I'm Bernie, 51 years of age, and I'm a Bilateral Cochlear Implant recipient. Sport's a passion, and has been since I was little. I've been in the media for over 30 years, from covering sporting events, going to cricket, going to rugby league, interviewing players. I wouldn't be able to work in the media at all if I didn't have them. What's great about the Nucleus 8 is the features that come with it. The audio streaming from the phone to allow you to make phone calls, talk to people, and obviously listen to music. But they've made a huge difference, particularly in phone conversations. The clarity is so much better than holding it to your ear or holding it to the processor. It's like someone's talking directly into your ears, but also the Forward Focus, which is just fantastic. Now, I can't recommend it enough, particularly in noisy places, when you want to cut out noise behind you. You're talking to your mates who are in front of you, it will just focus on them. Makes a massive difference in a noisy place. The best thing about the Nucleus 8, it's so light, you can actually hardly even feel them on your ear, and it was the first thing when I wore them, I just thought, "I can't even notice them." With every upgrade, Cochlear's always had something that's not just been the clarity of sound. They've always had a feature with it that's made it better. Gone through all the upgrades. Every time I've had an upgrade, there's been something great about it that's made hearing better, both at work and at home, and just can't wait for the next thing they bring along. Good morning, and welcome to the 2023 Annual General Meeting of Cochlear Limited. I'm Alison Deans, and it's my pleasure to welcome all shareholders to today's meeting, including those attending in person here at Cochlear's global headquarters in Sydney, and also those attending online. Thank you to Bernie Cohen for sharing his experience as a Cochlear recipient. You may have also noticed that Bernie featured on the cover of our annual report this year. I'm advised by the Company Secretary that we have a quorum of members present, and accordingly, I now declare the meeting open. On behalf of the board, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet physically today, the Wallumattagal peoples of the Darug Nation. I'd like to pay respect to all elders, both past and present, and to leaders emerging. I'd also like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the various lands in which we meet virtually today, and acknowledge today's Aboriginal communities who are the custodians of these lands. Today, I'm joined by our CEO and President, Dig Howitt; our Company Secretary, Ray Jarman; Directors Yasmin Allen, AM, Glen Boreham, AM, Sir Michael Daniell, who is standing for re-election today and will address the meeting later. Andy Denver, who's retiring as a director at the end of the meeting, as previously announced, and we'll acknowledge and thank Andy for his contribution later in the meeting. Christine McLoughlin, AM, Karen Penrose, Professor Bruce Robinson, AC, who is also standing for re-election today and will address the meeting later. Attending the meeting virtually from his base in the United States is Director Michael del Prado. Also attending today's meeting is Julian McPherson from KPMG, our external auditor. Julian will be available to answer questions about the audit of the FY 23 financial statements later in the meeting. Julian is joined by Rachel Gatt, who has taken over from Julian as Lead Audit Partner from 1 July 2023. The notice of meeting has been sent to all shareholders. You can also find our notice of meeting, together with our annual report and online meeting guide, on our website and at the top of the online AGM platform. The prepared AGM speeches from the Chair and the CEO have been released to the market. Before moving to these addresses, I'd like to acknowledge our Company Secretary, Ray Jarman, who has expressed an intention to retire. He will stay on until a new company secretary has been appointed. Ray has been with Cochlear since 2008, when he joined as our first Group General Counsel, and has also been Company Secretary since February 2017. Over the past 15 years with Cochlear, Ray has helped us to navigate through many business highlights and challenges, and always demonstrated a combination of commerciality and maturity. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank Ray for his substantial contribution to Cochlear over the many years, and wish him all the very best for his retirement. Thanks, Ray. I will now run through the question and voting procedures for the meeting. Firstly, could I please ask all those in attendance today to ensure your mobile phone is switched off? As is usual, we are only taking questions from shareholders today or their properly appointed representatives. Questions submitted prior to the meeting will be addressed as part of my address, or otherwise, at the relevant item of business. Any shareholder present in person wishing to ask a question, please approach the microphone in the center of the room when prompted at the relevant item of business, and wait to be introduced before asking your question. To afford as many shareholders as possible the opportunity to speak, we ask each shareholder to speak briefly and ask all their questions on the relevant item of business at that time. Anyone in attendance who requires assistance moving to the microphone, please let us know. Shareholders attending the meeting online can submit written questions at any time and do not need to wait until we reach the relevant item of business... We encourage you to submit your written questions as soon as possible, noting the resolution it relates to. To ask a written question, select the Q&A icon, then select the topic your question relates to. Type your question into the chat box and press Send. Written questions sent via the online platform will be moderated to avoid repetition, and if questions are particularly lengthy, we may need to summarize them in the interest of time. Only questions relevant to this meeting will be answered, and we will not answer any inappropriate questions. Shareholders attending the meeting using the online meeting platform will also have the opportunity to ask questions verbally via the telephone line. Shareholders on our telephone line may notify their intent to ask a question by pressing star one. Questions will be transcribed by the telephone line operator onto the online meeting platform as a written question. Written questions from shareholders online will be read aloud by a Cochlear staff member, and all written and verbal questions will be addressed by me in the first instance. I may refer a question to another person for a response if I consider it appropriate. We will address questions from shareholders physically present first, followed by questions from shareholders online. I also advise that there may be a slight delay between proceedings in the room and what you're watching online, so please remember this if you want to ask a question online. I will call for a poll on each item of business set out in the notice of meeting. The directors' voting recommendations are set out in the notice. The poll will remain open for five minutes after the close of the meeting to allow you to finalize your votes. In order to provide enough time to vote, polling is open now, and I do encourage you to vote early. If you're attending in person and you need assistance completing your voting card, then please ask one of the representatives of Computershare. There will be time to complete the voting card towards the end of the meeting. However, you may complete your card and cast your vote at any time from now until the poll closes. If you're attending online and eligible to vote at this meeting, select the Vote icon, and the meeting resolutions will appear on your screen. To vote, select your voting direction. A tick will appear to confirm receipt of your vote. There is no need to press the Submit or Send button as the vote is automatically recorded. You can also change your vote up until the time that voting closes. If you experience any difficulties with the online platform, the help number to contact Computershare is +61 3 9415 4024. Any properly appointed proxy who's been given discretion on how to vote should vote in the same manner. Any appointed proxy who's been directed to vote in a certain manner and has no discretionary votes to cast does not need to vote, as these votes will automatically be counted in accordance with these directions. This to the ASX after the meeting, and we will also post the results on the AGM webpage of the Cochlear website. A representative from Computershare will act as the Returning Officer for the purposes of conducting and determining the results of the poll. I'd now like to move to my address. Ladies and gentlemen, at Cochlear, we're strongly connected to our mission to help people hear and be heard. It's the passion that drives the organization and focuses the strategy. With every hearing implant, we begin a lifelong journey with our recipients. We have a responsibility to be here to support that lifetime of hearing, which means we need to deliver sustainable growth, benefiting all our stakeholders. Over the past year, we've made great progress delivering record sales revenue and growing profits. At the same time, we've continued to invest to drive growth over the