Two weeks ago Labor withdrew the $18 million funding for the governor-general’s favoured charity. What angers me most is the secrecy behind this most unusual generosity awarded to the governor general by for prime minister, Scott Morrison. So, what now for a governor-general, battered and bruised by Morrison’s secrets?
The future of the Governor General remains under a cloud now that Labor has decided to take back the $18 million David Hurley was allocated to train new conservative leaders via his favoured charity (Australian Future Leaders Foundation Limited).
But why was the Governor General lobbying the Prime Minister for such an enormous amount of money, and why did the Government include it in their last budget?
We deserve to know the answers to these questions. Suppose the Albanese Government cannot get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding David Hurley’s request. In that case, as soon as the legislation for a National Integrity Commission has passed, both Houses, perhaps we might ask the Governor General and the former PM to explain.
So far, we know the Australian Future Leaders Foundation Limited was registered in April 2021 to run leadership programs.
It has been spearheaded by Chris Hartley, who it has been alleged suggested that the Governor General used a PowerPoint presentation for his exposition to Scott Morrison. He also had connections with the monarchy.
The Foundation has no employees and no structure. The current Government has withdrawn the funds but is yet to explain why. When asked to explain the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers said, “There have been some funds committed which will not be proceeding, and that’s an example of that.”
When asked if an inquiry would be appropriate, he said he did not see this in personal terms… I’m not into the personalities of it, I’m into the economics of it.”
The Prime Minister couldn’t offer anything better saying, “Watch the budget… We’re going through line by line, looking for areas of savings in the budget. All of the former Government’s expenditure is under review.”
Both of these answers only serve to raise yet another question: Why is the Government being so secretive about it? Do they intend to add the gift of $18 million to a foundation that existed in name only to a very long list to be presented to a new integrity commission?
Given the Government’s secrecy, we don’t know the answer to that question.
As soon as the legislation for a National Integrity Commission has passed both Houses, perhaps we might ask the Governor General and the former Prime Minister to explain.
The Government may legislate a National Anti-Corruption Commission before Christmas, but when will it be operational? Our right to know can only be demonstrated by those bodies commissioned to seek evidence. When will that be?
This case is but one of many, and the Government of the day must be able to establish alleged wrongdoing.
If Albanese is fair dinkum about restoring trust in politicians, he must first demonstrate that corruption exists. In doing so, he must put aside accusations of small-mindedness. That the task is too great because the allegations stretch back in time. And further reasons to back away from scrutinising corruption.
Who knows? What was the Governor General’s role in acquiring this funding for The Australian Future Leaders Foundation (AFLF)? It might have been well-intentioned, but they went about it the wrong way; given how Morrison operated and the lies he told, it is easy to suspect something is amiss, which is why Chalmers backed away.
What was the foundation about? Online news blog Crickey suggested, we can reasonably safely assume that it was about:
“… creating a network for young Australian achievers – but it reeked of the monarchy. There is ample evidence that the Foundation, proposed by people with links to the royal family and promoted by the queen’s representative in Australia, received special treatment from Scott Morrison, whose Government was prepared to back it with $18 million and special tax status.”
It all fits into Morrison’s persistent abuse of his powers that makes it easy to see a foundation set up with Government funds training the best and brightest in right-wing conservatism – or taking it a step further far-right conservatism. Not far-fetched when one considers Morrison’s history in trashing the rules and his friendly relationship with Hurley.
As I said earlier, these things and others have to be tested, but we must also evaluate the damage done to the office of the Prime Minister and the standing of the Governor General and his office.
According to David Hardaker from Crickey:
“The record shows there were a dozen meetings between the G-G’s office and the Foundation’s executive director, upper-crust Englishman Chris Hartley. That then translated into access to the Prime Minister’s Office as the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet took the running on backing Hartley’s regal idea with taxpayer money.”
It was a nifty idea for these upper-crust English chappies to use Australian taxpayer funds to finance a foundation to teach social elites how to lead us and that the Governor General was within a hairs width of signing into law.
Again quoting David Hardaker:
“Had he done so and none had noticed the deception, it would have explicitly passed for the benefit of the AFLF. One was to enable the payment of $18 million (with a guarantee of more), and the other was for the coveted Deductible Gift Recipient tax status.
Does this not, in theory, compromise the independence of the G-G’s office?”
Of course, it does. It may all be innocent and legal but tied to everything else; if nothing else, it is a bad look.
The foundation affair will be recorded in the history of Australian politics as an attempt by the political right to grab money from the Australian taxpayer and fund a scheme to train young conservative people in the art of leadership or propaganda. Take your pick. I will leave it to the reader to decide the purpose.
So far, it has been recorded as just another chapter in the former Government’s assaults on the integrity of our institutions.
In all the talk of becoming a republic, the people responsible for establishing it should also be mindful of the damage already done to our conventions.
In this episode with the Governor General, the Coalition has precipitously exploited the Order of Australia awards to stack the body and reward its political friends with honours, rubber-stamped by the Governor General.
Typically, Scott Morrison, on occasions, didn’t even talk to the Governor General about the awards, not even bothering to front up in person; he became so insatiable for power.
His actions were found perfectly legal, said Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue, even though they breached “the principle of responsible government.”
There are calls for the Governor General to step down or to explain himself more fully.
“At the very least the net result is that the office of the governor-general has been left tarnished from its dealings with Morrison.” It is an open question if the incumbent Government cannot repair it; it should at least confront it.
Both Hurley and Morrison have some serious questions to answer, and the Integrity Commission have some serious questions to ask.
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My thought for the day
In the recipe of exemplary leadership there are many ingredients. Popularity is but one. It however ranks far below getting things done for the common good.
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