Welcome to the BHP general meeting. I'm Ian Hunter, a member of the Wurundjeri people, the traditional owners of the Melbourne region. The name Hunter, of course, is a good title for an indigenous person, but the name Hunter comes, from my father's side of the family. My father happened to be of Scottish descent, so I'm as much a Scot as I am indigenous. No, it doesn't make me a Scot originally. That actually makes me a proud Australian. I'm proud of both of my heritage, of my Scottish descent and my indigenous heritage, but today I'm representing the Wurundjeri people. In this situation, rather than give leads of which we can't give personal leads, I'd like to actually welcome you with a song that I've created. The song consists of four words. First word, gii ga, meaning go away. Gumbalai, meaning come back. Two other words. Namuji, the word that we used and our ancient people used when they first met non-indigenous people. Namuji means the ghost ones, the people that came into our country, that we greeted with great reverence. The last word is kulin, a word that we refer to our souls as. The song goes, go away, namuji. Come back, kulin. Not meaning that we want non-indigenous people to go away. We want people to be here. I want people to be here. It's a welcoming. Think of yourself when you listen to the words that you are indigenous, that you belong to this country, that it's welcoming you to the land of the Wurundjeri people. The song goes like this. Gii ga, gii ga, gii ga namuji. Gii ga namuji. Gii ga gumbalai. Gii ga gumbalai, gii ga namuji. Gumbalai kulin, gumbalai kulin. Gii ga namuji, gii ga namuji. Gumbalai kulin. Gii ga namuji, gumbalai kulin. Gii ga namuji, gumbalai kulin. Gii ga namuji. Gumbalai kulin. Welcome to the BHP general meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Ken MacKenzie, and I'm your Chair. Thank you for joining us today, and I'd like to welcome you to this BHP Group Limited general meeting to consider the proposed unification of BHP. Now, it is unfortunate that we cannot be together in Melbourne as originally intended for today's meeting. I am glad we are able to hold this meeting virtually. Today, I'm in Melbourne, joined by our CEO, Mike Henry, and Group Company Secretary, Stefanie Wilkinson. I'm joined remotely by our directors based in Australia and around the world. Let me first thank Ian Hunter, Wurundjeri Elder, for his warm welcome to country. I'd like to acknowledge and pay my respects to the Wurundjeri people who are the traditional owners of the land from which I am speaking to you. I'd also like to pay respects to the elders, both past and present, of the Kulin nation and extend that respect to other First Nations peoples who are joining us today. There is a quorum present, and as the time is shortly after 6 P.M. in Melbourne, we can now start the meeting. Today's meeting has been called to specifically consider the unification of BHP. A shareholder circular, including the notice of meeting, was made available to shareholders on the 9th of December 2021. The notice for this meeting was set out in appendix four of the shareholder circular and provides the full text of each resolution and notes whether each resolution is proposed as an ordinary resolution or a special resolution. After the conclusion of this meeting, a BHP Group Plc scheme meeting and a BHP Group Plc general meeting will also be held. For unification to proceed, all of the resolutions proposed at these three unification meetings will need to be approved by the requisite majority of relevant shareholders. The poll is now open for all items to be considered at this meeting, and Stefanie Wilkinson, our Group Company Secretary, will outline the relevant voting procedure shortly. First, I'd like to make some introductory comments. We believe BHP is in a strong position. Our people have proven their resilience during challenging times. Our balance sheet is strong, as is our performance culture, and we have a clear strategy in place focused on shaping the company to meet the world's needs and deliver long-term shareholder value. In August last year, we announced our intention to make a number of strategic changes that will ensure BHP is in the best position to capture the opportunities presented as our world evolves. At the center of these changes was the announcement of our intention to unify BHP's corporate structure under BHP Group Limited. Since that announcement, we've worked through that process, and the board approved the proposal in December. Now it's up to you, as our shareholders, to decide whether BHP unifies. We are here today to discuss this proposal with you, take your questions, and put the proposal to a shareholder vote. First, I think it is important to set out some background regarding our current dual listing company structure, better known as our DLC. This structure was established with the BHP and Billiton merger in 2001. The DLC structure comprises two parent companies, BHP Group Plc and BHP Group Limited, operating as a single economic entity. While shareholders in both Plc and Limited have equivalent shareholder and economic rights, there are two share registries and two share prices. BHP Group Plc has its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, while BHP Group Limited has its listing on the ASX. This structure has served us well for a number of years. However, the board and management believe that its suitability for us has diminished over time. Why unify now? As we have stated previously, we have kept our DLC structure under review because as an organization, we value simplicity, and having two parent companies listed