CHAIRMAN’S ADDRESS
2020 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
16 December 2020Melbourne
Good morning and welcome to the 2020 Annual General Meeting of ANZshareholders which, as there is a quorum present, I declare open.
My name is Paul O’Sullivan and it’s an honour to have been recently selected bythe Board to serve as Chairman.
I am joined here at our Melbourne head office by our Chief Executive Officer
Shayne Elliott as well as our Chief Financial Officer Michelle Jablko. All our otherdirectors are participating in the meeting but are doing so remotely.
Before we begin, I’d like to start by having Amelia Caldwell, of Ngarigo-Wiradjuri
country and a graduate in our institutional business, deliver an
Acknowledgement of Country.
[Pre-record of Amelia Caldwall]
Thank you Amelia for a wonderful Acknowledgment of Country.
I would also like to personally acknowledge the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung
Peoples as the Traditional Custodians of this land and pay my respects to their
Elders, past, present and emerging.
This is a clearly a very different Annual General Meeting in what’s been a very
unusual year.
Sure restrictions have eased somewhat, but we felt given the serious nature ofthe virus as well as Government and health advice, it was still appropriate tohold a virtual meeting.
While this new format allows shareholders from all around Australia to engage inthe meeting, we do plan to be in Adelaide for next year’s AGM ‘in-person’…which of course was the planned location for today’s meeting.
So to help with the smooth running of this virtual format, our Deputy Chief
Executive, Alexis George, will be assisting with the facilitation of the meeting,including shareholder questions.
Alexis will now take us through some detail on voting and on asking questions[Alexis George to run through protocols]
Thank you Alexis.

I now declare the polls open on items 2 to 5, and I encourage shareholders tobegin submitting questions ahead of the formal business of the meeting.
Now while it may seem a distant memory for those not directly impacted, 2020
began with the catastrophic Australian bushfires that dominated headlines
around the world and devastated many regional communities.
As that crisis unfolded, I was very impressed by how our people supported
customers even at a time when many of our staff had been personally impacted.
I was equally impressed by how our staff stepped forward to support customers
through COVID-19.
So on behalf of the bank, I would like to extend my sincerest sympathies tothose who have been adversely impacted by these tragedies.
As we come to the end of a year none of us could have imagined, I’d like toprovide some insight into how the Board is evaluating the future as well as makesome comments on my priorities as the new incoming Chairman.
Firstly, the economy appears to be ending the year in better shape than most of
us had originally feared.
The coordination between Governments, industry and regulators has meant ourcustomers are in a far better position today than they would have been without
these measures.
I am, however, a realist.
While the signs are positive, we know many businesses are continuing tostruggle and sadly some may never fully recover.
We know there are many individuals who have had an incredibly demanding
year, despite the considerable support from the Governments in Australia andNew Zealand.
We are also acutely aware that much of this assistance will need to unwind in
the early part of next year - understandably. This may present further economic
challenges that need to be very carefully navigated.
Fortunately, the hard work undertaken by management in recent years tosimplify and strengthen ANZ meant we went into this crisis in a strong position.
It has also meant we have been able to support our customers through one of
the most difficult periods in generations.
Performance & Dividend

Now let me talk briefly about our performance and the dividend.
It was of course COVID that had the most material impact on our profitability
this year.
We posted a statutory profit of $3.58 billion. This was down 40% on last year.
To provide perspective on the business trends though, on an underlying basis
profit before provisions was down 1% for the year, with both revenue andexpenses broadly flat.
But quite correctly, international accounting standards now require all banks toset aside provisions for potential future losses.
And so this year, reflecting the possible economic impact of the pandemic, you
saw each of the major banks setting aside substantial amounts.
At ANZ we set aside a further $1.7 billion, taking our total reserves to more than
$5 billion.
It has also been a highly unusual year in that it was the first time in our history
that we elected to defer a decision on the dividend at the conclusion of our firsthalf.
While the regulator strongly encouraged all banks and insurers to defer dividend
decisions until there was greater clarity, that advice actually reflected theBoard’s own thinking and our decision ultimately proved to be both appropriate
and prudent.
Pleasingly, we were able to announce a 25 cents-per-share dividend which waspaid on 30 September. This was followed by a 35-cents-per-share distribution
which we’ve paid to shareholders this morning. Both of these were fully-franked.
We agreed with APRA a reduced dividend was prudent in 2020.
Moving forward, the Board will continue to review our approach in the New Year,particularly given an improving economic outlook and APRA’s announcement
yesterday that it will remove its cap on payout ratios.
Ultimately, our final decision as a Board will be influenced by how the remainderof the crisis evolves, particularly from a macro-economic perspective, and ourviews on the longer term sustainability of our dividend.
Let me assure you however, your Board is acutely aware of the reliance many
shareholders place on their regular dividend, and on the value of frankeddividends.
Focus

Before getting into the substance of the meeting, I thought as the new Chairman
it would be helpful for shareholders to say a few things about where I will focus
my attention.
Firstly, it’s clear our bank is in a very good position.
The strategy that management and the Board have executed over the past five
years has radically simplified the business, significantly improved its capital
position and remediated many of the problems of the past.
This has allowed us to weather the storms of 2020 in good shape and means weare well placed to take advantage of the opportunities a post-pandemic world
will offer.
One way of thinking about my focus areas is with four Cs: Customers, Costs,
Capital and Culture.
Looking at the first of these. Around the world, technology is radically improving
how companies understand and serve their customers.
And to grow your bank sustainably we must continue to focus on servicing thecustomer better.
We must continue leveraging technology to amplify the voice of the customer
and reduce the friction involved when dealing with the bank. We want to better
anticipate needs and ultimately make faster - and smarter - credit decisions.
During the next 12 months you will hear more from the team about our digitalbanking offerings, which have been a big focus of our investments.
The second C is Costs. Banking, like so many industries, will continue to facedownward pressure on margins. While we were early to this, and indeed we leadthe Australian banks in that respect, we must keep relentless pressure on ourcost base.
Capital, and I’m going to spend a little more time talking about this. Efficient
capital allocation is the key to sustainably growing shareholder value over time.
Over the last five years your bank has been a leader in the management ofcapital.
We have not needed to raise capital by diluting existing shareholders throughthe recent crisis.
In contrast to our three major Australian bank competitors, we have actually
reduced the number of shares on issue over the last few years, increasing theearnings per share for you, our owners.