short, medium, and long term. Importantly, we've made excellent progress in creating value for all our key stakeholders. We achieve these outcomes by building on our key strengths. Our market-leading innovation capabilities, which work in conjunction with a global network of experts and collaborators, the strong and trusted relationships we've built with our candidates, recipients, professional customers, and payers, and our employees, who are central to how we deliver our strategy and create value. I'll now touch on some of the highlights of the year. At our core, we create value by contributing to a healthier and more productive society. We do this by building societal awareness of the importance of hearing health, advocating for improved access to implantable hearing solutions, and providing implantable solutions that deliver a lifetime of hearing. This year, we helped over 44,000 people hear with one or two of our Cochlear or acoustic implants. In doing so, we provide an estimated net societal benefit of more than $7 billion over the lifetime of this year's new recipients. This value comes from improved health outcomes, educational cost savings, and productivity gains. An important long-term goal for Cochlear is to support the development of a consistent process by which all healthcare professionals diagnose, refer, and treat adults eligible for cochlear implants… This goal is supported by the growing recognition that hearing is an essential part of healthy aging, and that treating age-related hearing loss is cost effective. The evidence linking hearing loss to cognitive decline also continues to build. A multi-year study in the U.S. has been investigating whether treatment of hearing loss could delay cognitive decline and dementia in older adults. In July, the study reported that for a group of older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss and who are at higher risk of cognitive decline, wearing hearing aids for three years slowed cognitive decline by 48%. These findings are a major step forward in understanding the broader impact of hearing loss and the need for adults, policymakers, and health providers to prioritize treatment of hearing loss. Treatment not only helps people to hear, but also has the potential to reduce cognitive decline for adults at higher risk. Moving now to our people. Building a strong organization with thriving people is essential to our long-term success. We have an engaged, capable, and high-performing team. It's a diverse workforce with around 4,800 people across the globe. Their knowledge, expertise, passion, and focus on excellence is key to achieving future success. We're pleased to report overall engagement remains strong this year at 80%, which is well above the global engagement benchmark of 68%. We're particularly pleased to see that 94% of our people understand how they personally contribute to the satisfaction of our customers, and over 93% understand their contribution to our strategy. As our workforce continues to expand, we work hard to intentionally shape the culture that will enable us to grow and deliver for our customers in the future. This year, we focused on strengthening our enterprise mindset, with a focus on inclusive leadership, building critical skills and capabilities at both an individual and organizational level. We also take steps to invest in our talent and made strong progress towards building the strategic capabilities, which will provide us with sustainable competitive advantage over the long term. A diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization improves employee engagement and performance, as well as improving our customer engagement. Achieving gender equality is one important element of our diversity and inclusion strategy. Across the business, 53% of our people are female, and we've achieved 43% female representation among our senior leaders. At board level, 40% of directors are female. Finally, I'd like to highlight changes to the board. Over recent years, we've continued our process of board renewal, adding new directors with diverse perspectives and relevant experience, while maintaining continuity and corporate knowledge. As part of that renewal process, long-serving director, Andrew Denver, will retire from the board at the end of this meeting. Over his 16 years of service to the Cochlear board, Andy has provided invaluable counsel. His extensive experience in the medical device and healthcare industries, along with significant management experience in these industries, have greatly contributed to Cochlear's strategic direction and assisted in the delivery of long-term value to shareholders. His tenure has enabled for an orderly renewal and transition of critical board skills and experience. The board and management sincerely thank Andy for his significant contribution to Cochlear, and wish him well for the future. I'll now hand over to our Chief Executive Officer and President, Dig Howitt, who will talk to progress on our other value drivers. Thank you, Alison, and ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Before I start, I, too, just want to acknowledge and thank Ray and Andy for the very significant contribution they've made to Cochlear, to our customers, and to helping us achieve our mission over the last 16 years. It's been fantastic to work with you both over that time. Now, we create value for our recipients by building a market-leading portfolio of high-quality products and services that supports a lifetime of hearing outcomes for recipients. We invest in education and clinical support tools to ensure our professional customers have convenience and confidence in caring for implant candidates and recipients. We've achieved this through a multi-decade philosophy of investing to grow and an unwavering commitment to innovation. Our commitment to innovation stems from Professor Graeme Clark's work to develop the first multi-channel cochlear implant in the 1970s, and our market-leading technology underpins our global market share of over 60%. In financial year 2023, we invested over AUD 240 million in research and development, representing 13% of sales revenue. I'll touch now on a few of our new products. The first of these is the Cochlear Nucleus 8 Sound Processor, which achieved regulatory approval across major markets during the first half and has driven strong growth in sales revenue since launch. It is smaller and smarter than its predecessor, designed to help recipients hear conversations more clearly and easily, particularly in noisy situations. It is better connected, building on direct streaming capabilities and connectivity features available in our latest sound processors. The new Nucleus 8 Sound Processor has driven strong growth in the services segment. By delivering our latest sound processor upgrade technology to our recipient base, we've helped over 48,000 of our prior generation cochlear implant recipients to hear better, improving their hearing and quality of life. We also launched Bimodal Control in the Nucleus Smart App to help patients quickly and easily manage their compatible ReSound hearing aid and Cochlear sound processor in one app. Recipients can access commonly used features, such as volume adjustment and program selection, to help achieve their best possible hearing experience. And in August, we introduced our next generation Cochlear Osia System, the first and only active bone conduction system that allows patients to undergo MRI scans of both 1.5 and 3 Tesla without the need for surgery. It has been launched in the U.S. and will roll out to other markets as regulatory approvals are obtained. Looking to the coming years, we're excited about the development pipeline. We have a full suite of new products and services being developed that aim to improve hearing outcomes and integrate even more seamlessly into the lives of our recipients. We also create value by being environmentally responsible, implementing initiatives to promote the sustainable use of natural resources, and reducing our environmental footprint. We made significant progress in financial year 2023, reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 68% from our FY19 baseline, by increasing renewable energy usage at our manufacturing sites. We reached 96% renewable energy at our manufacturing facilities, using 100% renewable energy at five of our six facilities. And we are making steady progress in reducing business flight-related emissions. Our target is to reduce flight-related emissions by 50% by financial year 2025 from our financial 2019 base. In financial 2023, we reduced these emissions by 91%. We achieved this by reducing business flights for per full-time equivalent employee by 47% from our financial 2019 baseline and purchasing offsets for approximately 80% of our remaining business flights. In May, we initiated a complete Scope 3 emissions inventory, and we expect to complete this during the current financial year. We're also identifying ways to improve resource efficiency, reduce waste, and drive greater circularity in our operations. In the U.S., we worked with the regulator to achieve changes in our labeling, allowing us to implement electronic labeling for the Nucleus 8 Sound Processor. As a result, we have saved over 9.4 million paper pages of manual labeling since November, as well as over 45,000 plastic sleeves. We hope that other regulators around the world will also take a pragmatic approach to reducing