing. We saw images of it. We immediately spoke with the regulator. We spoke with the supplier. The regulator investigated the company. I understand that there have been remediation undertaken and that there are no outstanding matters as it relates to that supplier. In respect of the infection itself, and again, you sound like you're much more of a domain expert than I am, but we do spend time on this. Also, we understand from our independent expert, as it is with a lot of large-scale agriculture that you will have bacterial events in all forms of agriculture and that this bacteria is endemic to Tasmania and...

It is now considered endemic. It was not up until a few months ago. It is now considered endemic. It is here to stay. The level of antibiotics will be on the rise and the level of death in our waterways as a result of the warming temperatures of the water that put undue stress on a fish that is not native to this country. It is Atlantic salmon. It thrives in temperatures between 15 and 18 degrees. Our temperatures in Tasmanian waterways reach elevated levels above 23 degrees almost every summer and will continue to do so into the future. This is not sustainable.

So hopefully, again, without repeating myself, as it relates to the 2 certifying bodies, hopefully, 3 that disagree with you. Hopefully, there will be further information cast by the study I respect your opinion. It resonates, it lands with us, and we look forward to actually moving forward with a better information set that we might be able to agree on and maybe the study will provide it. Thank you for your question, shareholder.

Chair, we now have a question from Kelly Johnson [indiscernible]

Chair. Firstly, I just want to say I welcome and encourage that Ken Meyer is joining the Board because Whole Foods has a progressive sustainable seafood policy that doesn't rely solely on certifications that goes above and beyond. So I hope that you're able to instill that, Ken. So my question is directed to Holly Kramer, the Chair of the Board's Sustainability Committee. So Coles has publicly acknowledged the impact of their salmon sourcing has had on the Maugean skate and have assessed their farm seafood impacts on endangered protected running species, importantly, disclosed the results in their sustainability report. These steps resulted in Coles shareholders withdrawing the disclosure resolution at their AGM. In contrast, Woolworths is lagging behind their largest competitor. In response to shareholder Resolution 5B, Woolworths sites using the Taskforce on Nature Disclosure. Disclosure being the operative word, yet Woolworths hasn't actually disclosed the nature risk impacts associated with its farmed seafood. In response to Resolution 5C, Woolworths refuses to align its seafood policy with global best practice, global best practice that is used by the majority of its peers around the world, such as Whole Foods. Also, unlike Coles or international peers, Woolworths is facing the world's first OECD complaint against a major retailer for environmental violations. I haven't heard the OECD complaint being brought up to the shareholders here today. These guidelines are internationally agreed upon responsible business conduct standards for which governments expect large corporations like Woolworths to comply with. The complaint alleges that Woolworths has not met the OECD guidelines as the company has failed to conduct heightened due diligence for its own brand salmon sourced from Macquarie Harbour despite the evidence of harm to the Maugean skate of protected species and the World Heritage area. The Board's Sustainability Committee, according to its charter, has the duty and responsibility and I quote, "to oversee the reputational impacts of Woolworths' sustainability strategies, policies and initiatives." So Holly, how has the committee considered the risks of being the only retailer globally to ever receive an OECD complaint for environmental violations? And what does this mean for your reputation?

I'll answer that question. Thank you, shareholder. We are aware of the OECD complaint. In substance, the exact same issues that others have raised. There's no new information on that. So we've been briefed on it, and it will be processed accordingly. So there's really nothing to report. There's nothing distinctive. I think I would be repeating myself if I answered your broader question around sustainable sourcing and the risks. I can assure you that the Sustainability Committee under Holly's Chairmanship has assiduously considered this, spent an enormous amount of time on it, been open to dialogue with all parties on it, and we continue to keep a very watchful eye on it. We're mindful also that there is a determination pending on the Maugean skate from dangered to critically endangered and we're watching that very, very closely.

[indiscernible]

Thank you, shareholder.

