Australia’s Richest 250: Would you give it away? This is what the rich do
Australia’s rich have long tended to keep their generosity away from the public gaze. Now philanthropy is coming out of the shadows.
Australia’s richest person, Anthony Pratt, uses the term “noblesse oblige” – a French expression implying that with wealth comes responsibility, or as Pratt translates it, “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.” Robert Luciano, executive chairman of hedge fund VGI Partners, expands on that, saying “active involvement injects a degree of humility to one’s life”.
Luciano, like everyone featured in The List – Australia’s Richest 250, has made a huge success of his business career. And there is little doubt that, like just about every other member of Australia’s wealthy elite, he would have heard the calling to be generous, to give back as much as you can, and to worthy causes.
While they do contribute hundreds of millions of dollars annually, there is often criticism that the wealthy are not giving enough. But discussions about philanthropy, and who should give how much and when, are becoming more open, overturning decades of Australia’s richest mostly quietly doling out their money.
THE LIST: Australia’s Richest 250
This came into sharp focus earlier this year when bushfires ravaged several parts of Australia. Billionaire John Gandel moved quickly two days after Christmas, publicly pledging $1 million to help the national response to the bushfire crisis.
Soon after, Pratt and his family pledged $1 million, as did billionaire Alex Waislitz. United Petroleum co-founders Avi Silver and Eddie Hirsch made a rare public announcement with their $1 million commitment.
James Packer then pledged $5 million, Clive Palmer offered his helicopter and boats via Twitter, and Terry Snow fought fires himself near his property on the NSW South Coast.
Two weeks into January, mining magnate Andrew Forrest – who had made headlines last year when pushing the amount in his Minderoo Foundation over the $1 billion mark – topped them all with a $70 million bushfire showstopper.
Giving had suddenly gone public in a big way, as the press releases and media conferences for the announcements showed. As Waislitz said at the time: “In these unprecedented circumstances, it feels right to give publicly and to encourage others to do whatever they can to help, no matter what form it takes.”
The Pratt Foundation, set up by Anthony Pratt’s late father Richard and his mother Jeanne, has donated about $300 million over the past 40 years. Jeanne Pratt puts on somewhere between 50 and 100 fundraisers annually for various charities at the family’s Melbourne mansion, Raheen. The Foundation supports dozens of causes, but Pratt says he has been influenced by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the US billionaire who in more recent times has become one of the world’s leading philanthropic figures.
“What I like about Gates is that he measures outcomes,” Pratt says. “What he taught me is that it is very important to have a goal [regarding donations] and not to just randomly go around in circles. You want to have an objective. Not everyone always does that.
“It is a good feeling to help people. What that proves to me is not always how much you give, but how strategic you can be in your giving. To me, creativity is very important in the way you give. I don’t like to give just because someone requests something. I like to hook into my passion, and that is why I try to get involved in a lot of my causes.”
Pratt says his main passions are food security, children’s health and conservation. Again, Gates has been an influence when it comes to food issues, including the making of donations to small-holding farmers in the developing world. Pratt says Gates used a line that resonated: “Food doesn’t get the attention it deserves.”
Another one of Pratt’s favourite slogans comes from US Agriculture Department head Sonny Purdue, who says “Do right and feed everyone.” Pratt has donated money and his patronage to funds that support farmers in Asia and Africa, and other developing countries, and Second Bite, a food recycling initiative.
He is also the founding patron of two schools in the US, where Pratt Industries has grown quickly into a significant cardboard box making and recycling business, and donates large amounts to the St Judes Children’s Research Centre in Nashville.
Closer to home in Australia are the Visy Cares Centres, which help children battle mental problems and other health issues.
There are dozens of other causes, but how to choose which to support? Pratt says he asked Gates for advice on the matter several years ago. “His answer was: arbitrarily. In other words, it is up to you. There is not a scientific way to determine it, it’s whatever pulls on your heartstrings. It is going to be a good cause, but it has to be something that appeals to the individual. There is no better cause than any other, so therefore hook into your passion.”
Forrest would not comment to The Australian about his philanthropy for this story, but he has long been voluble about his efforts and has encouraged others to also give – something he stressed in a whirlwind, week-long tour of Australia late last year when his Minderoo Foundation published its annual report.
The Fortescue Metals Group founder and chairman has previously told The Australian that he now devotes about 90 per cent of his time to his philanthropic efforts and only the remainder to the business interests that have made him a billionaire and put him in the financial position to give so much. He and his wife Nicola formed the Minderoo Foundation in 2001, however – two years before he became involved with Fortescue.
“I’ve always admired people who give generously regardless of their net worth and over long periods of time,” says Luciano when discussing people such as Forrest.
“The greatest example of long-term giving in this country is the Packer family, who have made a substantial contribution over several decades. More recently, Andrew and Nicola Forrest are extraordinary donors – and they do it for no other reason than to do good. This puts a spotlight on other ultra-wealthy families and raises the question of what they are doing.”