the need for paper manuals, reducing usage of paper and emissions from freight. Finally, we aim to deliver sustained value through financial discipline and commitment to high standards of corporate governance and transparency. We delivered strong financial results for the financial year 2023. Sales revenue increased 16% in constant currency to a record AUD 1.96 billion, driven by strong growth across all business units. Underlying net profit also increased by 14% in constant currency to AUD 305 million, with operating cash flows sufficient to fund investing activities and capital expenditure while delivering dividends to shareholders. We also commenced a progressive on-market share buyback program in March, with the aim of reducing the cash balance to around AUD 200 million over a number of years. This buyback program aligns with the interests of our shareholders by reducing shares on issue, providing gradual accretion in earnings per share and dividends per share over the long term. And in February, we achieved certification for the manufacture of our Nucleus CP802 Sound Processor at our new Chengdu facility in China, and we have commenced supplying our Chinese operations. We expect to achieve implant approval from this facility within 18 months. As we look forward to the future, we remain confident of the opportunity to grow our markets. There remains a significant unmet and addressable clinical need for cochlear and acoustic implants that we expect to continue to underpin sustainable long-term growth. A clear growth opportunity and strategy, combined with a strong balance sheet, mean that we are well placed to create value for our shareholders and over the... now and over the long term. We provided earnings guidance for this financial year at the release of our results in August, outlining our expectations of an increase in underlying net profit of between 16% and 23%. We continue to expect this level of increase based on the foreign currency spot rates that were prevailing at the time of our results. Cochlear implant trading conditions continue to be strong across most markets, with an improving trend in adult referral rates in many developed countries. At this stage, we expect solid market growth rates to drive high single-digit growth in Cochlear implant units for this financial year. We expect market share gains that we achieved last year to stabilize, and for there to be fewer COVID-related backlog surgeries during the year. The services segment is expected to perform strongly, with continuing strong demand for upgrades for the Nucleus 8 Sound Processor. Acoustics growth rates are expected to be lower than last year, with continuing growth from the rollout of the Osia 2 system to be moderated by a smaller contribution from upgrades of the Baha 6 Max sound processor. We also note that guidance does not factor in any impact from the proposed acquisition of the Oticon Medical cochlear implant business. Finally, the board maintains a dividend policy that targets a 70% payout of underlying net profit. Thank you, and I'll now pass back to Alison. Thank you, Dig. I'd now like to move to consider the formal motions of the meeting. Resolution 1.1 deals with the receipt and consideration of Cochlear's financial report, directors' report, and auditors' report for the financial year ended 30th June 2023. They're incorporated in the 2023 annual report, which is being sent or made available to all shareholders. It's also on our AGM website and available today at the top of the online platform. There's no requirement for a formal resolution on this item. However, it is the company's practice to do so. The resolution is now displayed on screen. The company has received direct votes and proxies in relation to the resolution before the meeting today. I intend to display the number of direct votes and proxies held for and against each resolution on the screen before any discussion on each resolution. I intend to vote all available proxies for the Chair's discretion in favor of all the resolutions. I now ask that the direct and proxy votes be displayed on the screen. Thank you. This item provides shareholders with an opportunity to ask questions on the company's financial and business performance. Shareholders have already raised a number of questions directly with the company, and I'll answer these shortly. Any shareholder who has another question or comment on the financial and business performance or on the management of the company should raise them now. This is also the appropriate time to raise any questions you may have of the auditor, including questions on the conduct of the audit and the preparation and content of the audit report. We'll start by addressing questions that have been submitted to shareholders prior to the meeting. We've collated similar questions together to enable me to respond to the key themes. First, we received a question on what else can be done to reduce the company's carbon footprint. Firstly, I should say that we recognize the need to meet the expectations of our shareholders, stakeholders, sorry, across a range of issues where our activities have an impact on society and the environment. In this context, reducing our carbon footprint is a priority for the company. Our Net Zero strategy is a proportionate response to the level of importance of this issue to our stakeholders and its impact on our business. It's consistent with peers, and importantly, it's aligned with our long-term objective to deliver sustainable value creation. As you will see in our annual report, to date, we've made the following commitments: a 50% reduction in emissions related to our business flights by 2025, transition of all our manufacturing facilities to renewable energy sources, net zero emissions in our operations by FY30, and target of net zero across our value chain by FY50. By June 30th, 2023, we achieved the following: We reached 96% renewable energy in our manufacturing facilities. We reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 68% from our FY19 baseline. We reduced the number of flights taken per full-time employee by 47% from our FY19 baseline, and we've initiated an inventory of Scope 3 emissions and expect to report back on this by the end of FY24. We'll continue to evolve our approach to this and other material sustainability issues in terms of both our actions and our reporting. I do encourage you to read the annual report, where we've outlined our targets and progress in more detail. In summary, we believe these targets and actions are appropriate for Cochlear. We've been asked what is being done to support reconciliation with First Nations people. Cochlear supports the spirit of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. This support is grounded in our commitment to reconciliation and broader commitment to diversity and inclusion. Reconciliation doesn't begin or end with the referendum. We remain committed to achieving an Australia in which First Nations people are heard, valued, and empowered. We're committed to supporting efforts to improve the health of First Nations people, particularly in hearing health.... More than 40% of First Nations people aged 7 and over have hearing loss in one or both ears. That's a key focus of our Reconciliation Action Plan. Other priority areas in our RAP include improving employment opportunities for First Nations people with Cochlear, increasing support for First Nations suppliers, and working towards a culturally safe and welcoming workplace for First Nations people. We've been asked about what steps are being taken to protect data gathered by Cochlear. This is also an important issue. We continue to evolve our products and services to give greater convenience, hearing performance, and connectivity for our customers. And increasingly, our solutions are enhanced by customer data. As the role of data in our solutions develops, we're always cognizant of the need to protect customers' data and also to use that data responsibly. To do this, we've implemented comprehensive global privacy and information security programs. Our products and services are developed with a privacy and security by design approach, ensuring that data is identified and protected from the beginning of our product development process. We then protect key customer data by taking a defense in depth approach to securing the information. This involves layers of controls and countermeasures, which are rigorously tested and are also under constant review. These privacy and information security programs are led by our Chief Privacy Officer and our Chief Information Security Officer. They both report regularly to the executive team, the Board Audit and Risk Committee, and to the board on the status of our privacy and information security programs. And finally, we've been asked how long until Cochlear pays a fully franked dividend again? As you probably know, the franking account was depleted by losses in FY 2020 and has been replenished by profits generated since then. For FY 2023, the interim dividend was franked at 35% and the final dividend at 70%. We expect, excuse me. We expect to be able to offer to fully frank the dividend again over the next year or two. Are there any questions from shareholders physically present in relation to the motion? Chair, may I introduce Ray Tolleson? Good morning. I'm- Good morning. Sorry, the microphone. I'm also a member of Team Invest, and there's a number of us here