Australian Business Council chair Grant King is a busy man. Too busy, apparently, to front an inquiry into the circumstances of a remarkable $443 million handout by the government to a small charity, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. The foundation’s board is composed of business heavyweights like King, John Schubert (another member of the Business Council, and also “not available”), Suncorp’s Michael Cameron, Origin director Steven Sergeant and Boeing Australia head Maureen Dougherty. The best part of half a billion dollars will be handed to this outfit in a single hit, without any sort of tender process or other form of basic accountability, at a time when the Reef is facing an existential threat.
King’s reticence — he said he had “meetings” and “international travel” on the dates sought by the Senate committee examining the handout — seems a little at odds with the ethos of the Business Council. The BCA is constantly harping about the need to “deliver better value for taxpayer dollars”. In this year’s budget submission, the BCA demanded “maximum community value for taxpayers’ money” as part of the need for government spending cuts. On that basis, you’d assume King and Schubert would only be too happy to practice what they preach via the BCA and argue to a Senate committee how they and their big business mates will deliver value for $440 million dollars given the complete absence of any performance indicators, evaluation or any basic procurement process around what they will be providing for it. But apparently not.
Whores will have their trinkets. Turbull and Co will see to that!
The grant should be withheld until all foundation members are available & accountable to the Senate committee.
I would rate a session with a Senate inquiry as highest priority – unless Grant King has an audience booked with an international heavyweight such as Pope Francis which precludes it. Even then…
The fact that such a large grant could be given in this fashion shows how poor is the oversight mechanism in our govt. institutions. Didn’t those who authorised the grant know there would be a senate inquiry? Of course they did. They just assumed that they could get away with the grant in spite of that. This kind of malfeasance should be punishable by jail terms and a Federal ICAC as promised by Labor will go a long way to fixing such rorting. Those politicians found guilty should also have their parliamentary pensions revoked. Let them join the ordinary pensioners at the Centrelink queue, if they are really so hard up.
Yep, how a govt can declare a gramt of that size or the $30m cheque to Foxtel with no process or paperwork should be the subject of extensive ICAC investigation.
Can you imagine the msm if Labor did it?
The $10,000,000 that “Rain Man” Turnbull gave to Australian Rain Corporation (a “business” run by a Rupert nephew and his Russian mates) for some rain, back in 2007 as Howard’s “Environment Minister”?
(Apologies to The Weather Girls …..)
“…… It’s raining bucks! Hallelujah!
It’s raining bucks! Amen!
I’m gonna go out to run and let myself get
Absolutely soaking wet!
It’s raining bucks! Hallelujah!
It’s raining bucks! Every specimen!
Gold, cold, filthy and green
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge know what I mean
God bless Malcolm Turnbull, he’s a businessman too
He took off to Canberra and does whatever he has to do
He sold out all his standards
Nothing for him is too low
So each and every donor knows exactly where to go!
Oh, it’s raining bucks! Yeah…….
It is beyond belief that this sum of money would be allocated with out due process and competitive tendering.
These funds need to be withheld until they all appear and account for their actions and explain where this funding shall be spent. I seriously doubt the individual board members mentioned in the story value anything more than money, I expect they will launder it legally via consultancy and committees but that is not going to improve the GBR’s health.
I’m sure with $443 million at their disposal the media will be plastered with ”awareness raising” aka doing nothing but shifting blame from their own inaction and wasteful spending.
These funds should be allocated to CSIRO and JCU who are at the forefront of scientific research into the GBR and not weighted down by fat greedy business pigs.
I have seen the changes to cane farming practices in GBR outflow catchment areas that have drastically reduced soil runoff and chemical usage, this will not save Agriculture from being scapegoats to these despicable greedy pigs inaction and deceptive spin.
Most people though Talcum’s rainmaking Russians were the epitome of dumb but one of the aims of this wedge of wonga is to breed more resilient coral.
“Set back there JHWH and lemme show you how it’s done!” with apologies to Johhny in Georgia.