A group of climate protesters dressed as circus performs have disrupted the annual general meeting of one of the nation’s biggest banks, ANZ.
As the chair, Paul O’Sullivan, was addressing the AGM held in Brisbane on Thursday, a group of activists, dressed as circus performers, disrupted the event from the audience before the livestream was cut.
The protest lasted about 10 minutes as one activist gave a speech against the bank’s links to fossil fuel companies while others performed acrobatic tricks. It is understood the protesters smuggled the props and costumes in bags past metal detectors before donning them at the meeting.
Mr O’Sullivan then requested that security remove the protesters who were continuing to disrupt the event.
“This is a forum for all shareholders to express their views, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for any one person to prevent that from happening,” Mr O’Sullivan said, noting that the bank “invites a variety of opinions and a variety of views and we protect free speech”.
“Thank you for expressing your views here this morning.”