today. My question is picking up on, sorry, Dig's reference to the buyback. The buyback doesn't seem to be a good use of shareholder funds, given the very high PE that is being paid for these shares. Cochlear is never a low PE company, but at present it is very close to the highest it's been for 10 years, if the FY20 outlier is excluded. What other alternatives were considered before embarking on the buyback? Will the board consider suspending the buyback until the PE returns to close to the lower end of its quartile range, thus providing better value for shareholders with the buyback? Okay, thank you for the question. We did consider many alternatives before embarking on a buyback. As you probably know, we have always maintained a conservative balance sheet, but we were conscious that there was an opportunity to return some funds by buying back. The amount of the buyback is relatively modest, and it's deliberately designed so that we don't create any pressure on the share price, and it's also designed so that we maintain that conservative balance sheet. Considering the different options at that time, which is now 12 months ago, this was considered the best way, the best use of those funds. Do you want to add anything to that, Dig? Yeah. I think just the only other thing to add is that, as we've said, the amount is quite modest, and we intend to run the buyback over several years, and not to therefore buy all the shares at once, given that the share price may move around. Chair, may I introduce Patricia Beale from the ASA? Good morning, Alison. Good morning, Patricia. My name is Patricia Beale, and I'm a personal shareholder, and I also represent by proxies 116 people who hold over 686,000 shares, which puts us in about the top 20, bottom of the top 20 shareholders, as noted in your annual report. Firstly, congratulations on a good year for our company. Thank you. You've certainly done well and carried on the traditions as we all expect and as we all enjoy hearing about. My questions basically revolve around the issue of ESG, which is receiving more and more attention over the years as it comes to prominence, and we recognize that you're reporting quite a few things in this regard. One thing that perturbs us slightly is the fact that in the board skills matrix, there's only six out of the 10 board directors currently who profess proficiency in this measurement, in this skill. And we would hope that you might consider increasing that slowly as the board changes or quickly by education, whatever comes to mind, and to achieve a better knowledge amongst all directors. One question in that issue of ESG generally was the hearing about the safety of the staff, and we have noted that over the last few years, you have got statistics for five years, which we commend, but the trend seems to be slightly upwards rather than downwards over those five years, and we wonder what you might have to say about that, please. Great. So thanks for both questions. Firstly, in terms of ESG skills and the board, I think we are, we all recognize the growing importance of ESG, and, and ex-- more explicitly managing that, both at a, within the organization in terms of the programs that we have for managing those, those important issues, and also for the board in terms of overseeing those programs. I think at the moment, we have six of 10 directors who have ESG experience, and we, and this is the first year that we've specifically pulled that out in the skills matrix as an area that we are very conscious of. So I think what I... The way I read that is that we are conscious of the importance of that skill set, and that we do have six out of 10, which we're comfortable with at the moment, but we're also keen to continue to build that skill within the board, both, as you say, both by education of existing board members and as we bring on new board members looking for that, among many other skills that we look for. So and then in terms of the safety, yes, we have, as you will have seen in the annual report, we pull out some very specific safety metrics. I should say that, there are 3 metrics in there. One of them has a downward trend, which is the severity rate, and that's the one that's the total number of hours lost due to, due to some form of injury. So that's probably the one we look at as the overarching metric. There are two other metrics in there which are, which have moved up slightly over the last year. These are relatively low numbers compared to other industries, but still ones that we take very seriously, and we have a program for identifying those risks, and working out how to systematically work to address them, and that's a program that reports back to the board regularly. Chair, may I introduce Don Steiner? Hi. A very good report. There's two things I wanted to raise. The first is congratulations on the wonderful service that Andrew Denver has given to this company over an extended period of time. Greatly appreciated. And the second question relates to your retirement. Will the board consider and appoint someone to fulfill that vacancy within the next 6 months-12 months? And will you, in doing that, bear in mind your focus on bringing more women onto the board? Right. So, yes, I think we are, we are all very grateful for Andy's service, and we'll miss him, but we have been planning for this ahead of time. So in lots of ways, we have already prepared for Andy's retirement and the skills brought onto the board recently, certainly backfill for many of the skills that Andy brought. We can't backfill for him completely, but for many of the skills that he brought, and I think that's particularly true with Mike Daniel, who has experience leading R&D and manufacturing in a global medical device company, along with Michael del Prado, who comes with that medical device experience. So in terms of the specific skill sets of Mike of Andy, we have planned ahead and already incorporated those into the board. In terms of women on the board, and in fact, we're committed to diversity and inclusion broadly in the organization and certainly within the board. At the moment, we have four out of 10 female directors on the board, and we remain committed to diversity and inclusion, but we also will be looking for specific skill sets and making sure that we find the very best directors to fill those roles. Thank you. My second question relates to the importance of innovation in terms of continuing the growth of the company. I recall several years ago that the decision to locate your headquarters here was also related to the establishment of Macquarie University's Australian Hearing Hub, which I've had the privilege to actually visit on at the encouragement of Cochlear. In terms of continued innovation, how important is that association, not just physically located, but the association to the research that is done within Macquarie University to the innovation that is developed and ultimately commercialized by Cochlear? Sure, look, I, I might cover that at a high level, and then you talk specifically to the, the Macquarie partnership. So innovation is absolutely fundamental to Cochlear. It's the bedrock of our competitive advantage in terms of technology, but it's also important of how, in terms of how do we grow the market, and develop the, the, the markets in which we operate. So we are committed to innovation in all its forms throughout the organization. In terms of specifically the relationship with Macquarie University, we, we value being co-located, but perhaps I'll ask Dig to talk to the specifics of the partnership. Yeah. So the setup of the Australian Hearing Hub is unique in the world. There is nowhere else in the world where on one university campus, we have teaching in audiology, we have research in audiology, we've got Cochlear doing our own research and development, we have manufacturing. The university also owns a private hospital, so Cochlear implant surgeries are done on campus. And a number of our partners, like NextSense and the Shepherd Centre, provide services to people after they get implanted here on campus. So there is the full ecosystem of hearing research, product research, surgery, and hearing care here in one place, which is absolutely unique in the world. That's incredibly valuable for us in terms of understanding that ecosystem, as well as specific pieces of knowledge and research that are generated. With Macquarie University, we jointly fund a chair, and some of the work that's being done there is looking at epidemiological studies of hearing health and hearing health implications more broadly for health over time, particularly as we age, and clearly, that's central to our strategy. So it's a very strong partnership we have with Macquarie University and the Hearing Hub. It's a very important part of our knowledge base and our innovation, but it's not the only source. We have collaborations with over 100 universities around the world. So we look very broadly for new knowledge, but we are very fortunate to be part of a unique environment in the world for hearing research. Thank you. Thank you. Chair, I'd like to reintroduce Ray Jarman. Yeah, thanks. I thought that initially it was just about finance, but I've since been told that it's open to other questions. Talking about collaboration, is the collaboration with Sensorion expected to generate any additional market share and therefore profit, if the trials ultimately demonstrate a positive outcome? Do