If I can follow up, please. So Woolworths continues to justify selling this product, as we know, with deferred flawed certifications. The OECD complaint includes citing the OECD guidelines that due diligence does not -- sorry, certifications does not equate to due diligence. So back in 2021, Woolworths then NGO partner, WWF, released a commissioned review that found Macquarie Harbour certifications had failed to detect and prevent environmental devastation in Macquarie Harbour. Woolworths responded with the following and I quote, "we are concerned by the claims that existing certifications may not be fit for purpose, taking into account unique environments like Macquarie Harbour." Yet no action was taken. Woolworths continued relying on these certifications to sell salmon. Since then, several independent scientific reviews have highlighted the need for oxygen levels to be measured in the mid- to bottom waters of the harbour in order to detect impacts in the skate habitat. Healthy oxygen levels are critical for the Maugean skate survival, yet none of the certifications, including the new ASC Farm standard, which I was a stakeholder in and my organization was on the steering committee of the ASC standard requires -- the ASC standard include does not require salmon farms to measure oxygen in the skate's habitat. Woolworths has been briefed and provided this information on multiple occasions. What will it take for Woolworths to shift from being concerned to taking action and stop using flawed certifications to sell Macquarie Harbour salmon?

Thank you, shareholder, for the question. I can assure you that we don't blindly rely on these certifications. Our due diligence process includes having an independent expert review them. And as you rightly point out, ASC, I think it's the previous question a shareholder pointed out, ASC does represent, I think, a new standard for certification, even if it doesn't necessarily have everything in it that you might want. In respect to the specific point that you're raising, again, of the prior speaker, given your domain expertise and knowledge, please, I would -- I'm really not in a position to debate mid-level oxygenation levels at the AGM. But I would like you to speak to maybe Annette to share why you think that is a critical component of certification going forward.

Which we already have. And that's my point at [indiscernible] point.

You shared that with us.

Stakeholder discussions will you take on board that this certification will end up with the same results as the WWF review found that these certifications were not fit for purpose if they are not measuring within the mid- to bottom layers of the harbour.

Well, that's not the advice we've got shareholder. To be honest, that's not the advice we've got. The advice we've got is that the new ASC standard is a best practice standard. The WWF may have their point of view. But you can imagine there are a range of point of views on it. And so we think we are rising to a higher standard and seeking to get ASC certified across our suppliers. But if you don't want to speak with our people that's within your prerogative.

Chair, we now have a question from shareholder, Hannah Schuck.

I might just pull this up, if I can. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to ask the question. I would like to speak to Resolution 5D. My name is Hannah Schuck. I am from the [indiscernible] Society, an organization that represents tens of thousands of Australians who want to see Australia's unique forest and bushlands protected. The numbers don't lie. Beef production is the single biggest driver of deforestation across the country. Every 2 minutes, a football field of forest and bushland is designated in Queensland alone to make way for pastures to graze beef cattle. Meanwhile, nearly 80% of the land clearing that occurs in this state of New South Wales is for livestock pasture. As the largest Australian supermarket and one of the biggest buyers of Australian beef, it is incredibly likely that beef coming from this destruction is ending up on your shelves. I have the signatures here of over 13,000 Australians who have sent directly to yourself, Amanda, the evidence and called on Woolworths to ensure that the beef that you are buying is deforestation-free. These Australians have requested that you set a robust deforestation-free commitment and much more importantly, actually implement it in line with the science-based targets initiative, global best practice. While it's welcome to hear from you, Chair, that beef is a primary deforestation commodity for Woolworths. In Woolworths' 2025 sustainability report, the company appeared to backtrack to customers, investors and industry on its deforestation-free commitment as it relates to beef. By removing the assessment of beef as high risk and rerating it as a low-risk commodity for deforestation despite clear evidence to the contrary. Further, Woolworths has failed to share with its customers, its investors and all of us a credible traceability system to ensure that the beef that you are sourcing is deforestation-free. Meanwhile, your #1 competitor, Coles, and this seems like a theme today, has been upfront with the public, its customers, and investors by disclosing the concrete steps as well as the challenges that it's facing, right, to ensure that at least 85% of its fresh beef products are not coming from flattened Australian forests. My question, and then I would like to follow up with a secondary question, if possible, is without citing the flawed EU risk rating, what information does Woolworths have to prove that -- that its beef supply chain is low risk for Australian deforestation?

Please ask your second question shareholder.

My second question is with respect, recent polling shows that Woolworths is the least trusted brand in Australia and 70% of Australians expect supermarkets to do more to make sure that their suppliers are going deforestation-free. Aren't you concerned that your customers might see through the bull and shop at Coles if you can't prove that the beef on your shelves is not killing koalas?

Thank you, shareholder. Can I just add an aggregate sense, invite all shareholders and customers to reflect on the overall sustainability efforts of this company. There are nothing short of outstanding. So to think that we're not concerned or we don't link sustainability with our reputation is certainly not the way we think about it or we feel about it nor we direct our resources nor the way we report. Let me now address specifically the issue of risk in our fresh beef supply chain. As I mentioned earlier, Woolworths a bit over 18 months ago, decided to uplift the standards we had from no net deforestation to no deforestation in our supply chain in order to meet the high standards of SBTi, Science-based Targets initiative that validate our 1.5-degree emissions plans. As a result of that positive step, we are required to report our Scope 3 emissions into 2 categories: flag and energy and industrial. As part of that, we also need to report on our 5 key deforestation-linked commodities. We believe those 5 key commodities where the risk of deforestation exists are palm oil, cocoa, soy and stock feed, pulp paper packaging and fresh beef. We aren't a global expert on determining the overall risk rating of Australia versus any other country in the world. That's well beyond our capability. So we naturally rely on international agencies who do this. And the EU came out with a view to lower the risk rating of Australia. And we published that in the report at the same time as saying we will continue to report transparently on where we think the extent of deforestation is in our supply chain and what we're doing about it. The second part of the question was what evidence have we got other than relying on the EU's classification. We have undertaken a first stage analysis of that, a postcode-by-postcode assessment through our suppliers, and we have about 7% of the total fresh beef supply chain in Australia. And that postcode by postcode analysis with aerial photography and drones would indicate that the risk of deforestation is between 1% and 2% of our supply chain. So we have undertaken that work. It's ongoing, and we will continue to report on that risk. Now what also we're doing is working with industry closely on the definition of deforestation because it is actually different by different geographies. And there are standards that are put forward. We're working closely with the industry to try and determine canopy heights, overlay the extent to which grazing is on plane versus included in forestry, is that grazing part of deforestation or not? There are some tricky issues to work through, but we are genuinely engaging with the industry on an acceptable definition of deforestation. The final question you've raised, and we are up for this is that, we will report in the future in more detail. We're just starting this exercise on the risks and our efforts to mitigate those risks in those 5 key high-risk commodities, deforestation-linked commodities. Thank you, shareholder.

Chair, we now have one final question from the floor from proxy holder, Victoria.

I'm Dr. Victoria Jack from the Wilderness Society, an organization backed by 160,000 supporters and with a 50-year history of protecting forests in Australia. I'm speaking to Resolution 5E. Woolworths' promised deforestation-free supply chains but endangered koalas and greater gliders are still losing their homes to be turned into pallets to transport groceries. Woolworths uses millions of pallets per year. It accepts the Georgia PEFC certification as evidence that the timber pallets in its supply chain are sourced responsibly and without deforestation. Yet pallets continue to be made from timber logged in some of the most biodiverse forests on earth by Forestry Corporation of New South Wales. Despite Forestry Corporation's repeated convictions for illegal logging, Forestry Corporation remains PEFC certified. And there is nothing to stop Forestry Corporation timber being used to make pallets that end up in Woolworths stores. Woolworths is telling customers and investors that it's made a deforestation-free commitment, but it doesn't have a deforestation-free plan. If Woolworths continues to rely on PEFC certification, that won't ensure its supply chains are free from pallets made from the destruction of Australia's unique forests. How many more koalas and gliders need to lose their homes before Woolworths actually cleans up its supply chains?

Thank you, shareholder, for the question. Look, this is a real dilemma for us because we are not in the business of pulp, paper and packaging or pallets, but we require our suppliers, we ask our suppliers to get independent certification. The independent certification across the globe, you called it dodgy, it is a bit cheeky. Two of the major institutions who certify 500 million hectares of forestry, PEFC and as you know, FSC, right? We've undertaken -- we've looked at the 2 standards. We've invited PEFC to meet with you and other NGOs and for some reason, nobody seems to want to meet with them. We have a very clear obligation on our suppliers to certify. These are the 2 globally accepted benchmarks. If you think -- if you have an issue with them, please raise the specifics of whatever certification floor you think it is. Please approach any of our suppliers who are relying on that certification. But without -- these 2 entities cover 150 countries. Between the 2 of them, it's 500 million hectares. They're renowned. I mean, they're literally the standard. And so you're expressing a very -- I mean, I'm very -- obviously a very credible view that there's a problem with that certification. Please share the details of that with us, but please also take this issue to the suppliers.

