Westpac director re-elected despite investor revolt
Westpac non-executive director Peter Nash has been re-elected to the board despite a significant investor backlash over his past ties to the troubled Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
About 40% of shareholders voted against Nash at Thursday’s annual meeting, according to results filed with the ASX. He required more than 50% support to retain his seat. It marks the second protest vote against him within weeks, after 28% of Mirvac Group investors opposed his reappointment on Nov. 20, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Proxy advisors had urged shareholders to vote against Nash due to his six-year tenure on the ASX board, a period marked by regulatory scrutiny and operational failures, including major trading and settlement outages.
Outside the meeting, climate activists protested Westpac’s lending to fossil fuel companies.
Inside, CEO Anthony Miller called for tougher action from social media platforms—particularly Meta—to help combat the rising wave of online scams, saying banks cannot address the threat alone. Westpac has spent more than A$500 million on scam prevention in the past five years.
Miller said the Australian economy remains resilient, supported by rate cuts that have boosted consumer spending. However, he warned that lingering inflation means the Reserve Bank of Australia could lift rates if pressures persist.
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