you want the second question as well? Sure. I'll go for that one first- Okay. - and then come back. So look, again, I think it's quite a specific partnership. So if I talk generically to our investment in small early-stage companies, and then Dig can talk specifically to Sensorion. Over the last five to seven years, we've made investments in small, early-stage companies, and it's been small investments. The reason we do that is to find opportunities to either improve our core business, our core technologies, or to leverage our capability into other areas. Sensorion is one where we're looking at specifically how might we use that to improve our core technology? But I might ask you, Dig, to talk to how that's going and- Mm. - its impact. Yes, so the more of the context for Sensorion is our implants work very effectively, but we are always looking for ways to improve hearing outcomes. We think we can get improvement through advancing our technology. We think that there is the potential for the use of drugs along with an implant to improve hearing outcomes as well. And so Sensorion has a compound that may have some benefit in working in conjunction with an implant, a cochlear implant, to give a better hearing outcome. That research is very early stage. These sorts of things that we do with a 10 or 15-year view of what might be possible in the future. So at this stage, it's far too early to say if there is a hearing outcome benefit and a commercial benefit, but it fits absolutely with our long-term thinking about let's expand our knowledge of hearing loss and the ways in which hearing loss can be improved. I think that's common to all of those in small investments is that they are small investments and long-dated, so we don't expect them to have impact in the shorter term. And I specifically asked about that because it's been getting a bit of media coverage, probably generated by that company. Yeah. So that's why that was a specific question. I'm also aware of the other investments, which I think is an excellent idea. Mm-hmm. Next question also relates to innovation, et cetera. I noted an announcement on the second of October by Envoy, Envoy Medical, that its fully implanted cochlear implant, Acclaim, has been granted breakthrough device designation by the FDA and was currently in clinical trials. Now, I recall reading some time ago that Cochlear was also working on a fully implanted device. Are you able to confirm that that's the case, and secondly, make any comment on its progress? I think I'll let you... Yes. I'll let you answer that one. I can answer that one. Yes. So, we're well aware of Envoy. They have got breakthrough device designation from the FDA. They are doing a study. They've been given approval by the FDA to do a study with three implants. We have, as you say, we've done a feasibility study of a totally implantable cochlear implant with 11 implants. We did a study with three implants back, I think, in 2005. And this is a long journey, and it requires deep technology. It's exciting technology, as is all our technology. But we're well aware of Envoy, and we have our own program that is advancing very well. Chair, may I introduce Judi Jack? Hello. Okay, thanks for letting me ask you a question there, Chair and the board. First question is in regards to brain computer interface in which Cochlear uses. Just wanting to know what threats does... What the potential threats does Neuralink, which is another brain computer interface, poses to Cochlear. And also, the second question is in regards to share buyback. And now, you said on page 14 that the purpose of the share buyback is to have a cash balance of AUD 200 million. What's wrong with having, like, AUD 555.5 million? At least it can offset the risks like the pandemic. Can I answer the second one first, and then come- Sure. That is a really good question, and one that we ask ourselves regularly. Like, what is the right amount of cash to have on balance in order to protect us against shocks in the system? And I think everyone, post-pandemic, is rethinking what is a healthy level of cash on the balance sheet. So that is one that we can continue to consider. But at the moment... Also, we're considering the buyback in light of... As the way forward with Oticon becomes clearer, then again, we'll review the level of the buyback. But that absolute endpoint is a very good question, but we're comfortable with that's our answer at the moment. Okay, thanks. In terms of, what was the other one? Oh, Neuralink. Neuralink, yeah. Yeah. The threat they pose- Yes, so- and brain-computer interface. Possibly if I start with the overarching response to all these questions about emerging technologies. So we have a team called the Advanced Innovation Team, and they work specifically looking at scanning the landscape and understanding what are the potential threats and opportunities that will affect our technology over the longer term. That includes a biosciences team, who look very specifically at pharmaceutical-related solutions and genetic-type solutions, and also ones that look at things closer to the Neuralink-type solutions and brain interface. That team has collaborations with 100 universities, as well as working with leaders across many fields. So I think we're confident that we have a good radar in terms of what those technologies are, and how they might either complement our solution or potentially impact the market for our solution. But on the specifics of that one, I'll again get Dig to respond. I think, I think to start, too, just with, you know, we, we live in a pretty exciting time when there's some great innovations going on, all around the world, and it's exciting to, to watch them. So where Neuralink will go, I think, I think we don't know. I think what we do know, or what we do know, is that developing, an implant, that can... is designed to support someone throughout their lifetime is incredibly difficult. It does require a lot of, experience and knowledge to do that. We've built that up over the more than 40 years now. And so we, we look, and, and we continue to build our knowledge. We look at what others like Neuralink are doing, and I think it's exciting to watch. But don't see it as, certainly as a short-term threat to, to things we're doing. Who knows, over the long term, long term, how technology will continue to develop? But as Alison said, that's why we do the scanning. It's why we keep investing so much in R&D, is to, do everything we can to protect the competitive advantage we've got. Okay, sure. Thanks. Yeah, I might have another question, but I'll let other shareholders ask them. Chair, may I introduce Kerry Bible? Congratulations. My husband and I are long-term shareholders. Been about 30 years, I'd say, and very pleased with the company. I just wanted a question. On page 16 of your annual report, the first paragraph says, "For FY 2024, we're expecting an increase in the net profit of 16%-23%," which is again, very pleasing. But then the last paragraph on the same page says: "Guidance does not factor in any impact from the proposed acquisition of the Oticon Medical." Now, further along, you say that that acquisition, you were upset because they blocked the acoustics business, which obviously you wanted, 'cause it was going to be something that added to the business, and that it was loss-making. So I assume that you think you're going to turn it around. I'm wondering how long it will be to turn around, and if it's loss-making, and you also had to pay for it, obviously, then why wasn't it included in the sort of the outlook? Yeah. So if I take a step back and talk about the Oticon Medical transaction, which is, it's relatively small for Cochlear, but it's strategically important. That's why we embarked on it. And as you probably know, the acoustics, just as you said, the acoustics component of that transaction was blocked by the UK competition regulator, the CMA. We're still keen to come to resolution on the cochlear implant part of that business. There, Oticon Medical have around 20,000-25,000 CI recipients, and our main focus is about ensuring that those recipients have a lifetime of care. So we think we are well-placed to provide that care, and partly because of our scale, but also because we can innovate and create compatible processes. So our main focus is on those 25,000 CI recipients now. That path forward is still not certain. It's still subject to regulatory approval, and that's why it hasn't been included in any of the financial projections. Chair, may I reintroduce Dan Steiner? One of the important elements of Cochlear's business is flowing from support that governments around the world provide for cochlear implants. And secondly, in this country, where this very large company is based, there is the case of whether or not research and development assistance or recognition, and therefore tax treatment, is acceptable. My question is not really interested in the dollars and cents, as more whether or not the Australian government is providing a sufficient policy position that not only supports, but encourages this company to prosper. I know that in a number of markets, the recognition by governments of the value of supporting acoustical enhancements is vital, not only to the individual, but to the economy. So those are broad issues. Mm-hmm. If you could, or you and the Chief Executive could address them, please. Yeah. So if I take out two separate issues in