Australian tycoon gives US$300m to charities
Print Edition
IRON ore mining magnate Andrew Forrest said yesterday he was donating A$400 million (US$300 million) to charities in what has been described as a new record in Australian philanthropy.
Forrest, the 55-year-old chairman of Fortescue Metal Group, and his wife, Nicola, announced the money will be spent on cancer research, Australian university research, supporting disadvantaged people, including Aborigines, and fighting slavery around the world.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the donations as “the biggest single philanthropic gift in our history and the largest donation by living Australians.”
“It is a game-changer in the Australian philanthropic community and it will change the lives of thousands of people here in Australia and around the world,” Turnbull told a ceremony at Parliament House.
Forrest, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes magazine this year at US$4.3 billion, said the cash donations would be made “both immediately and over the next several months.”
“I’ve been very fortunate with my wife Nicola to be able to accumulate capital and then as soon as we could commence giving it away,” Forrest said.
“We had a slightly unsustainable business model previously where we’d actually borrowed money to give it away and fortunately we don’t have to do that now thanks to the strength of the iron ore sector,” he said.
“I just simply say to all Australians, give what you can and if it isn’t money, time is just as valuable,” he added.
Sarah Davies, chief executive of Philanthropy Australia, the country’s top body for philanthropy, said Australia did not have the United States’ tradition of philanthropy which she described as the “gold standard.” But the culture of giving in Australia was changing for the better, she added.
The previous largest single donation to a charitable fund in Australia was A$200 million made in 2014 by gambling billionaire James Packer, chairman of Crown Resorts, to be spent on the arts and Aboriginal communities over a decade.
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