in two locations is complex, and managing them requires significant management time and focus. In addition, over time, the makeup of our organization has changed. We are not the same group we were in 2001. When the DLC was first established in 2001, about 40% of the earnings were generated through the UK Plc entity. Due to changes to our portfolio over the years, this is now down below 5% today. Put simply, the DLC structure is no longer the optimal configuration for BHP. However, even though this reality has emerged over time, the business case for unwinding the DLC has not been compelling enough to make the change until now. A key driver is cost. Today, one-off unification costs have come down substantially by approximately $1.2 billion since 2017. These are now expected to range between $350 million- $450 million. Under the proposed structure, a significant part of these unification costs relate to stamp duties to be paid by BHP for the purchase of PLC shares. As a result, our most recent review of the DLC concluded that now was the right time to unify, facilitating a corporate structure that better supports the BHP of today and the BHP of tomorrow. The value will be delivered for our shareholders and stakeholders as a result. What does this mean for shareholders? Well, from an overarching standpoint, it means that shareholders will have a company with a corporate structure that is fit for purpose to support the BHP we are today and our exciting future. In addition, shareholders will be able to buy the same BHP share around the world via BHP Group Limited's listings on the Australian, London, and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges, as well as our New York Stock Exchange-listed ADR program. We believe these benefits are significant for our future, underpin our strategy, and support long-term shareholder value creation. Now, turning to the proposal in more detail. A unified BHP will have a primary listing on the ASX, a standard listing on the London Stock Exchange, a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and a Level two ADR program on the New York Stock Exchange. Now, this means that shareholders can continue to invest in BHP in the same markets as they do now. PLC shareholders will have their PLC shares exchanged for limited shares on a one-for-one basis. For our Limited Shareholders, you will retain your shareholding in a unified BHP. Importantly, the dividend policy and ability to distribute franking credits will remain the same. It will also not change BHP's strong fundamentals. It will not change BHP's underlying assets nor operations, workforce, executive leadership team, board or cash flow generation, or our strong commitment to corporate governance and social value. As a result, the board is strongly supportive of the move to unification and the benefits it will bring. To conclude, the DLC has served us well for many years. However, its suitability for our organization has diminished over time. Today, BHP's portfolio is simpler and focused on growing long-term value from future-facing commodities. We require a corporate structure that supports this, that is fit for purpose. We believe now is the right time to take this step. Unification will only proceed if it is supported by both Limited and PLC shareholders. Your directors consider that unification is in the best interest of BHP shareholders as a whole, and each of your directors intends to vote all BHP shares that they own or control in favor of the resolutions at this meeting and the meetings at PLC, which will be held after this meeting. Grant Samuel, the independent expert, has also concluded that unification is in the best interests of BHP shareholders. The board unanimously recommends this proposal to you, and we ask for your consideration and support for the unification of BHP. I'll now hand across to our Group Company Secretary, Stefanie Wilkinson, to run through the items of business and voting procedures. Thank you. Thank you, Chair, and hello, everyone. My name is Stefanie Wilkinson, and I am the Group Company Secretary of BHP Group Limited. Today's meeting is being held virtually via the Lumi platform. I will now run through the procedural aspects of today's meeting. We have published on our website a guide to using Lumi. If you experience any technical issues, please refer to the Lumi help guide available on our Meetings page of our website. In the unlikely event that we do experience any major technical issues, we will provide you with updates through our website and the exchanges. Voting on all items today will occur by a poll. On a poll, each shareholder attending online by proxy or by corporate representative has one vote for every share held. If you are eligible to vote, a polling icon or voting tab will appear on your screen. Selecting this icon will bring up the resolutions and voting options. To cast your vote, simply select For, Against, or Abstain for each resolution. Your selection is automatically recorded. There is no Submit or Enter button. You are able to change your vote until the time the chair declares that voting is closed. The poll is now open, and you can vote at any time. You do not need to wait until we have discussed a resolution. The results of the unification proposal, including the results of the meeting of BHP Group Plc shareholders, will be made available after the conclusion of the meetings today and announced to stock exchanges in London, Australia, NY and Johannesburg. Turning to the items of business in the notice of meeting. Items one, two, three, and four are proposed as special resolutions and require approval of 75% of votes