Currently, we remain one of the strongest capitalised large banks in the world,with a Common Equity Tier One capital ratio of 11.3%.
To put this into better perspective, this is $34 billion more than what we had thelast time we went into a major global crisis, the GFC.
However, the response of Governments and central banks has been to expand
money supply with an associated reduction in interest rates.
As a result, we believe we will be in an environment of significant liquidity, lowinterest rates and intense competition for some time to come.
While this will help our customers, it will require intense focus from the Board
and Management on not only how we manage our capital, but also how wedeploy our shareholders’ funds.
The final C is Culture. Your Board understands its role in ensuring we have theright culture within the bank.
We have made good progress here. We have a diverse and experienced
management team leading from the front on values. Employee engagementscores are sector leading with our people feeling empowered to ‘speak-up’ whensomething isn’t right.
An ethical decision-making framework is also now being used by leaders acrossthe bank, as well as guiding decisions at our Ethics & Responsible BusinessCommittee.
Wrapping the four C’s up, I can assure you my focus will be on improving
shareholder returns through a focus on good customer outcomes, cost discipline
and the efficient use of capital while continuing to build a strong culture.
Resolutions
Before finishing I also want to give you the Board’s perspective on some of theresolutions being put to the meeting today.
First, the adoption of the remuneration report.
While Ilana Atlas, the Chair of the Human Resources Committee, will talkspecifically to our approach…I think it is appropriate I think I make some initialcomments given the impact COVID has had on our business this year.
The Board was pleased with the way the bank responded to this global
pandemic.

From an operational perspective, we took immediate steps to ensure that ourpeople could safely and productively work at home while still supporting
customers during a very difficult time.
However, as I’ve said, provisions and impairments related to the pandemic
reduced profits and impacted the amount we were able to return to you ourshareholders through dividends.
So while management did an excellent job…it is important the impact onshareholders be reflected in the remuneration of our executives.
Therefore, the Board applied a 50% reduction to the Variable Remuneration
outcomes for our disclosed executives. This reduced the total remuneration by
an average of 15% for those that were in those same roles last year.
I should also point out however our frontline staff on award contracts received a
2% pay rise this year and we think that is totally deserved and appropriate.
The other resolutions I want to specifically address relate to climate change andour lending to the natural resources sector.
The global economy is clearly making a major transition to a lower-carbon futureand our key markets of Australia and New Zealand will be at the forefront of new
investment and opportunity.
We believe we have a role to play as an enabler of a net-zero future and we are
already embracing that role.
This transition will take time however and we appreciate some shareholders
listening today may want us to get there sooner rather than later. Paradoxically,some feel we may be moving too quickly.
As such, we recently released an updated Climate Change Statement which
focuses on:
One. We will encourage and support our top-100 emitting large corporate
customers, to identify climate risks and opportunities, create transition plans andreport publicly on their progress.
Secondly. We will support the transition of our economy to a low-carbon future.
We have set aside $50 billion to help fund this and I expect that number will
likely grow over the next few years.
And thirdly. We will reduce our own impact by managing and reducing emissions
from our operations. This will include sourcing 100 per cent of the electricity
needed for our business operations from renewables by 2025.
At the heart of our climate strategy however is a dialogue with our customers.

We want to better understand how they are thinking about these issues and how
can we assist them to act on these challenges.
What has been encouraging so far is that the vast bulk of our customers havewelcomed the engagement and are taking these issues seriously.
Concluding remarks
So in conclusion, this has been a difficult year for many of our customers andthe nation.
If 2020 has taught us anything…it is things can change very fast. The lesson forcompanies like ANZ is that it’s important to be both flexible in planning and agile
in response.
There will still be challenges ahead, but we have the balance sheet strength,along with record levels of provisions, to ensure we are able to support
customers through the remainder of the crisis while still providing a decent
return for you our shareholders.
Before I hand over to Shayne, it would be remiss of me not to make a few
comments about my predecessor David Gonski.
David retired from the ANZ Board at the end of October having made anenormous contribution to our bank, particularly over the last seven years asChair.
He steered the Board through some testing times for the industry and helped
build an organisation with a strong focus on governance, accountability,improved culture and enhanced customer outcomes.
There is no doubt ANZ is in much better shape as a result of his leadership:•••

We are a much simpler and more focussed with a strong, diverse andstable management team.
We are one of the best capitalised banks in the world without having todilute existing shareholders through the recent crisis
And we have remediated many of the issues of the past, while still
investing in our future.

Perhaps most importantly, his efforts to strengthen and champion the bank’s
work in the area of Environment, Social and Governance has given us thefoundation to be a leader on sustainability issues.
On behalf of all shareholders, I thank David for his efforts.

Finally, given the events of 2020, it’s reassuring to know we have a workforce ofmore than 38,000 people so dedicated to their customers and their community.
I’d also like to acknowledge our customers for again trusting us with theirbanking, as well as you our shareholders for supporting us through the year.
Your support is much appreciated by the Board.
Whatever 2021 brings, ANZ enters it with strength, confidence and optimism.
And with that, I will now ask our Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott toaddress the meeting, Shayne.