there. One is the support of Cochlear as a... Cochlear implants as a medical intervention, and for that, we really rely. We've got to build our own evidence, convince regulators, convince payers, convince clinicians, and that's very much the work that we do on standard of care, is how do we influence all of those, external parties to recognize the value of cochlear implant? That is just a straight societal value of implanting a child, adult, senior today. And that's that work of Leiden University, the NEED study, was very helpful in terms of the first time that people have quantified, scientifically quantified the value of a, the net value of a cochlear implant today. And that's how we get to the $7 billion calculation. That was a societal study looking at the health benefits, the education benefits, and the productivity benefits of Cochlear implant. So that part stands on, it is, it's simply us providing the evidence and working with governments to understand the value of those programs. In terms of supporting R&D, it's a competitive global world for R&D. And we are based in Sydney, and we value the support that we get locally, but we do also recognize it's a globally competitive environment. There were some changes to the R&D tax incentive a couple of years ago that brought it closer to an equal footing with other jurisdictions, but there's still a cap on R&D tax incentive at AUD 150 million. We're going to start butting up against that relatively soon, as well. I think also we were disappointed when the Patent Box, is that right way around? Yeah. Yeah, was basically taken off the table after the last election. That's a regime which is in play in most of the countries where we could do R&D. So we would love to see Australia think of how to create a level playing field for organizations based in Australia. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. I think if we started with a default of just having the incentives that are available in other countries so that we can compete globally. I encourage you to get success there. Thank you. Do you want to add anything to that, Dig? Chair, I'd like to reintroduce Dudie Jack. Okay, thanks a lot, Chair. My other question is in extension to Kerry Bible's question in regards to Oticon. Now, it says in your annual report that it's the cochlear implant business of Oticon is expected to add AUD 10 million in for the Cochlear sales revenue. But what about for the bone conduction, in which we're prohibited to acquire? How much expected sales revenue are we going to get if that is approved? And also, I'm reading on page 33, which I'm not understanding in regards to the 12-month, like, after the disposal, that Demant can't sell to any third parties. What do you mean by that? Like, well, how come it's not in perpet- Contingent liability. How come it's not, like, forever, that they can't compete against Cochlear or speak to any third parties that can be a potential threat to Cochlear? Let me start with the first half, when you ask about what the impact of the acoustics component would be. Yes. That has definitely been blocked. Okay. That component has been blocked by the CMA. That's their decision. We take a different view, but that's their decision, and that's final. Okay. So, we are only looking at the CI. We are only looking at progressing the CI component of that transaction. I'm not clear what the- Um, yeah. Oh, okay, sorry, yeah. So is this the contingent liability? This is in regards to the agreement to pay AUD 27.5- Yeah ... million, 12 months after- Yeah Cochlear and Demant, and also, like, they can't talk to any third parties for 12 months. How come it's not, like, forever, they can't talk to any third parties? So this is the break fee on the transaction. So, again, when we looked at this transaction sort of 18 months ago, it was a relatively complex transaction. So what we did is we baked in contingent plans for what might happen if regulators chose to block different components of the transaction. For us, it was really important that we would only do the transaction contingent on approval by competition regulators. But that creates issues for Demant, because for them, there is a gap between announcing the sale of the business and a final regulatory decision. And during that period, they have risk to their business in terms of the uncertainty for their staff, the uncertainty for their recipients, and uncertainty for their clinicians. So recognizing that risk to them, and yet us wanting to only transact if it was once approved, that's why we agreed to the break fee. That's the number that you're talking about. Okay. And- So is Demant going to be a competitor to us in the bone conduction business after the 12-month period? Or, how come we don't have a contingent that can't compete with us for a, like, a number of period of time? So they are a competitor to us in bone conduction now, and the finding of the competition regulator is that they will continue to be a competitor to us. So whether that stays... Whether Oticon Medical acoustics business stays with Demant or whether it's sold to another party, they will continue to be a competitor. That's actually what the regulator wants to continue. So we can't interfere with that. Okay, sure. sure. Okay, thanks. Okay. Thanks a lot. Thanks. No more? That's all. Okay. So I'll now check whether we've received any questions from shareholders online. Thank you, Chair. The first question via the online platform is from Mr. Stephen Mayne. "Thank you for offering shareholders a hybrid AGM this year, and will you commit to keep doing this in future years to maximize shareholder participation? Big companies like Bank of Queensland, Bega Cheese, BHP, Boral, Brickworks, Commonwealth Bank, Flight Centre, Fortescue Metals, Harvey Norman, Metcash, Origin Energy, Premier Investments, Ramsay Health Care, Rio Tinto, Seven Group, Soul Pattinson, Super Retail, Whitehaven Coal, and Worley all banned online questions and voting in 2022. So well done for showing them up. What was the experience like from your end?" So, yeah, we, we're a global technology company, so we were keen to continue to have a technology-enabled AGM, but I would say that it isn't without cost and complexity. So it's one where, yeah, we'll take feedback, we'll see how practice evolves, and we'll, we'll make a decision closer, closer to next year as to how we continue. But we're working to continue this way for now. Thank you, Chair. We've received another question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. "Did any of the five main proxy advisors, ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS, and ASA, recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions? If so, what reasons did they give? Will you disclose the proxy votes before the debate on each resolution, so shareholders can ask questions about the reasons, if there have been any protest votes? I asked last year if you would disclose the proxy position to the ASX with the formal addresses to offer more timely disclosure to the market. Why did you reject this request when more and more companies are now doing it? So, starting with the recommendations of the proxy advisors, I can confirm that all the five main proxy advisors that you list recommended in favor of the resolutions for all the resolutions. We disclosed the proxy votes that were made ahead of the AGM before the discussion on the item of business. That's been our practice for many years, and that seems to work well. We'll continue to monitor industry practice and see whether we change that going forward. We've received a question from Mr. Peter Calero. "Thank you for holding a hybrid meeting. I'm in favor of hybrid AGMs, as it means I do not have to pay for flights, accommodation, and travel to the venue to attend. My question is, how much extra does it cost Cochlear to conduct a hybrid AGM compared to a physical AGM only? It's a good question. There is more cost involved, and there is certainly more complexity involved in preparing for a hybrid meeting as well. I don't know the exact number to that, and it's probably more in people's time than the actual cost. But at the moment, we feel it's important to make this facility available, so we'll endeavor to do so. Our next question is from Howard Coleman. "As a follow-up question regarding the buyback, why does investors avoid buying shares when the company is trading on an unusually high PE? It appears that Cochlear are wonderful developers of hearing solutions, but is demonstrating a poor knowledge of investing. It would seem that a missing skill set from the board is an understanding of intelligent share market investing. With a vacancy now on the board, wouldn't this be a perfect opportunity to add someone with investing knowledge to the board? I will try to find ways to connect all the components of that question. I think first and foremost, we, we do have plenty of experience on the board in terms of, investment management, and yes, it is- it's an important component of, of the skills matrix, if you like. I also think that we thought very carefully about the question of the buyback and exactly how we should invest, invest shareholders' funds. And, and we think carefully about what is the, what is the right amount of cash to, to have available as a contingency against different events. Thank you, Chair. That concludes the questions received via the online platform. Okay, thank you for those questions. As