Woolies shareholders fret about gambling

26 November 2009

Problem gambling, animal rights, the price of milk and building a supermarket at a beachside suburb are worrying shareholders.

Investors from all over Australia packed a Woolworths Ltd annual general meeting in Sydney to grill the board and raise their concerns, particularly about gambling.

Chief executive Michael Luscombe and chairman James Strong faced more than two hours of questions on Thursday with the biggest concern being Woolworths' ownership of poker machines in hotels.

Shareholders including a mum and a local councillor from Melbourne made scathing attacks on the poker machine business, citing rising numbers of problem gamblers.

Mr Strong repeatedly told the meeting that while problem gambling was a concern, the business was abiding by the law and Woolworths was not going to exit that market.

An animal welfare activist told the CEO to stop buying from suppliers that participated in intensive pig farms after a recent television expose on the conditions in intensive pig farms.

Others shareholders protested about Woolworths plans to open a supermarket as part of a shopping centre development in the suburb of Newport, in Sydney's northern beaches.

Residents said they had started a campaign and collected over 4,000 signatures opposing the development because it would ruin their "charming little village".

One of Australia's best known shareholder activists, Jack Tilburn, spoke a number of times, the 83-year-old criticising the company on everything from the price of its milk to executive pay.

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