Mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest will unveil what is believed to be an Australian record for philanthropic donations to fund a variety of social and scientific causes.
Forrest will announce the donation at a ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in Canberra on Monday morning.
‘The immediate response was that it’s been done for tax and it had nothing to do with tax,’ Mr Forrest said.
The fields will include childhood education as well as cancer research and treatment, and regional communities.
‘It’s a very large proportion of the earnings which Nicola and I have made and we’re doing it because it’s very timely in all of the fields which we’re donating to,’ he told ABC radio ahead of the announcement.
The fields will include childhood education as well as cancer research and treatment, and regional communities.
Mr Forrest admits America has a much stronger philanthropic culture than Australia, but times are changing.
He says there is an irony in the fact Australians have the most naturally generous hearts and mateship attitude but there was a cynicism about philanthropy.
The 55-year-old and his wife Nicola established the Minderoo Foundation in 2001, with the ethos that ‘by giving a hand up, not a hand out, we can empower communities’.
Minderoo has supported more than 250 initiatives both within Australia and internationally, including fighting modern slavery, ending Indigenous disadvantage, and ensuring all children in Australia ‘thrive by five’.
The Forrests and daughter Grace founded the Walk Free Foundation in 2012, which aims to end slavery, which affects more than 45 million people.
Mr Forrest built his fortune in mining after founding Anaconda Nickel Ltd, now known as Minara Resources, in 1994, before founding Fortescue Metals Group in 2003, the world’s fourth largest and Australia’s third-largest iron ore miner behind BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
He is chairman of Fortescue, having stepped down as CEO in 2011 to focus on philanthropic work.
This year, he was Western Australia’s finalist for Australian of the Year.
One of Australia’s richest men, the late Paul Ramsay, left most of his $3 billion fortune to charity in 2014.
Source: Andrew Forrest to make hundred million dollar donation | Daily Mail Online
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