okay wots goin on ????????, page-15

results as i had expected A good outcome in my opinion. I reckon some of the instos that have been watching from the sidelines would also think the same. Time will tell. I will be going to the AGM soon, this morning. Have a list of questions for the board of directors and the auditors.


Kerr bows out of Tatts contest
By Christian Catalano
Media and gaming reporter
November 21, 2005

Former Tattersall's trustee Peter Kerr has withdrawn his nomination for re-election to the board, ending a month-long brawl with the original owners of the 100-year-old estate.

On the eve of the gaming and lottery giant's first annual meeting as a public company, Mr Kerr told The Age his fate had been sealed weeks ago when a handful of the group's largest investors sided with his rivals.

His decision means that Dr Michael Vertigan and Julien Playoust - former estate beneficiaries who acted on behalf of other beneficiaries during the restructure - will take a seat on the eight-seat board unopposed after another former trustee, William Adams, also withdrew.

"The result of the election is a foregone conclusion and it would be pointless to ask shareholders at the AGM to vote for me," Mr Kerr said. "Approximately 85 per cent of all shareholders who lodged proxy votes have voted in my favour. The few hundred former beneficiaries - who still own the majority of shares - have voted overwhelmingly in support of the rival candidates."

Though disappointed, Mr Kerr said he was not bitter about the way the campaign between him and his rival candidates became public. He pointed out that all four trustees voted unanimously in favour of the float despite knowing that this would mean their "lifetime appointments" under George Adams' will would be dissolved.

"One could say we effectively voted ourselves out of a job," he said. "I wish David Jones and the new board good luck and Tattersall's a wonderful and stable future."

Boardroom stability is in doubt, with the four former trustees yet to settle a separate corpus commission that could net them up to $100 million for their role in the Tatts float.

Mr Playoust has made lengthy submissions to the Supreme Court accusing the former trustees - two of whom will become his new colleagues this morning - of mismanagement, largesse and breaches of trust.