I mentioned earlier, voting is already open and will close five minutes after the close of this meeting. Please cast your vote now on this item. Okay, the next item of business is to vote on the adoption of the remuneration report, set out on pages 86- 107 of the 2023 annual report, which is available on our AGM website and at the top of the online platform. The resolution is now displayed on the screen. This resolution is advisory only and does not bind the company or the directors. Voting exclusions apply to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting. I now ask that the direct and proxy votes be displayed on the screen. Thank you. I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of the resolution. Thank you. Are there any questions from shareholders physically present in relation to the motion? Chair, may I reintroduce Dudie Jack? Okay, thanks a lot for that. In regards to your short-term incentives, I can see here that sales revenue growth is critical to short and longer-term shareholder returns. How come there's no What about our research and development and acquisitions? Because you said you spent AUD 240 million annually in R&D investments. Could we frame it as for every AUD 1 we spend on R&D, sales revenue should be like AUD 10? Could that be one of our targets, making it 10 times? Thanks. Thanks for the question. Measuring R&D is a complex, very complex thing. I wish it were that. I wish we could come up with a very simple metric. The reason for that is if you think about our one of the pillars of our STI is technology advance, technology leadership—or sorry, no, leadership more generally. And a big pillar to that is technology leadership. We can measure technology leadership in terms of our products today, but what we want to encourage in the STI are the milestones in our product development process, which are laying the foundations for future technology leadership, and that's not reflected in revenue today. So we don't want the... We want the STI to reflect milestones achieved in this year, but also ones that have value this year, but also the ones that lay the foundation for future value. There are no further questions. Thank you. I'll now check whether we received any questions from shareholders online. Thank you, Chair. I can confirm we've received no questions on the online platform. Okay, thank you for your questions, and please cast your vote now on this item. The next item of business is the election and re-election of directors. As I mentioned earlier, in accordance with Cochlear's Constitution, Professor Bruce Robinson and Sir Michael Daniell are retiring at this AGM and standing for re-election. Bruce Robinson is the first director standing for re-election, board in December 2016, and brings to the board extensive experience in the healthcare industry and expertise in academia, government, public and private health providers, research institutes, and philanthropic organizations. Bruce's skills and experience are particularly valuable in his role as Chair of the Medical Science Committee and as a member of the Product and Services Innovation Committee. His background has been set out in the notice of meeting. The resolution appears on screen, and I'll now ask Bruce to speak to his re-election. Alison, ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders, thank you for the opportunity to speak briefly today to you regarding my candidature for the Board of Cochlear. I'm a practicing clinician and a medical researcher at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. My practice is predominantly in endocrine tumors, and my research predominantly focuses on clinical trials of new drugs to treat these cancers. Previously, I have held roles in government as chair of both the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Medical Benefits Schedule Review, and in the University of Sydney as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. During the last three years, there have been dramatic changes in healthcare, the understanding of disease and new treatments, in the way clinical trials are performed, and increasing use of artificial intelligence in medicine generally. I bring to the Cochlear board a broad understanding of how healthcare policy has changed and how advances in medicine occur through clinical trials and basic research. I believe that my collection of skills enables me to have critical oversight of those clinical activities and research that Cochlear supports and sponsors... ensuring that the design of studies is sound and likely to yield meaningful outcomes to patients and shareholders is critical to our mission. For example, just three months ago, we have seen the results of the ACHIEVE Study, which observed a reduction in the rate of cognitive decline in a group of older adults with mild to moderate hearing loss and increased risk of cognitive decline, treated with hearing intervention for three years. Patients have also been enrolled in our COACH Study, a study comparing hearing loss in people treated with either hearing aids or cochlear implants. The COACH Study will be the first randomized control trial in the cochlear implants industry, comparing quality of life outcomes with hearing aids against unilateral cochlear implants for adults with severe to profound hearing loss. I also have a role in ensuring the safety of our products, which we monitor through the Medical Science Committee, which I chair. I also serve on the Products and Services Innovation Committee to help advise management regarding new products and areas of research which will add value to recipients and shareholders alike. I hope that you will agree that my skills and experience in understanding how innovation is funded by governments and health insurers, how clinical medicine is practiced, and how clinical trials and basic science advances occur, all equip me to contribute to this amazing company. Many thanks. Thank you, Bruce. Are there any questions? First of all, I now ask that the direct and proxy votes be displayed on the screen, and note that I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of the resolution. Are there any questions from shareholders physically present in relation to the motion? There are no questions. Thank you. I'll now check whether we received any questions from shareholders online. Thank you, Chair. We've received a question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. In April 2020, Bruce Robinson was one of the Cochlear directors who treated retail shareholders poorly in a capital raising by supporting a discounted AUD 880 million institutional placement at AUD 140 a share, followed by a AUD 50 million SPP for retail shareholders, which was patently too small. AUD 300 million of the placement was allocated to a single London-based fund manager, Veritas Asset Management, six times the amount that was proposed for Cochlear's 37,000 retail shareholders in the SPP. Cochlear ended up expanding the SPP to AUD 220 million after receiving AUD 417 million worth of applications from 16,651 retail shareholders. It refunded AUD 197 million and used a scale-back formula favoring wealthier retail shareholders, which included the directors. Given this disappointing history, could Bruce and the Chair commit to using the fairer pro-rata structure that treats all shareholders equally in future capital raisings? Okay, thank you for the question. I think we have answered this yeah, a couple of years, over a couple of years now, but perhaps one more time. If you think back three and a half years to March 2020, clearly the market was highly volatile, to put it mildly, and at the same time, we received the adverse finding in the AMF case. We were very clear that to sustain. To put the foundations in place for the long-term sustainability of Cochlear, we needed to raise funds, and we needed to do that in a way that had a high probability of success in a highly volatile market. At that time, the way that we considered several options of how we might do that, and the option that we came to was the one that gave us the best chance of meeting those objectives. I should say there are a few specifics in there that we might want to be clear on. So first, shares were only allocated to current shareholders at the announcement date, and Veritas had been a long-term shareholder. All shareholders, and in institutional and retail, were given access to proportional share allocation, subject to a minimum. That minimum was a regulatory cap on retail shareholders of AUD 30,000. And actually, that impacted larger retail shareholders, which did actually include directors and executives. At the end of the raise, the mix of institutional and retail shareholders was very close to the same composition that had been previously. So we're comfortable that that was the appropriate way to raise money in those circumstances, and we did everything we could to ensure that that was fair for all shareholders. And as I said, the people who were subject to the cap were actually the larger retail shareholders. And so I don't think... I think that was a board decision, and I don't think we're going to ask Bruce to comment further on that. Thank you, Chair. There are no further questions on the online platform. Thank you. Please cast your vote now on this item. Michael Daniel is the next director standing for re-election. Michael joined the board in January 2020 and brings to the board extensive experience