Friday 26th of April 2024
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queen's man flies under the radar…...

This is a story about a story that nobody else seems to think is a story.

When the story is about the Governor-General’s rather odd support of an $18 million charity, hot on the heels of the Governor-General’s rather odd silence at the time of Scott Morrison’s rather odd secret ministerial job collection, well, this old journalist finds it rather odd.

 

BY Michael Pascoe

 

The Canberra Vice-Regal round is not my usual beat, so I’ve been waiting for a week to see who in the media closer to Yarralumla would follow up information that might suggest Senate Estimates had not been fully informed about the relationship between the Governor-General, the official secretary to the Governor-General and the chap who apparently has single-handedly managed to invent out of thin air a charity that is set to receive $18 million from the federal government.

But the expected follow-up has failed to happen. Given the attention span of the news cycle, if it hasn’t happened after a week, it’s not going to happen.

Yes, yes, I know, there’s been a bit going on, but it’s almost as if there’s fear of a charge of lèse-majesté for further examination of the relationship between the Governor-General’s Australian Future Leaders Foundation.

Millions in funding

There was fine reporting by the ABC’s Stephanie Borys back in Aprilwhen questions started to be raised in Senate Estimates about the role of G-G David Hurley in talking the Morrison government into gifting millions of dollars and granting tax-deductible status to a charity with no office or staff.

It is doubtful if attempts by then-finance minister Simon Birmingham to officially justify the expenditure would help anyone with a working knowledge of the English language.

On August 24, someone with detailed knowledge of government’s labyrinthine accounting requirements reported for Michael West Mediaon the funding being put together, in light of the performance of the Governor-General while Mr Morrison was collecting secret ministries.

In the financial fine print required for handing out millions of dollars in response to lobbying by the G-G and his secretary, the finance minister’s explanatory statement more than once said the program was “an initiative of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in consultation with the Office of the Official Secretary of the Governor-General”.

“The program’s overall objective is to develop a group of nationally-minded multisector leaders who are better connected and impactful, and who jointly share a commitment to the future of Australia, its values and national interest,” the statement said.

The statement runs on in similar vein about establishing what seems to be a networking club, initially of 120 select individuals that will somehow “complement the government’s economic recovery plan and will catalyse societal cohesion, fairness and focus on the national interest, issues and opportunities” – whatever that all means.

If you were to form the opinion that this is all a bit rich, I’d be with you, but wouldn’t we all love to catalyse a little societal cohesion given the chance?

Close ties?

Two days after the Michael West Media story, “citizen journalist” Ronni Salt published a Twitter thread as a matter of public interest demonstrating the closeness of the relationship between David Hurley and the executive director, prime mover, instigator and sole employee of the societal cohesion catalyser, one Chris Hartley.

She also cited a statement from the G-G and Senate Estimates, evidence from which “a reasonable person would surmise the Governor-General had met Chris Hartley in June 2020, had not had that much to do with Mr Hartley”.

“The Governor-General does not have a relationship with Mr Hartley (other than discussions about the Australian Future Leaders Program and briefly meeting in 2019 around the 100th anniversary of the Peace Rowing Regatta),” the G-G’s media statement states.

“There is no existing relationship,” the G-G’s official secretary, Paul Singer, told Estimates.

Prior to that in Estimates:

Senator Ayres: How did Mr Hartley become known to you and to the Governor-General? Is he someone that either of you or the Governor-General knows?

Mr Singer: I think the Governor-General may have had a tangential, peripheral relationship with him through other means in the past – for example, through a central rowing regatta for the King’s Cup in the UK.

Ms Salt – at pains to point out there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Mr Hartley and his “admirable charitable work” – proceeded on Twitter to demonstrate via publicly available sources that David Hurley and Chris Hartley seemed to have met quite often on various occasions, often related to their shared interest in rowing.

And since 2020, David Hurley and Chris Hartley have had multiple meetings to discuss what Mr Hartley bills as the Governor-General’s Australian Future Leaders Program.

