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Dreamworld under fire for failing to contact victims' families directly
Thursday, 27 Oct 2016 07:45:49
Ardent Leisure CEO Deborah Thomas described Tuesday's accident as "catastrophic". (AAP: Dean Lewins)
The chief executive officer of Dreamworld's parent company has defended not speaking directly with the family of those killed in Tuesday's tragic ride incident, saying she did not have their contact details.
Key points:
- Journalist reveals victims' family are furious at the suggestion the company has offered them support
- CEO Deborah Thomas promises to contact the family after annual general meeting
- Shareholders put pressure on the company to generously compensate the victims' families
Ardent Leisure held its annual general meeting in Sydney today and then faced fierce questioning from the media about the deadly incident on the Thunder Rapids ride.
At the media conference, Ardent chief Deborah Thomas said the company had reached out to the families affected and had "finally made contact with the Dorsett family" to offer "every assistance that we can".
However, a journalist later told Ms Thomas that the Dorsett family was watching the media conference and was "furious" at the suggestion they had been offered support from Dreamworld management.
"We didn't call the Dorsett family directly because we didn't know how to contact them, so we have been to the police liaison officer," Ms Thomas said.
"I will not call her now in front of the media, but I am very happy to call her very soon after this meeting.
"Yesterday was all about trying to get hold of the families so we could offer assistance, and we have it back from the police that they have made contact with them.
"And my understanding was that our people would be with them today. So, please, give me that [phone] number, thank you."
'Inappropriate to discuss CEO bonus vote': chairman
The meeting also voted on a proposal to give Ms Thomas a performance bonus, in shares currently valued at more than $800,000.
Ardent Leisure chairman Neil Balnaves said that it was not appropriate to discuss Ms Thomas's bonus.
"Any bonus Ms Thomas has relates to the prior year. The prior year was a year where the company performed in very good terms. The tragedy is only 48 hours' old," he said.
"It is just inappropriate to talk about commercial matters at this point in time. And I don't want to comment any further on it."
The meeting heard that the share bonus would be approved but the results would not be released until this afternoon.
'A tragedy of proportions never seen in this business'
Mr Balnaves told the meeting everyone at the company was grieving and "very much affected by the seriousness of this terrible accident".
Ms Thomas was at the Gold Coast yesterday to talk to employees and today described the accident as "catastrophic".
She said they were fully cooperating with authorities and the Dreamworld accident would have a significant impact on company earnings.
A slide presentation shown to shareholders outlined the impact on earnings.
"Revenue lost as a result of this tragic event will have a significant impact on [earnings] for the remainder of the year, due to the high level of fixed costs required to operate the business," it said.
Mr Balnaves described the accident as a "tragedy of proportions never seen in this business before".
He also defended Dreamworld's safety record, hitting back at union claims there was an unsafe culture at the theme park.
"Dreamworld has a strong safety culture and this is of paramount importance to the Board - it is not to be underestimated," he said.
Ms Thomas asked shareholders not to jump to conclusions about the accident.
"I understand the intense interest in this catastrophic event and appreciate that there are many questions to be answered, but I ask for your patience as we work through these with the authorities to establish the facts," she said.
The meeting heard inquiries into the incident may take months.
'People have to be reimbursed'
Shareholders have asked the company to go beyond what it has to do to support victims' families, and to be "compassionate and generous".
Outside the meeting, shareholder Holger Scholz said he felt terrible about what had happened.
"When I heard about it a few days ago I was absolutely shocked. We don't know what happened, why it happened, if there was neglect or just an accident," he said.
"I feel that the people, especially the children, they should be compensated. The company should pay for the suffering."
He also said he would probably vote against giving a share bonus to CEO Deborah Thomas in light of this week's events.
"I'd probably vote against it after what happened. I think we as shareholders, we probably lost a lot of money when the shares went down.
"I think the people have got to be reimbursed for what happened."
Ardent owns several amusement parks as well as gyms, bowling alleys and marinas.
The parent company yesterday recorded its biggest one-day share price loss since March 2015 and since Monday afternoon, stocks plunged more than 20 per cent.
The company's name was also expected to be changed to Main Event Entertainment Limited.
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