9Existing shareholdings—voting rights

9 Existing shareholdings—voting rights

9 Existing shareholdings—voting rights

(1) This clause applies to a shareholding in The Australian Gas Light Company which existed as at 1 January 1986.

(2) A direction shall not be given by the Minister under section 44 relating to the voting rights attached to shares in a shareholding to which this clause applies except to provide that:

(a) voting rights attached to the shares may be exercised only in respect of that part of the shareholding which represents not more than 5 per cent of the issued share capital of the company, and

(b) the Minister is entitled to exercise voting rights in respect of any remaining part of the shareholding, up to the number of shares which represents not more than 5 per cent of the issued share capital of the company.

(3) The Minister is entitled to exercise those voting rights only during the period ending on 1 January 1989 unless the Minister extends that period.

(4) The Minister may extend or further extend that period, on each occasion for as long as the Minister thinks appropriate, only if the Minister is satisfied that significant problems exist in the relationship between the shareholder and the company.