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UPDATED: Last week’s AGM voted down a proposal to increase the remuneration pool by almost 16 per cent.
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CA ANZ members decisively reject pay rise for directors
01 November 2022
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CA ANZ members have decisively rejected a move to increase the pay of directors by almost 16 per cent at last week’s AGM.
The resolution was voted down almost two-to-one with 485 votes against, 266 in favour and 25 votes abstentions in a landmark defeat.
The decision was posted in a simple statement this morning on CA ANZ’s website:
“Thank you to those who attended the Chartered Accountants ANZ 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday, 28 October. The items of business at this year’s AGM were:
- To receive and consider the annual report of the board, the general purpose financial reports for the year ended 30 June 2022 and the report of the auditor; and
- To approve an increase to the remuneration pool used to pay fees and compulsory superannuation increases to directors, the president and the vice-presidents (at the discretion of the Nominations and Governance Committee) by $150,000.
“In accordance with By-Law 67 there is no requirement for members to cast a vote in respect of item 1.
“Item 2 was an item of special business requiring approval by a simple majority of members. The resolution did not pass and the remuneration pool will not be increased.”
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If passed, the vote would have increased the directors’ remuneration pool by 15.8 per cent.
CA ANZ denied its 11-member executive team had lobbied for a yes vote and said only a few were entitled to vote thanks to their CA membership. How they had voted was a private matter, it said.
One high-profile CA ANZ member critical of body, Tony Alizzi, described it as "a significant rebuff".
"I figure there will be some serious soul-searching for the CA ANZ board to contemplate," he said. "The board obviously thought they had the hearts and minds of members to put this resolution before the AGM. I am wondering what outreach is planned to reconnect with members, given the misjudgment of the sentiment within the member base."
Another critic, David Boyar of Change GPS, said: “This is just a reminder that the CA ANZ remains a members' organisation and the members aren’t happy.”
Mr Boyar’s From the Trenches podcast last week with Paul Meissner of 5ways Group had urged CA ANZ members to get involved in the AGM and vote on the resolution, describing it as a chance for members “to channel their frustration”.
“You cannot be in the accounting industry and not sense the vibe of anger, disappointment, frustration at the lack of service and support given by member bodies towards public practising accountants,” Mr Boyar said on the podcast.
“It touches on almost every area of practice life. You talk to an accountant and it comes up, you jump in a Facebook group you see it, you go to a Xero kind of technology conference and every second person’s talking about it.”
One CA ANZ member said since becoming an international association - it merged with its New Zealand equivalent a decade ago - the body had lost touch with grass roots members.
He said CA ANZ officers came mainly from "large firms or academics at university or in government [who] have the luxury of time to spend in these positions and they are usually appointed to look after the interest of their appointors".
The report immediately prompted one reader, Simon Beatson, to suggest far-reaching change at the body might be warranted. "Perhaps they should have dismissed the board with that kind of majority," he said.
CA ANZ said the economic circumstances, both domestically and globally, were influential in the vote.
"The members who voted believe now is not the time for an increase to the REM pool and CA ANZ respects this view," it said.
It also said increasing the remuneration pool could not be correctly described as a "pay rise".
"The resolution was to consider an increase to the directors' remuneration pool for the first time since 2019, by 15 per cent, following an independent recommendation and scan conducted by Mercer Consulting. The pool is used to cover 12 directors and compulsory superannuation which has increased over the last three years. Any increase in directors fees would only have been made at the discretion of the CA ANZ Council."
It said the vote did not impact any of CA ANZ's plans.
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