It is possible Senate Estimates might not have appreciated all that.

Under the radar

As Ms Salt reported, Mr Singer did answer the question if he knew Mr Hartley. “He may not have had the chance to say he did indeed know Chris Hartley,” she tweeted. That can happen during Estimates questioning.

Mr Hartley and Mr Singer are both alumni of the Commonwealth Studies Conference – a leadership forum.

It is interesting that Estimates might not have understood the full picture. There are a few days left for the Senate to disallow the funding, if it wants to, if it doesn’t fear a charge of lèse-majesté.

But Ms Salt’s research and reporting is known only to those who follow her on Twitter. As stated at the outset, this is a story about a story that nobody else seems to think is a story worth reporting.

As for the G-G, it’s almost as if he’s a bit accident prone.

There was the business of not recording the multi-ministry Morrison, there was the matter of his promotional video for the builder who did his private home renovations, and now the impression that he did not know Chris Hartley as well as he seemed to know Chris Hartley.

 

READ MORE:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2022/09/02/governor-generals-charity/

 

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megalomaniacal...

Governor-General David Hurley’s diary makes no mention of the five times he handed extra ministerial powers to then-prime minister Scott Morrison.

Mr Morrison took on the health, finance, treasury, home affairs, industry, science, energy and resources portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021.

He has faced heavy criticism for taking on the portfolios, in most cases without his colleagues’ knowledge, and some inside the Liberal party have called on him to resign.

But Mr Morrison’s actions have also drawn in the governor-general, who signed off on the appointments.

Greens senator David Shoebridge said Mr Hurley needed to clarify whether the decision not to disclose the appointments was his or Mr Morrison’s.

“Something is deeply broken when the governor-general tells the world that he has awarded a sash to a champion sheep dog but says nothing when he appoints the former prime minister to five new ministries,” Senator Shoebridge said.

Constitutional experts doubt Mr Hurley’s or Mr Morrison’s actions were illegal but have criticised the breach of convention.

Some inside Labor are mulling whether Mr Hurley needs to go, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has kept the focus on his predecessor.

The Governor General’s Program lists in detail the numerous activities of Mr Hurley, including phone calls, official events and luncheons.

Mr Morrison was secretly appointed health minister on March 14, 2020, with the knowledge of then-health minister Greg Hunt.

This is not recorded in Mr Hurley’s diaries. The day after though, he notes presenting the “Duke of Gloucester Sash” at the 2020 National Sheep Dog Trial Championships in Canberra.

Likewise on March 30, when Mr Morrison was given power as finance minister, Mr Hurley’s diaries don’t reference it.

However, they do mention a series of phone calls Mr Hurley had, including from a member of Australia’s national security laws watchdog.

On April 15, 2021, Mr Morrison secretly co-opted powers of the industry, science, energy and resources portfolios.

 

READ MORE:

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/governor-general-s-diary-blank-on-morrison-s-secret-ministries-20220820-p5bbf0

 

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DAVID HURLEY IS A GOOD GUY, BUT HE HAS TO RESIGN... HE WAS CONNED BY MORRISON WHO SHOULD BE THROWN OUT OF PARLIAMENT FOR BEING A SELF-INDULGENT MEGALOMANIACAL PURVEYOR OF CRAP. CAN SOME IMPORTANT FIRM GIVE MORRISON A JOB AS  A TOILET CLEANER?... GIVING THE SCIENCE PORTFOLIO TO SCOMO WAS AN INSULT TO SCIENCE....

 

 

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public integrity…...

Crossbench MPs will give the government 15 sitting days to stand in the way of their move to cancel an $18 million grant awarded to a charity after the Governor-General privately lobbied Scott Morrison on its behalf.

How the recently formed Australian Future Leaders Foundation was given this grant, its charitable purpose and the relationship between its directors and Governor-General David Hurley are facts a public integrity expert says must be established before public money is handed over.