The sheer breadth of the causes embraced by members of the The List can be overwhelming. The 2019 financial report for billionaire fund manager Kerr Neilson’s foundation lists $11.01 million in donations going to 50 different organisations. The NSW Art Gallery received $1.9 million, Pet Rescue Australia $25,000 and women’s community shelters $200,000. The list goes on.
Neilson’s foundation has almost $240 million in assets on its balance sheet, and the noted stock-picker has clearly used his business acumen to raise and maintain money for his foundation. Among its assets are shares in Japanese motor companies and Swiss drilling contractors, and plenty of units in investment trusts run by Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management.
It is a similar story to what Geoff Wilson has done with the listed investment company Future Generation. It uses the expertise of fund managers such as Wilson and 1 per cent of its assets are invested in charities each year.
“I was planning to retire when I was 80,” says the 62-year-old, who devotes time and money to a string of other charities, including many that focus on at-risk youth. “But then we raised the money for Future Generation and now I’m not too sure about retirement. It is such a good thing to do.”
Jeff Chapman’s Bennelong Foundation devotes money to several migrant support causes, including health and education programs. His share of profits from the Bennelong Funds Management business goes to his charitable endeavours.
Paul Little, the former managing director of Toll Holdings who now heads up Little Group, donated $15 million in 2019 through his Hansen Little foundation. Little’s philanthropy will ensure the continuation of boarding and education scholarships at the University of Melbourne, as well as ongoing grants for the Melbourne Theatre Company. He has also donated to other causes focused on the environment and climate change.
Geoff Harris, the co-founder of Flight Centre, has donated funds to build 57 homes for a new Melbourne-based social housing initiative. He continues to work closely with two national social enterprise organisations, Reach and Streat. They operate from a building he bought in inner-city Melbourne and for which the organisations pay a peppercorn rent.
“At-risk youth is one of the key philanthropic sectors Geoff is passionate about and supporting these two leading groups is highly aligned for us,” says Brad Harris, Geoff’s son and managing director of their family office Harris Capital.
These are just some examples. Jack Bendat has long been a supporter of many Perth causes, and is considered one of the most generous givers in Western Australia. John Kinghorn set up the Kinghorn Foundation with $300 million and has given $25 million to fund the Kinghorn Cancer Centre at St Vincent’s Hospital. Chris Wallin’s QCoal Foundation has provided $4 million to partner with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Giving is not without some controversy, though. Graham Tuckwell, who is giving more than $100 million to build student residences and provide scholarships at the Australian National University in Canberra, reportedly admitted in documents filed in a Jersey court that an $81 million donation of shares to a charitable foundation in his name was at least in part motivated by a large personal tax bill.
Even Forrest has faced some public criticism, given that $50 million of the $70 million he pledged in January for bushfire causes is going to his own foundation to develop “a holistic assessment and blueprint of what Australia needs to do to improve resilience”, rather than to immediate relief measures.
At the same time, Gina Rinehart put out a public statement saying she prefers to keep her donations private. Rinehart has supported programs in Cambodia to help lift dozens of children out of poverty and support them to gain education and enter the workforce. Several billionaires and other members of the Richest 250, when approached by The List, were happy to discuss which causes were dear to their hearts but did not want to publicly put a dollar figure on their annual donations.
“I gave $1 million to the bushfires straight away, like many others,” one billionaire says, “but I just don’t see the need to put my name up in lights about it. I prefer to remain anonymous.”
Another on the List questioned the timing of some large donations, saying: “I think you should start giving earlier in your career, not when you’re in your 50s or 60s and suddenly the next year after your big announcement you get an Order of Australia.”
Rob Luciano says his donations are relatively modest compared to those of many on The List, but adds that he tried to instill a philanthropic mindset soon after founding his company in 2008.
“I don’t want to overstate what we do at VGI Partners, as our philanthropic efforts have been modest in an absolute dollar sense,” he says. “However, we have increased our involvement in philanthropy as the business has grown, and I hope to continue that for many years to come. Our focus is on Australian causes. Australia has given my family a lot of opportunities and I’m extraordinarily grateful for that.”
He likes to support causes where involvement can act as a catalyst for substantial change – where funds donated have a direct impact without excessive bureaucracy costs. One is the Wanderers Education Program, which funds the tertiary education of members of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment.
Whatever the cause, Luciano says people with wealth should take the leap into philanthropy sooner rather later. Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in; it will make you a better person, he says,
“Whatever industry you are in, business is cutthroat and you are inevitably very focused on the profit motive. However, philanthropy provides a way to keep you grounded and adds a new dimension to your thinking. It also allows you to evolve as a better business person and thinker. In my case there’s no question it has made me a better investor.”
It is a mindset Pratt readily agrees with. “We’re not just cheque writers, we get involved,” he says. “It is putting your body in, which means whether it is producing the show or going to roundtables or going to a hospital. It is very important to give it and you life.”
