Chairman`s & CEO`s Addresses to Shareholders at AGM

Document date:  Wed 21 Jan 1998
Published:  Wed 21 Jan 1998 00:00:00
Document No:  134200
Document part:  A
Market Flag:  N
Classification:  

HOMEX - Melbourne                                                     

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                              Address to
                                 1998
                        Annual General Meeting
                                  by
                      Mr Charles Goode, Chairman
                                 and
              Mr John McFarlane, Chief Executive Officer

Good morning everyone.  My name is Charles Goode.  It is my pleasure 
as your Chairman to declare that a quorum is present and to open the 
29th Annual General Meeting of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
Limited.

I am delighted to see such a large number of shareholders.  We changed
to this venue to give everyone more space as the number of 
shareholders we have continues to increase.  We have a number of 
formal items to deal with on the Agenda today and I intend to ensure 
that there will be plenty of time for shareholders to ask questions.

I hope you can join us for refreshments which will be served after the
meeting is completed in the areas just outside this auditorium.  We 
will have a number of customer service representatives present from 
different parts of the bank including personal banking, cards and 
funds management.  So if you have any questions about your own banking
requirements, I suggest you meet them at that time.

I should mention that we have decided to bring the next annual meeting
forward to 21 December so we can report to shareholders on the year 
before we break for the Christmas holidays.  We will also be bringing 
forward the payment of the 1998 final dividend to 21 December.

The other major changes I wish to mention is that from 31 March 1998 
ANZ will be moving to Issuer Sponsorship under CHESS and hence 
removing the need for share certificates.  This is in response to the 
ASX's encouragement of companies to fully adopt CHESS and is 
associated with the change to three day settlement.  Most listed 
companies are making this change.  As many of you who know through 
using CHESS for other share holdings, CHESS is a more convenient way 
to manage and transact your portfolio.  Security is managed through an
identification number not dissimilar to how you access your bank 
account.  All shareholders will receive a letter explaining this with 
their dividend statement which is in the mail today.

Before moving on, let me introduce the members of your Board.

Starting on your far right, Mr John Ries.  John is an Executive 
Director with 37 years experience with the Group.  He is responsible 
for our global corporate and investment banking activities.

Mr Jerry Ellis.  Jerry has extensive mining and manufacturing 
experience both in Australia and overseas.  He is Chairman of BHP, 
Sandvik Australia, and of the International Copper Association and 
also a member of the Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Mr Margaret Jackson.  Margaret has an accounting background and wide 
business experience.  She is Chairman of the Victorian Transport 
Accident Commission and a Director of BHP, Pacific Dunlop and Qantas, 
Margaret chairs the Board's Strategy, Technology and Major Projects 
Committee.

Dr Brian Scott. Brian lives in Sydney and has a distinguished 
background in consulting to industry, and to a number of academic and 
industry, and to a number of academic and industry bodies.  He is 
Chairman of Management Frontiers, WD Scott International Development 
Consultants and the Australia Korea Foundation.  Brian chairs the 
Board's Human Resources Committee.

Next to me on my left is the Chief Financial Officer and Company 
Secretary, Mr Peter Marriott.  Peter was appointed to that position in
July last year after being Group General Manager Risk Management.  
Peter joined ANZ from KPMG where he was a partner in their banking 
practice.

On my right is Mr John McFarlane, the Chief Executive Office.  John 
joined us in October last year.  He is an experienced international 
banker who has held senior positions in Citibank and more recently 
Standard Chartered.  I will say a little more about John shortly 
before asking him to speak.

Mr Collin Harper.  Colin has long experience in Australian banking and
as a director of other major companies and is Chairman of CSL.  Colin 
chairs the Board's Risk Management Committee.

Mr John Dahlsen.  John has a legal background.  He is Chairman of 
Woolworths and the Melbouorne Business School and has other 
directorships including The Smith Family.  John is Chairman of the 
Audit and Compliance Committee.

Dr Roderick Deane.  Roderick lives in Wellington and is the Chief 
Executive of Telecom New Zealand and a Director of Fletcher Challenge.
 He is a former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and
a former Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary 
Fund.

Behind me are; Mr Peter Hawkins who is head of Global Personal 
Banking, Mr Robert Paterson, our General Counsel and Mr Ian Snape, 
Group General Manager Accounting.

I would also like to mention four other Directors who retired during 
the year.  They were our former Chief Executive Officer, Mr Don Mercer
who served in that capacity for five years; Mr Alister Maitland, a 
long serving bank officer who was Executive Director International at 
his retirement; and Sir Ronald Trotter, and Mr Bruce Vaughan who were 
both long serving non-executive directors.

I am sure shareholders would wish to join us in thanking these 
gentlemen for the important part they played in the development of the
bank over the years and wishing them all the best for the future.

MORE TO FOLLOW

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