Independent MP Monique Ryan has given Parliament notice that she intends to block the transfer of the money to the foundation, which will cause it to be cancelled within 15 sitting days if the government does not act to stop that process.

Prominent crossbenchers, including David Pocock, Zoe Daniel, Zali Steggall, Jacqui Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell and Andrew Wilkie told TND they were backing the move, or a similar upper house motion.

The Greens support it too, and more MPs are expected to declare their hands in coming days.

Dr Ryan said there was not enough evidence to show why the grant was awarded as she effectively dared the government to intervene to support one of the Morrison government’s most contested decisions.

‘‘It’s up to the government whether it wishes to bring the Morrison government’s mysterious million-dollar funding allocation to an unsubstantiated body to an examination in the House or Senate, and then a vote, or to be disallowed,’’ she told The New Daily.

The government has not indicated whether it would back the extraordinary disallowance measure.

On Tuesday night Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong told the upper house the spending measure was “under review’’. But questions about how any review was different to the usual budget process went unanswered after being referred to the Prime Minister’s Office.

 

READ MORE:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2022/09/06/mps-revoke-governor-general-charity/

 

 

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smelly royal crap….

It’s time for Governor General David Hurley and Scott Morrison to go. Public perceptions of mates-deals have tarnished the two highest offices in the land. Michael West reports on the unfolding scandal of the Australian Future Leaders Foundation.

It is time for the Governor General to exit, Scott Morrison too. The former has tarnished the reputation of the Crown, the latter the very foundations of Australia’s democracy.

Governor General David Hurley had signed off on Morrison’s secret ministries at a time which overlapped with him lobbying the government for a Commonwealth grant for the mysterious Australian Future Leaders Foundation, a charity without a website, a clear purpose, an operation, even a phone number. 

Not only that, but Hurley had a conflict of interest. He also signed off on a law for the benefit of this very charity he was promoting. 

The quid pro quo

The conflict of interest is clear. It rings loud, despite the yet ringing silence over the scandal in the corporate media. The two highest offices in the land are embroiled, blighted. Morrison wanted Hurley’s approval for his secret roles as Treasurer and four other key portfolios; Hurley was seeking government support for his Foundation.

The grant of $18m to the Australian Future Leaders Foundation had been made, without tender, following an amendment to laws administered by then finance minister Simon Birmingham. It was not known at the time but Hurley had also signed off on Scott Morrison’s move to be secretly appointed finance minister, to shadow Birmingham.

 

READ MORE:

https://michaelwest.com.au/royal-favours-pipe-and-slippers-time-for-david-hurley-and-scott-morrison/

 

 

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scrapped……...

A mystery foundation established just over a year ago by a businessman with connections to the Governor-General has had its federal funding scrapped.

Key points:
  • The Australian Future Leaders Foundation was promised $18 million in the March federal budget
  • It's now been confirmed that promise has been scrapped
  • The proposed funding was identified in the Albanese government's "waste audit" ahead of next month's budget
 

Government sources have told the ABC that the Australian Future Leaders Foundation will no longer receive millions of dollars promised by the former Coalition government after the new government decided it was not value for money.

The foundation — which had never run a leadership program and had no website nor staff — was granted $18 million in the Morrison government's March budget.

Its budget papers stated that money would be provided over five years, and the foundation would then receive $4 million per year after that.

Governor-General David Hurley supported the foundation, and lobbied former prime minister Scott Morrison several times across 2020 and 2021 before the funding was awarded.

Concerns raised

Questions had been raised about why a foundation with no record of running leadership programs was awarded the cash with no competitive grants process.

The foundation planned to establish leadership programs for emerging mid-career leaders.

One person closely involved raised concerns that it would benefit "privileged white kids", and not help expand or promote a diversity of leaders within government and non-government sectors.

Governor-General David Hurley has always stood by the foundation.

However the promised funding has been identified in the "waste audit" that the federal government is currently undertaking as part of the October budget process.

A decision has been made that the foundation will no longer receive any federal funding.