cast. Item five is proposed as an ordinary resolution and requires the approval of a majority of the votes cast. The board recommends that you vote in favor of all items of business. None of today's items are joint electorate actions with BHP Group Plc shareholders. However, as Ken mentioned, all the unification resolutions are interconditional, and for unification to proceed, all of the resolutions at the three shareholder meetings must be passed by the requisite majorities. This means that BHP Group Limited Shareholders must approve the unification resolutions at this meeting, and BHP Group Plc shareholders must approve the unification resolutions being proposed at the BHP Group Plc scheme meeting and the BHP Group Plc general meeting to be held later today. Your directors consider that unification is in the best interests of Plc shareholders as a whole, Limited Shareholders as a whole, and BHP shareholders as a whole. In order to ask a written question, please select the messaging icon in the Lumi platform and type your question in the text box. Please state in the text box which item of business your question relates to. To submit your question, click the arrow symbol. If you wish to ask a verbal question, you must first pause the webcast, then select the link under Ask an Audio Question. This will open a new window in your web browser. Enter your name and your topic or question, then select Submit Request. You will need to allow access to your microphone by selecting Accept in the pop-up window. You'll then be placed in the queue. You will be able to hear the meeting audio as you wait to ask your question. When it's time for you to ask your question, you'll be introduced by the moderator. You'll hear a single beep indicating your microphone has been unmuted, and you may ask your question. Once you have asked your question, you can either hang up or you can rejoin the queue to ask another question. If you hang up and wish to watch the remainder of the meeting, simply navigate back to the Lumi webcast screen. You will need to press Play on the broadcast bar to continue watching. I encourage you to submit your written questions or comments now to assist us in getting through as many of your questions as possible. Questions should relate to the items of business under consideration at today's meeting. We will deal with the questions at the relevant item of business. We will ensure that there is a reasonable opportunity for shareholders as a whole to ask questions or make comments at this meeting. However, we may not be able to get to every question or address every comment received. Please refer to the help guides on our website if you are having any difficulty in asking a question or making a comment or have any other question. Thank you, Chair. Great. Thank you, Stefanie. I now invite you to submit your questions. As Stefanie said, we'll do our best to get to as many of your questions and comments as possible. We have with us today Lisa Farrelly, our Vice President of Communications, who's going to assist with the moderation and flow of questions. Welcome to you, Lisa. To ensure that shareholders as a whole have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at today's meeting, we will, as a guide, ask you to limit your questions or comments to two and to no more than one or two minutes. For clarity, I think Cheryl was aware of this, but this is not an annual general meeting. This is a meeting that we've convened very specifically to discuss the unification proposal that's before shareholders. Apologies in advance. We're I'm only gonna be accepting questions around unification, and that's in order to be fair to all shareholders who want to discuss unification. All items of business relate to unification, and as I said, I'll only be dealing with those questions that relate to that topic. Item one relates to the amendments to the BHP Group Limited Constitution. If your question relates to unification more generally, please ask it during this item of business. If your question relates to items two- five specifically, please wait until we ask for questions on those items. I'd now like to invite any questions from shareholders on item one or on unification more generally. Thanks, Lisa. Thank you, Chair. Our first written question is from Mr. John Robinson, who has asked, "Will dividends be paid in Australian dollars in the future instead of U.S. dollars? I find that the value of Australian dollars against the U.S. dollar is always rises right on conversion date. With the size of my holding, it can make hundreds of dollars of difference to my dividend payment. Right. Well, thank you for your question, Mr. Robinson. I mean, just in terms of Limited shareholder implications, you know, we covered the rationale and benefits in the opening comments. All shareholders, including Limited Shareholders, will benefit from corporate simplification and the strategic flexibility that will come from unification. Outside of that, there's no practical impact or any tax impact for Limited Shareholders because there's no change in the nature of their shareholding. Now, specifically to your question around dividends, our reporting currency is in U.S. dollars. That makes sense for us given the global nature of operations and the fact that our commodities are bought and sold in U.S. dollars. That makes sense for us. We do pay our dividends in local currency. If you're a Limited shareholder, that's Australian dollars. If you're a Plc shareholder, then that's going to be in pounds. There's no change to that going forward. Thanks, Lisa. Thank you, Chair. Our next question, also a written