If I am not mistaken what most of us mum and dad investors are...

If I am not mistaken what most of us mum and dad investors are saying here is that this shareholding represented a long term investment that would hopefully help to secure our futures. For those of us who lack the trading acumen to buy and sell shares at 50% profit on a regular basis, investing long in an emerging market would seem the way to go.
Unfortunately, Australia has had a tendency to sell their assets (physical and intellectual) at significant discounts in the past, the current issues related to the gas industry being a good example.
Hopefully this will not be another instance. Let’s hope this is an attempt by management to shield the company from an unrealistic takeover bid rather than sell it from beneath shareholders.