Michael Smith - Chief Executive Officer

CREATING A STRONGER VISION FOR ANZ'S FUTURE.

The fundamental economic shifts going on in the region and in banking globally mean we need to create a stronger, more ambitious long term agenda for ANZ. That will involve a focus on opportunities domestically and in Asia with a view to building ANZ into a much more significant domestic and regional financial services institution.

The opportunity I see ahead of us as your new Chief Executive Officer is to take ANZ's strengths that have been established over the last decade and focus on growth opportunities in Australia, New Zealand and in particular in Asia. My aim will be to create a significant domestic and regional financial services institution which will deliver superior growth and performance for our shareholders.

ANZ's performance in 2007 underlines its strengths with earnings a record $4,180 million, up 13%. The Personal Division was a standout. New Zealand performed well. Strong results are flowing through from our network business and banking partnerships in Asia. Performance in the Institutional Division was mixed and we are addressing this with initiatives to improve performance in 2008.