question, is from Mr. Desmond Peter Moriarty. He has asked, "Please address the fact that the one-to-one ratio probably is unfair to Australians. I can't see myself supporting the dissolution at the one-to-one ratio. Right. Well, thanks for the question, Mr. Moriarty. I think first, as I said in the opening comments, a core principle of the DLC from the very beginning, going back to 2001, has been that shareholders of both Limited and PLC enjoy the same economic and voting rights. From the very beginning, this has been codified in all the arrangements of the DLC by this one-to-one equalization ratio in the DLC agreements. Shareholder consideration of unification shouldn't be any different. This is why there's been no additional incentive provided to either set of shareholders to approve unification. Thanks, Lisa. Thank you, Chair. I'm just waiting for some technical to see if there's one more question. Bear with me. It looks like there may be no more questions on item one, Chair. Okay. Are there any questions on the Lumi platform? There is one coming through as we speak, Chair. I'll read it now. "What does rule 55 mean?" I apologize. Correction. Sorry, it's come through. Great. I'll start again. Sorry, Chair. That's okay. A question from Mr. Peter Ross Graham. "What does rule 554 mean when it refers to the nonexistent rule 553? I'm not sure I understand the question. Stefanie, is I think it relates to the constitution, Chair. I'll just pull up a copy while, and we'll see, might see if there's another question while we do that, Lisa. Thanks. No more questions at the moment. Okay. Are there any questions on the phone lines? No questions on the phone so far. Okay. Well, Mr. Graham, bear with us. I think, Chairman, we might return back to the shareholder with an answer to that question. Okay. Well, we know Mr. Graham quite well, so we'll be able to revert to him with an answer around that. Thank you, Chair. We have no more further questions on item one. Okay. Well, as there are no more questions, we'll move to the next item of business. Items two-five, which I'll take together given each of these items also relates to unification. Item two relates to the approval of the limited special voting share buyback agreement. Item three relates to the approval of the DLC dividend share buyback agreement. Item four relates to the approval of the class rights action that arises in connection with the amendment to Article 355 of the BHP Group Plc articles of association with respect to the Plc special voting share buyback. It might have been item four. My apologies. Item five relates to the approval of the class rights action in connection with the change in the status of BHP Group Plc to a private limited company. Are there any specific questions on items two to five? No further questions on items two-five, Chair. Okay. Stefanie, is there any update on Mr. Graham's question, and we'll just write back to him directly. No, we'll get this into. Okay, great. No questions, no text questions, no phone line questions on items two-five either? I've just had notification that we're getting one through right now, Chair, if you can bear with me. Sure. Here we go. A question from Mr. Stephen Eric Kirby related to unification cost. What is the expected cost saving of unification? Great. Thank you, Mr. Kirby. You know, I look at it from two perspectives. One is the quantitative benefits, and then we've got the qualitative benefits. In terms of the quantitative benefits, the direct cost savings are in the order of $3 million-$4 million per annum, and that's from the removal of dual AGMs, you know, additional share registers and those sort of administrative costs. There's also the important NPV benefit associated with structurally distributing franking credits rather than them all going through the DLC, that they go directly to Limited Shareholders. That will be in the billions of dollars. There is also specific to the Woodside transaction, there's also $6 billion of franking credits that will go directly to shareholders from the in specie distribution of Woodside shares by executing unification first, as opposed to us having to do a franked dividend from limited to PLC in order to provide the retained earnings that allows them then to distribute the Woodside shares out to PLC shareholders. Instead, it's a franked dividend that goes straight to Limited Shareholders who can then use the franking credit. Finally, there's the simplicity of a single-headed company and the strategic flexibility it offers for the future. That's hard to quantify and value, especially over time, but we know the value is there in the reduced complexity that a unified structure will bring and the agility that it will provide to BHP to pursue opportunities going forward. So there's both the quantitative benefit, but there's a really important qualitative benefit around it as well. Thank you, Mr. Kirby. Thank you, Chair. There are no further questions on items two-five. Okay, thank you. Well, I think we've had a reasonable opportunity to discuss items one through five. I will close the poll five minutes after the conclusion of this meeting, so if you haven't already done so, please complete your voting now. As discussed earlier, results of the voting from this general meeting and the meetings to be held in London will be announced to the stock exchanges later today. The proxy results are being shown on the screen now. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the business to be dealt with at this general meeting, and I now declare the meeting closed subject to the finalization of the poll. Thanks for joining us today.