Scott Morrison has his sights set on the stars. The former prime minister, who now has nearly as many part-time jobs as secret ministries, announced a new gig as non-executive chairman of Space Centre Australia on Sunday, weeks after CBD’s questions about that rumoured role went unanswered (a media embargo, we were told).
SCA and its chief executive, former navy submariner James Palmer, have rather grand celestial ambitions to build a spaceport on the Cape York Peninsula. Back down on Earth, the company has more mundane problems.
Scott Morrison and Space Centre Australia chief executive officer James Palmer.
According to an article published in The Cairns Post earlier this year, Palmer had told prospective employees that SCA had $100 million in committed investment from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, a government agency providing concessional loans to businesses in Northern Australia.
But the NAIF had made no offer of funding to Palmer’s company, and the agency confirmed this was still the case when contacted by CBD on Monday.
Palmer told CBD via email that he had never made such a claim about NAIF funding. Former employees say otherwise. Nick Mullings, who worked for another of Palmer’s companies, Palm Branch Group, told CBD that the chief executive’s claims of a $100 million federal funding commitment helped persuade him to get involved with the company.
“He told me he had the money for the project, which was instrumental in me joining the business,” Mullings said.
“Although I never had access to the company’s finances it became clear early on that SCA did not have the funds, even though there were numerous meetings with venture capitalists and NAIF.”
An image from an SCA promotional video showing the proposed location of the facility in Queensland. Credit:
Stephen Hayes MBE, a defence industry veteran and former Palmer Branch Group board member who was quoted in the Cairns Post story, also told CBD the chief executive had mentioned the $100 million NAIF investment. And in internal emails seen by this column, Palmer references the $100 million committed investment from NAIF.
Meanwhile, Palm Branch Group went into liquidation last December owing nearly $800,000 to creditors, including $386,987 in unpaid wages and superannuation, according to a liquidator’s report filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The report, prepared by liquidators Slaven Torline, suggests Palm Branch Group may have been trading while insolvent from August 2022
“I will notify ASIC that the director may have breached his duties in respect to insolvent trading,” the report said. ASIC declined to comment.
While the liquidator’s report lists SCA as a related entity to Palmer’s failed Palm Branch Group, the chief executive told us it was a separate entity.
“I placed the company into voluntary administration last year due to federal government changes to labor [sic] hire and contracting downturn.”
When asked whether Morrison was aware of Palmer’s corporate history, the chief executive told us: “We made full disclosures in the months leading up to his appointment.”
But Palm Branch Group’s creditors are concerned. Hayes, the former board member still owed $63,250 following the company’s collapse, told us: “I hope anyone who’s involved with James has done their due diligence.”
Team Scomo didn’t respond to our questions.
BOARD TO DEATH
The Institute of Public Affairs is giving Australian history, long considered a snore fest by school students, a Hollywood glow-up.
Characters from a First Fleet-themed board game that look like actors John C. Reilly, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jonah Hill.
The right-wing think tank has sent a First Fleet board game with fascinating artwork to unsuspecting schools across the country.
“In this historically accurate game, your goal is to survive one of the most amazing voyages in history and start a new life in the new settlement. Will you survive?” it asks.
The game introduces primary school students to 24 First Fleet convicts with flowing locks and hearty complexions – no scurvy here! The artist – or was it AI? – seems to have taken inspiration from Hollywood, as more than a few characters look like well-known actors. Who knew John C. Reilly, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jonah Hill and Adam Driver had Australia-bound lookalikes centuries ago? CBD sees shades of Javier Bardem in there too.
The game has three cards referencing Indigenous Australians, who are all unnamed. “You hear a rumour that the local Aboriginal inhabitants might not welcome the new settlers. This means the soldiers might have to protect you,” says one, accompanied by a picture of a boomerang. “You hear a rumour that the local Aboriginal inhabitants have weapons, but no firearms. That means the soldiers should be able to protect the settlement if needed. You will wait and see,” says another, alongside an illustration of two men sitting cross-legged around a fire.
One school principal remarked they hadn’t received such largesse since Scientologists sent out DVDs to attack psychology before the pandemic. “Even the usual suspects, like Colgate and Johnson & Johnson, either don’t send stuff out, or you have to express an interest,” they said.
CBD asked the IPA whether artificial intelligence had played a hand in the illustrations, and whether it intended to send more stuff to schools. The answers were yes and yes.
Executive director Scott Hargreaves said there’d been an “overwhelmingly positive response from many teachers and parents” to the materials, and the IPA was “looking to complete many more projects such as this in the future”.
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