Home

‘I hate what I’ve done’: Embattled Chris Ellison breaks his silence at tense Mineral Resources AGM

Headshot of Adrian Rauso
Adrian RausoThe West Australian
Premium
Chris Ellison addresses the Mineral Resources AGM.
Camera IconChris Ellison addresses the Mineral Resources AGM. Credit: The West Australian

Mineral Resources boss and founder Chris Ellison says he “can’t stress enough” how much he “hates” what he’s done, after his dodgy dealings plunged the company he founded into chaos.

The besieged mining magnate had to compose himself at MinRes’ annual general meeting on Thursday when lamenting that “a dark cloud in my life” had been created.

Mr Ellison and other MinRes bigwigs took a heavily tinted black van to sneak past a waiting press pack and into a guarded underground entrance for the company’s tightly-controlled annual public forum.

The highly anticipated meeting held at MinRes Park in Lathlain, better known as the West Coast Eagles’ training complex, drew a large crowd despite wet weather and marked the first time Mr Ellison has spoken publicly since the scandal about his financial affairs broke.

It emerged last month that Mr Ellison had evaded tax on co-owned offshore companies and allegedly profited on deals at the expense of MinRes shareholders.

Less than a fortnight later it came to light he had also misused company resources for his own benefit, including getting MinRes employees to work on his luxury yacht docked in Fremantle.

The various indiscretions spanned two decades and Australia’s corporate cop is now investigating.

The bombshell revelations have wiped more than $1 billion off MinRes’ value and divided the company’s huge shareholder base.

“I’ve made some mistakes and I own those mistakes ... I’m deeply sorry,” an uncharacteristically subdued Mr Ellison told shareholders in his address.

“I can’t stress enough how much I hate what I’ve done.

“It’s a dark cloud in my life that I will live with forever . . . I want everyone to know I deeply regret that error of judgment I made back then.”

Unlike previous MinRes AGMs, Mr Ellison did not speak to the media or take questions from shareholders. The company’s chairman James McClements was tasked with fronting up to angry investors, but he also shied away from talking to journalists.

Some shareholders are not happy Mr Ellison has been given more than a year to step down and grilled Mr McClements on this.

The chairman, who himself will resign before the next AGM, said the board’s first priority was finding his own replacement. That person will then have a big say in picking Mr Ellison’s successor.

A number of shareholders were also keen to know why they first learnt of Mr Ellison’s misconduct through the media.

John Campbell from the Australian Shareholders Association — a lobby group that represents Australia’s mum and dad shareholders — asked why MinRes thought Mr Ellison’s issues were not worthy of a public disclosure.

The MinRes board became aware of most of the problems in 2022 courtesy of a whistle-blower complaint.

“We will not put information to the marketplace unless we understand the facts of what we are disclosing,” Mr McClements said in response.

But not all shareholders wanted to take Mr Ellison or the board to task.

Minutes after Mr Campbell’s question, a shareholder from Port Hedland fawned over Mr Ellison for his entrepreneurship in creating an “amazing company”.

“You are the right person to take it forward,” she said. Her statement elicited considerable applause in the room.

MinRes shareholder Martin Dyer told The West Australian after the AGM he believes there is a deep division.

“Some (shareholders) feel Chris has done a bloody good job making us money over the years and deserves a second chance, others reckon he’s left too much of a stink.”

Mr Ellison’s backers included his good friend and MinRes brand director Russell James. Mr James, a celebrity photographer, rocked up to the meeting in a suit and thongs.

MinRes director Justin Langer joined Mr Ellison in taking the hidden entrance into the Lathlain complex, but the former Test cricketer came into the main foyer before the meeting started and appeared to be in a jovial mood.

Mr Ellison’s brother Andrew was also in the crowd, and the duo’s business relationship would be one of the hot topics during the two-and-a-half-hour meeting.

Family Matters

Mr McClements said the board would “take steps” to exit business arrangements involving Mr Ellison’s family that “no longer have a compelling commercial benefit for the company”.

“For example, MinRes leases commercial properties from a consortium led by Chris (Ellison) — and has done since listing in 2006 . . . given the feedback from investors around minimising potential conflicts of interest, Chris is offering the properties for sale on market,” he said.

Two of these industrial properties are in Bibra Lake and Kwinana, and are set to be sold for more than $25 million.

“Other arrangements that are under review relate to Ship Agency Services, a shipping agency owned by Chris’s daughter, and Resource Development Group Limited, 64 per cent owned by MinRes and whose managing director is Chris’s brother,” Mr McClements said.

“The future of all transactions and arrangements of this nature is they won’t exist unless there is a strong, compelling business reason to retain them — and any arrangements would need to be arms-length and on strictly commercial terms with regular oversight and independent review.”

Companies linked to Mr Ellison’s daughter, Kristy-Lee Craker, were afforded “rent relief” over 11 years up until 2023.

MinRes has since clawed back $158,000 from this scheme.

But ship owners transporting the ore MinRes exports from WA are still encouraged to use Ship Agency Services, which is directly owned by Mrs Craker.

Meanwhile, Andrew Ellison leads Resource Development Group, which has racked up a hefty debt owed to its parent company — MinRes.

The biggest liability on RDG’s balance sheet is a $125m loan owed to MinRes for the development of the Lucky Bay garnet mine 20km south of Kalbarri.

Lucky Bay eked out first garnet in early 2023 but is still not close to being profitable.

The loan limit was upped from $100m to $125m at some stage during the 2024 financial year and the first repayment date to MinRes was pushed out from September 30 this year to the same date next year.

Despite the garnet mine’s woes, Andrew Ellison saw his pay jump from $525,296 to $948,107 for the financial year gone by.

Chris still defiant

After addressing his “errors of judgement”, Chris Ellison wanted to remind shareholders of his worthiness.

“For the last 32 and a half years I have pretty much dedicated my life to this business, it is a business I love, I have huge passion for it,” he said.

“I am proud of the value I’ve created and the changes I’ve brought to the industry, and the return I have provided to MinRes shareholders.”

MinRes, and Mr Ellison himself, are yet to say if he will stay on as a key figure in the business after stepping down as boss.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails