Qantas shareholders have unleashed on the airline at its annual general meeting in Melbourne.

Tensions were high on Friday as those in attendance and online were invited to directly address Chair Richard Goyder and CEO Vanessa Hudson.

Ms Hudson took over as CEO in September when Alan Joyce walked away from the top job two months early so the airline could “move ahead with its renewal” under new management, while Mr Goyder will retire before the airline’s annual general meeting in late-2024.

At one point, Mr Goyder instructed to “close down” a microphone as one shareholder questioned Mr Joyce’s sale of a “significant proportion” of his Qantas shares before a string of controversies marred the airline and caused its share prices to plummet.

Mr Goyder told Chris Maxworthy he was “implying an illegal act” when “there was nothing illegal”, while Mr Maxworthy stated he had concerns over ethics.

“I'm not going to let that stand in this room,” Mr Goyder said.

Audience members shouted “shame on you” at the chair’s decision to cut Mr Maxworthy off.

Qantas Chair Richard Goyder and CEO Vanessa Hudson during the Qantas Annual General Meeting in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

Only the question prior to Mr Maxworthy, Mr Goyder had interrupted someone else by saying “I don’t want speeches, I want questions”.

Later on, the audience gave a round applause when the Qantas board was asked how many of them had flown internationally in economy in the last 12 months and encouraged them to do so.

“Don’t get privileges and fast check throughs and all that kind of stuff. We get it, you’re all very important people, put yourself in the shoes of the average Joe and see what kind of experience they’re having,” Greg Harper said.

Qantas spent $370k on Yes campaign

Qantas revealed it spent about $370,000 on supporting the Yes campaign in the lead up to the Voice to Parliament referendum, which failed.

Mr Goyder said Qantas management, led by Mr Joyce, had made a recommendation to support the campaign, which was endorsed by the board.

“The contribution we made was in kind and equal to about $370,000,” he said.

“We knew at the time that there would be a diverse set of views but we felt it was important that we continued to support what we had done for a long period of time in terms of Aboriginal reconciliation.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and then Qantas CEO Alan Joyce at the launch of the Qantas ‘Yes’ campaign in August. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Mr Joyce unveiled three planes with the Yes23 campaign logo at Sydney Airport in August alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Ms Hudson and Mr Goyder had fronted a marathon three and a half-hour senate committee hearing for an inquiry in September where they were grilled about Qantas’ connection to the Yes campaign.

Senator Bridget McKenzie repeated the Coalition’s inference the decision to back the Yes campaign was some sort of ‘quid pro quo’ in exchange for the government’s rejection of Qatar Airways’ request for more flights into Australia.

Qantas’ legal counsel Andrew Finch denied this. Ms Hudson, when asked later, insisted they were “completely different and unrelated positions”.

Qantas holds $520m in unredeemed Covid credits

It was revealed Qantas now holds $520 million in unredeemed Covid travel credits, which is down from $570 million in August.

“We’re not going to stop until that balance is zero,” Ms Hudson said at the AGM.

In August, Qantas announced it would scrap the expiry date on Covid travel credits, following intense questioning of Mr Joyce for a separate senate inquiry and public backlash.

The backlash intensified when it was revealed Qantas had not been fully transparent about the value of unredeemed credits.

Former CEO Alan Joyce, CEO Vanessa Hudson and Chair Richard Goyder. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Mr Joyce had said there were $370 million worth of unclaimed credits when discussing the Qantas Group’s full year results on August 24, which was later confirmed to not include Qantas-owned budget airline Jetstar or international customers.

At the hearing on August 28, Mr Joyce confirmed the $370 million number he had previously quoted did not include Jetstar and overseas customers, but he could not say how much the total value of credits would be if they were included.

Jetstar CEO Stephanie Tully, who also appeared before the committee, said unclaimed Jetstar travel credits sat at around $100 million.

Qantas Chair Richard Goyder refused to answer questions about the airline’s exclusive lounge. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

Refusal to answer questions about Qantas Chairman’s Lounge

Mr Goyder refused to answer a question about Mr Albanese’s son, university student Nathan Albanese, being granted access to Qantas’ invite-only Chairman’s Lounge.

“We’re not going to go into any matters around Chairman’s Lounge membership,” he said.

Mr Joyce had also previously refused to answer questions about the decision.

The Qantas Chairman’s Lounge membership list includes the country’s top CEOs, A-list celebrities, and politicians.

It has been described as “probably the most exclusive club in the country” by Mr Joyce.

As politicians took aim at Qantas over various issues this year, they were forced to reveal their memberships.

Five of the seven commissioners of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission were revealed as members and news.com.au also revealed every current Federal Court judge was a member of the lounge.

Following the revelation, the Federal Court said it would establish a public register for judges to disclose membership of Qantas Chairman’s Club.

Qantas shareholders have delivered a resounding rejection of the company’s remuneration report. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

Shareholders reject remuneration report

Almost 83 per cent of Qantas shareholders have rejected the company’s remuneration report, which included Mr Joyce’s $21.4 million payout on his early exit.

“This is obviously a very clear message from shareholders,” Mr Goyder said.

A spill resolution will be added to the agenda of next year’s AGM, however the spill would only be triggered by a second strike or vote against the 2024 remuneration report, The Australian reports.

Doug Parker and Dr Heather Smith were elected to the board, and Belinda Hutchinson and Todd Sampson were re-elected.

Mr Goyder said short term executive bonuses would remain “withheld” until the company had “more certainty” around an ACCC lawsuit alleging Qantas sold thousands of tickets on already cancelled flights, and compensation for almost 1700 ground handling workers.

In September, the airline lost its battle to overturn a Federal Court ruling that it illegally sacked almost 1700 workers and outsourced their jobs during the pandemic.

Responding to a question from Rachel Waterhouse, who was representing the Australian Shareholders’ Association, Mr Goyder said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on what the financial outcome might be.

Mr Goyder and Ms Hudson both issued an apology at the AGM. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

‘We apologise’

Mr Goyder kicked off the AGM on Friday with an apology.

“Its clear there’s been a substantial loss of trust in the national carrier and we understand why,” he said.

“There’s things we got wrong. There’s things we could have handled better and should have handled better. Things we should have fixed faster. And for all those things we apologise.”

Ms Hudson also opened with an apology.

“Since I was announced in this role I’ve had a lot of conversations with our customers, our people and also shareholders about where we are and about where we are heading,” she said.

“Reflecting on what I’ve heard, the disappointment and the frustration is clear.

“As Richard said, there are many things, big and small, that we didn’t get right and for that we have sincerely apologised to our customers, our people and today I apologise to you, our shareholders.”

Ms Hudson said she was “determined to make Qantas one of the most trusted brands in the country again”.