in the medical device industry and global and operational expertise. Michael's skills and experience are particularly valuable in his role as Chair of the Product and Services Innovation Committee. Michael's background has been set out in the notice of meeting. The resolution appears on screen, and I'll now ask Michael to speak to his re-election. Thank you, Alison. Good morning to all, and thank you for the opportunity to address you today. I was privileged to join the board of Cochlear almost 4 years ago. I currently chair the Product and Services Innovation Committee, and serve on the Audit and Risk, Medical Science, Nomination, and Nomination Committees. I offer myself to shareholders for re-election at this annual meeting. I first became involved in medical technology more than 40 years ago, initially as a research and development engineer. Over that time, I have very much appreciated the opportunity to contribute to improving the care and outcomes of millions of people around the world. I was Managing Director and CEO of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare for 15 years, a New Zealand-based medical device company with sales in more than 130 countries, and which is listed on both the Australian and New Zealand Stock Exchanges. I remain a non-executive board member there. I'm also a board member of the Medical Research Commercialization Fund, mobile radio communications company, Tait International, and chair the New Zealand Medical Technology Research Translator. My skills and experience span the full range of research and development, clinical, regulatory, quality, manufacturing, marketing, international sales, shareholder engagement, as well as governance. I believe that my depth and breadth of skills and experience continue to provide support to the very capable Cochlear team and contribute to our ongoing strategic development and growth. The long-term achievement of our purpose, helping so many people to hear and be heard, is a great responsibility. Integrity, excellent governance, and innovation are fundamental to our ongoing success. With your support, I look forward to being able to continue to contribute to the accomplishments of this outstanding company. Thank you. I now ask that the direct and proxy votes be displayed on the screen, and note that I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of the resolution. Are there any questions from shareholders physically present in relation to the motion? There are no questions, Chair. Thank you. I'll now check whether we received any questions from shareholders online. Thank you, Chair. We've received a question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. "Cochlear shares are the second most expensive in the market after CSL, which doesn't help for capital management when dealing with matters like SPPs, DRPs, and small investors seeking to purchase an AUD 500 marketable parcel. As the proud owner of two shares, could you please do a 10 for one share split to bring the stock down to a more manageable AUD 25 a share? Could Sir Michael comment as to whether he would support this? And does the Chair agree that director ego is a driver in terms of arguments against doing share splits because directors are proud of the growth achieved? If Transurban, Fortescue, and CSL can do share splits, why can't we? I'm not sure that one's particular to Mike, but if he chooses to answer, to add something at the end, that will be fine. I can safely say that it is certainly not director ego that gets in the way of doing a share split. It's something that we consider, and there's obviously considerable cost in doing a share split. So it's something we will consider, we will continue to consider, but we don't have any plans to do that at the moment. Thank you, Alison. Thank you, Chair. We've received no further questions on the online platform. Thank you. Please cast your vote now on this item. We now move to agenda item four, approval of long-term incentives to be granted to the CEO and President. The resolution appears on screen. As noted in the notice of meeting, the terms of the Cochlear Equity Incentive Plan, or the CEIP, mean that an exception to ASX listing rule 10.14 applies. Nevertheless, the company is seeking approval for the grant of CEIP long-term incentive awards to the CEO and President, as it's the company's practice to do so and reflects good corporate governance. Voting exclusions apply to this resolution as set out in the notice of meeting. I'll now ask that the direct and proxy votes be displayed on the screen, and note that I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of the resolution. Are there any questions from shareholders physically present in relation to the motion? There are no questions, Chair. Thank you. I'll now check whether we received any questions from shareholders online. Thank you, Chair. We've received a question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. "Could the CEO summarize his past LTI grants as to whether they have vested or lapsed? Also, has he ever sold any ordinary shares in the company or bought any on market without relying on an incentive scheme to build his equity position in the company? Please don't say, 'Look it up in the annual report and through ASX announcements.' It's complicated, and the CEO could factually summarize the situation in 60 seconds. Okay, thank you for the question. I am gonna ask Dig to answer that, well, he's keen to answer that in a minute. I am gonna start, however, by asking you to refer to page five of the NOM, which does summarize this issue, and it says that Mr. Howitt has previously received 168,902 options for nil consideration and 25,653 LTI performance rights at no cost under the CEIP from and including FY 2018, when he was appointed as a director. Of these, 69,786 options and 6,347 LTI performance rights have lapsed. So that's the summary of the actual numbers, but perhaps, Dig, you'd like to give a little more color? Yeah. Thanks, Alison. So I've been at Cochlear over 23 years. I've been a shareholder now for over 20 years. I have received shares through incentives. I have bought shares on market over that time. Since I've been appointed CEO, my shareholding has increased, and my shareholding is significantly in excess of the minimum that we set. Thank you. Thank you. There are no further questions on the online platform. Thank you. Please cast your vote now on this item. The final item of business is to vote on the special resolution to renew proportional takeover provisions contained in the company's constitution. The resolution appears on screen. I now ask that the direct and proxy votes be displayed on the screen. I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of the resolution. Are there any questions from shareholders physically present in relation to the motion? Thank you, Chair. There are no questions. Thank you. I'll now check whether we received any questions from shareholders online. Thank you, Chair. We have not received any questions from shareholders online. Thank you. Please cast your vote now on this item. Are there any other shareholder questions that haven't been addressed at the meeting today? Thank you. I'll now check whether we received any other questions from shareholders online. Thank you, Chair. We've received a final question from Mr. Stephen Mayne. In April 2020, Cochlear placed AUD 300 million worth of shares at AUD 140 to a single London-based fund manager, Veritas Asset Management. With Cochlear shares today at AUD 255, Veritas would be sitting on a AUD 246 million profit if the placement stock was still held. How large is the Veritas shareholding today, and what engagement did company representatives have with this single foreign investor over the past year? In hindsight, do the Chair and CEO agree that giving such a large allocation to a single foreign investor in a heavily oversubscribed placement was a mistake that unfairly diluted retail shareholders? Okay, look, I think as I've said, it, the result wasn't to dilute retail shareholders. At the end of the capital raise, retail shareholders held the same percentage of the business as at the beginning. At the time of the capital raising, Veritas was already an important institutional shareholder. It was a time of great uncertainty, and we needed certainty in a capital raise, and we were. It was a very good thing that Veritas provided that support at a time of great uncertainty, and they retained a large shareholding well beyond the capital raise. Thank you, Chair. I can confirm that no additional questions have been received, and all questions received have been answered. Thank you. That concludes our discussion on the items of business. Voting will close shortly, 5 minutes after the conclusion of the meeting. If you haven't done so already, please ensure that you cast your vote on all resolutions now. As I indicated previously, the poll results will be released to the ASX as soon as they're available, and we'll also post the results on the AGM webpage of the Cochlear website. This brings us to the end of the 2023 AGM. Thank you for your participation today. A recording of the AGM webcast will be made available on our AGM webpage. I now declare the meeting closed, subject to the finalization of the poll. For those of you who've joined us here at Cochlear Headquarters in Sydney, please join us for some tea and coffee and light refreshments outside the room. Thank you.