Australian pension fund votes against Woodside CEO's pay package (updated)

Woodside Energy

23/04/2026 05:57

34.5% of Woodside shareholders vote against CEO bonus

Protester storms the stage at AGM

Major superfund votes against pay, directors' election

Rewrites first paragraph, adds paragraph 3, adds quotes and additional shareholder votes

By Scott Murdoch and Helen Clark

PERTH, April 23 (Reuters) -
Woodside Energy WDS.AX Chief Executive Liz Westcott survived a major shareholder revolt over her pay on Thursday, with Australian pension fund HESTA saying it had voted against her multi-million-dollar package and against two directors' re-appointments.

Over a third of shareholders at the company's protest-hit annual general meeting in Perth voted against her bonus package and another 18% voted against the remuneration report.

        The company asked shareholders to approve a package of up to A$14.8 million ($10.57 million) and a grant of equity rights for Westcott following her promotion to the top job in March.

She had served in a provisional role since December when her predecessor Meg O'Neill left to lead BP.

The event had a heavy police presence and saw at least one protester marched off stage and escorted out by security.

"In our assessment the remuneration package constructed for incoming CEO Liz Westcott is not adequately justified," HESTA Chief Executive Debby Blakey said.

Woodside said Westcott's pay package consisted of A$2.2 million in fixed pay and A$12.6 million in variable pay, split between short and long-term incentives tied to performance.

BOARD DISAPPOINTED

"I think the board expressed that they were very disappointed in the votes on the remuneration," Westcott told a press conference after the AGM.

She said the company had hired external consultants and the pay package reflected her 30-plus years of experience around the world but it was “really a question for the board”.

In 2021, her former boss O'Neill also spent several months as an interim CEO before being confirmed for the top job, however O'Neill's salary was 25% lower than her predecessor when he joined a decade prior.

Blakey said the pension fund, which has A$100 billion in assets under management, was concerned Woodside remained too focused on building its oil and gas portfolio that carried heavy climate transition risk.

MST Marquee analyst Saul Kavonic said in an email HESTA's vote signalled wariness.

"Questions about Woodside's inconsistent narrative regarding board disclosures is raising concerns about a weak approach to governance setting in under Woodside's new leadership," he said.

HESTA voted against the re-election of non-executive directors Larry Archibald and Arnauld Breuillac, who both sit on the sustainability committee of Woodside's board.

HESTA owned 11.1 million Woodside shares in its most popular fund as at end-December, according to its filings and the most recent publicly available figures.

Woodside's largest shareholder AustralianSuper, which owns 7.14%, voted in favour of the CEO's share grant and the non-executive directors, a spokesperson told Reuters.

U.S. pension fund CalPERS voted against the remuneration report, equity grant, and opposed all directors standing for re-election.

PROTESTERS DISRUPT MEETING

   Protesters disrupted the sparsely attended event throughout proceedings, singing their own version of classic Australian pop song 'Reckless', blowing whistles and attempting to storm the stage.

Westcott chose to ignore disruptions and continue her presentation. The year earlier,
O'Neill
 had drowned out opposition by replaying Woodside promotional videos.

A majority of the questions came from activists, left-wing senators and environmental groups and centred on the company's climate commitments and a Greens-led parliamentary inquiry into windfall profits made by Australian gas companies.

Westcott maintained gas aided the transition when used in place of coal, and that Woodside had paid A$2 billion in tax in 2025.

($1 = 1.4004 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Scott Murdoch and Christine Chen in Sydney, Helen Clark in Perth and Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman; Lincoln Feast and Kim Coghil)

 ((Scott.Murdoch@thomsonreuters.com;))