 

READ MORE:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-07/albanese-government-scraps-funding-for-gg-backed-foundation/101416170

 

 

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no rowing.....

It was the most unusual pet project for a serving Australian Governor-General, a project where the highest office in the land, on multiple occasions, lobbied then Prime Minister Scott Morrison, to support a mysterious foundation to the tune of $18 million. Ronni Salt and Jommy Tee report.

New documents obtained via FOI reveal the Governor-General, David Hurley, and his top bureaucrat, Paul Singer, underplayed the level of their behind-the-scenes involvement in prodding the Morrison government to fund the Australian Future Leaders Foundation.

The documents are the internal annual statements of key deliverables for the years 2021 and 2022 which are set in January each year and sent out to all teams across the Office of the Governor-General. They clearly transmit the top priorities for the year ahead.

The annual statements, never publicly disclosed, were obtained by Jommy Tee and Ronni Salt and show how the Governor-General’s Australian Future Leaders Program (Editor’s note: GGAFLP, not Gigaflop as the spellchecker helpfully suggested) was afforded top priority status in the Governor General’s office for two straight years.

Despite the high priority attached to the GGAFLP, Paul Singer, the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, has never volunteered the information to Senate estimates since the story first broke back in April 2022.

Not one of the over 200 organisations the Governor-General is actually a patron of rates a mention in the key deliverable statements for 2021 and 2022.

In other words, the Governor-General chose to make obtaining resources and support for the entire Future Leaders folly a priority over anything associated with his other well established patronages.

In previous statements, after the right royal manure hit the fan over this issue, the Governor General flagged becoming the Foundation’s inaugural patron – despite the Foundation not meeting his own guidelines for patronage.

Those guidelines refer to a 5 year track record of achievement – a hard ask for an organisation only formed in April 2021.

 

READ MORE:

https://michaelwest.com.au/gg-david-hurley-and-his-beloved-foundation-a-secret-priority-yet-at-arms-length/

 

 

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a chariteee.....

Once the Governor-General’s proud pet project, the controversial Australian Future Leaders Foundation has vanished from the charity register. Jommy Tee reports the latest on the elusive charity … even a recent sighting of the mysterious King’s Cup itself!

The mysterious Australian Future Leaders Foundation disappeared from the charity regulator’s website on 31 January 2024, the day it was meant to both submit and publish its annual financial statements.

The secrecy continues

The secrecy that surrounded the Foundation’s establishment, has now extended to the ongoing public disclosure of its annual financial statement.

MWM contacted the charity regulator – the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) – as to why the Foundation is no longer publicly listed.

A spokesperson for the ACNC stated:

“By law, the ACNC cannot speak publicly about the circumstances of any charity, apart from referring to information published on the Charity Register.”

The Charity Register does not show a charity with that name.

Speaking generally, there are limited circumstances in which the ACNC may agree to withhold a charity’s information from publication. These circumstances include: 

  • where the information is commercially sensitive and publication could cause harm to the charity or a person
  • where the information is inaccurate, or likely to confuse or mislead
  • where the information is offensive
  • where the information could endanger public safety, or
  • any other circumstances prescribed by the ACNC regulations.

It appears the Foundation, which spruiked corporate leadership programs to develop a new generation of future leaders, has applied to keep its affairs hidden from the public gaze.

How it all began

The Foundation had been heavily promoted by the Governor-General, David Hurley, and his office to then prime minister Scott Morrison as a pathway to deliver leadership programs; and it was to be the recipient of $18m of government funding. The funding was announced a few months before the federal election.  

After the election was lost by Morrison however, the grant was rescinded by the Albanese government following pressure from the cross-benches and independent media.

Hurley and his office met the Foundation’s executive director, the regally connected Chris Hartley, multiple times over a two-year period ahead of the 2022 federal election. The Foundation was listed as a priority of the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General for two years running as part of the Office’s annual statement of priorities. 

 

https://michaelwest.com.au/governor-general-charity-vanishes/

 

 

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