Thank you, Chair. I'm pleased to hear that invitation was extended on your behalf to PEFC to meet with us.

We invited them to, and they told us that nobody was prepared to meet with them or wanted to meet with them. That's not right, we'll then come back to me and then...

That's the first time I'm hearing about it, and we would absolutely take up that opportunity

Have you met with them?

We have met with them in the past.

I would encourage you to keep that dialogue. Can't really call them dodgy without having a current view.

I've checked that with my lawyers. I would just like to respond -- I got to check these things, Chair. I would just like to respond by saying we do engage with your suppliers on this matter, but you have made a deforestation-free commitment. And I would just reiterate that your plan, if relying on PEFC will not ensure that the pallets you source are free from the destruction of New South Wales forests, some of the most biodiverse on earth and therefore, not deforestation free at all.

Thank you, shareholder.

Chair, [indiscernible] this issue. But since you again dodge behind certification, which seems to be the Woolworths attitude. If there's any form of certification, doesn't matter what it is on deforestation or on salmon farming, that's good enough for you. It shouldn't be good enough for you because a lot of these certifications aren't good enough in themselves. For instance, the certification you use in Tasmania for salmon is not a farm-by-farm certification. It just -- it certifies a brand, which is ludicrous. And that is not the way it should be done. You come to certification of native timber in New South Wales, which is something I've recently spent a great deal of time on in respect of the Great Koala National Park, an issue the New South Wales government was dragging its heels on, but we won that campaign, and that has now been declared. But in the process of looking at that and looking at the products that you accept from Forestry Corporation, the behavior of that corporation becomes clear. You would know, for instance, that 2 of the contractors to Forestry Corporation were convicted of crimes for attacking an environmental activist. Then a senior executive of that corporation was arrested for a similar crime. There were other court cases regarding the illegal logging of Forestry Corporation. And in one of the judgments on that particular court issue, the judge said this, this is a repeated pattern of criminal behavior on the part of this organization. Unbelievable. I don't think I've ever heard that, and that's part of the government. That's what Forestry Corporation is 100% owned subsidiary of the New South Wales government. So it is not sufficient for a company like Woolworths who is trying to rebuild its reputation to dodge behind any form of certification. You've got to look deeper into it. And the fact that you would accept pallets made out of Brambles is the second biggest customer of Forestry Corporation in New South Wales, and you would use their pallets. You've got to look behind those certifications. It's not good enough for this Board just to sit here and say, we've got a certification, all is fine. I think that's a fundamental principle.

Mr. Cousins, couldn't agree more with you. So we don't do that. We always seek independent expert advice to review those standards. And it still is the case that PEFC, I don't condone this disgraceful behavior that you report in.

Forestry Corporation who make your pallets.

Well, I'm not sure whether they do or they don't. But I mean, I invite you to take that up, obviously, you have, but invite you to take that up with them. Clearly, the standards themselves, the certification agencies themselves will have taken that into account. I pledged you that we will follow up on this matter with PEFC and arrive at our own conclusion, informed by experts as to whether there's been a sufficient response to the behavior you've outlined.

All right. Thank you. And finally, I would say, just think about this when you leave this meeting. Let's say the million fish die again in Macquarie Harbour. And there are all the pictures on television of them being scooped up and put into the tins and farmed and going into your products. How do you think that's going to go for you?

Thank you, Mr. Cousins, for expressing your view. Thank you.

Chair, apologies, we have another question from shareholder, Hannah Schuck.

I wanted to follow up on the point that you made about needing to look to global bodies for risk assessments, for definitions, et cetera. I would like to make the point that the EU risk rating of Australia is a deeply flawed decision, and it came about via very, very hard and concerted lobbying by government and the industry. It does not reflect the destruction that's happening on the ground. To give you a sense of how ridiculous this is, the EU only lists countries that have EU sanctions against them as high risk for deforestation, not even countries like Brazil, which is a global deforestation hotspot that I'm sure we're all aware of. If you are looking to global bodies for risk rating and in the same sentence, you mentioned that you're working with industry on definitions, what's stopping you from aligning with global best practice definitions on deforestation such as the accountability framework initiative that your competitors have aligned with Coles and ALDI?

Well, certainly, thank you for that question, shareholder. We absolutely will take that framework into account 100%. And I think there's no good reason why we wouldn't be including that in our considerations. Again, this is the dilemma we face. Woolworths is not going to stand up and independently do a global exercise on deforestation risk in the global beef supply chain. We do rely on some independent experts and some certifiers. Your point taken, I'll take your point under advisement in respect of the status of the EU rating, but the overarching point I made earlier on is that fresh beef remains 1 of the 5 key deforestation-linked commodities. We will report on it in that way, and you'll continue to get improved transparency as we go about further determination of the nature and extent of deforestation risk in our supply chain. Thank you, shareholder. I think you probably had enough on this topic, shareholder.

You have a deadline of the 31st of December 2025 to be deforestation-free under the science-based target initiative, of which Woolworths is validated under. So you've got 2 months to show us some of the action. Thank you.

We have a question from shareholder and a team member at your right.

First off, I commend them for standing up. Well done. It's not easy, as you know. And it's not easy for me. So in the store, we use 2 types of pallets. We use the green pallets, which is 3/4, 2/3, and then we use the timber pallets. So speaking back to the safety issues, the timber pallets are incredibly heavy. They're coming in, in more of a dilapidated state. They are a safety issue in themselves. The green pallets are you can -- well, you can pull with 2 fingers. They're so light. They're really good. We've done great things like the new trolleys that are made out of recycled things, all of the stuff that we've got in the store that's been made out of recycled milk cartons and things like that. the bags, all of that. This is not a big step. This is -- leads to making happy campers here and happy campers in the store as far as the stresses -- the physical stresses of using these pallets along with the safety issues. So I think it's not a far -- too far bridged across for Woolworths to look at creating more of those. I know there's logistical issues with the trucks and stuff like that and maybe a more robust form of recyclable pallet. But I think it would be a win-win for you guys as well as for us and for them. So just a comment.

Thank you. I'll now turn to questions online.

Chair, I have an online question from shareholder, Stephen Mayne, relating to Item 5B. This Woolworths AGM has been another classic example of why public companies should disclose the proxy votes to the ASX prior to the commencement of the AGM along with the formal addresses something Origin Energy, which Scott Perkins also chairs, has been doing continuously since 2008. Sadly, you delayed disclosure today, which is a bit like asking Anthony Green to run election night analysis without any voting data. Why didn't you reveal the 15% remuneration report protest vote until after closing the debate on that item? What is the issue? You only flashed up the proxies on the shareholder resolutions at about 12:40 p.m. Those proxies showed a stunning 34.17% in favor of Item 5B, even more than the 30.4% achieved last year. Your shareholders, not just those who own 0.004% of the company are clearly revolting, which of the proxy advisers backed the shareholder resolutions? And will you undertake to disclose the proxies early before next year's AGM?

Thank you for the question, Stephen. We will look at that. Frankly, I'm not certain why [indiscernible] practice goes one way or the other. So leave us with that to me to come up to speed with that issue. There was no intention to flash these up. Very happy to put them back up again. They will be published and they go to the ASX. I would take issue with any form of sort of shareholder revote on this. There is clearly a voice in respect of that resolution that did get 34% that we need to continue to improve our disclosure around risk, and that's something we have actually pledged to do today's speech. So we've responded to that. So thank you for your question.

Chair, there are no further online questions.

That concludes the discussion on these items. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That concludes the formal items of business for today's meeting. I would like to remind shareholders who have not yet cast their votes on all resolutions to do so now. [Voting]

I now declare the poll closed. As mentioned earlier, the results of the AGM will be announced to the ASX later today and placed on the website. A full transcript, along with the webcast of the meeting will also be available on the website. I would like to thank all of my Board colleagues, Amanda Bardwell, the group executive leadership team and all of our team members for their dedication and commitment over the year. Finally, I'd like to thank shareholders for your ongoing support of Woolworths Group and for attending today's meeting. That concludes the 2025 Annual General Meeting. I now invite you all to join me, my fellow directors and senior management in the foyer outside for refreshments. Thank you very much.