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Warren Entsch: wife’s grants, links to Alex Sekler and a Scott Morrison retirement deal

The last man standing in parliament’s fabled Class of ‘96 demanded his party do the decent thing by gay couples under Malcolm Turnbull. Now his own marriage is in the spotlight.

Then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch at a politics-at-the-pub session in 2016.
Then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch at a politics-at-the-pub session in 2016.

Often described as a “colourful character” and “maverick MP”, Queensland’s Warren Entsch, 73, — once a loud voice on doing the decent thing by same-sex couples — has found himself in the sights of the corruption watchdog, with The Australian revealing his allegedly lucrative ties to a Cairns billionaire, a jaw-dropping retirement offer from former prime minister Scott Morrison and Aboriginal funding grants for his non-Indigenous wife.

Who is Warren Entsch?

The veteran LNP member for the far north Queensland seat of Leichhardt is the last man standing for the Coalition from the fabled class of 1996 of incoming MPs that laid the platform for John Howard to become a four-term prime minister and, across the aisle, launched the parliamentary career of Anthony Albanese.

His sprawling seat of Leichhardt reaches from Cairns to the Torres Strait.

After leaving school as a 15-year-old, Mr Entsch’s first job was cleaning toilets at the Mareeba railway station, west of Cairns. He went on to work as an aircraft engine fitter in the RAAF and raised crocodiles in the Northern Territory as well as cattle on Cape York Peninsula. Working on the factory floor of the Yabulu nickel refinery north of Townsville – controversially shuttered by billionaire Clive Palmer in 2016 – he became a voluble shop steward for the metalworkers’ union.

Entsch on a crocodile farm in the 1970s
Entsch on a crocodile farm in the 1970s

Ever the contrarian, he championed gay rights in parliament, despite being warned that speaking out against changes to the Marriage Act under Mr Howard in 2004, specifying a union between a man and woman, could cost him his preselection in the seat of Leichhardt.

Later, he was a moving force in the campaign to introduce same-sex marriage through a 2017 plebiscite backed by Malcolm Turnbull. He co-sponsored Australia’s same-sex marriage bill. His approach on the issue raised the ire of Coalition colleagues who accused him of trying to silence them.

“Warren would be better off seeking to protect freedom of religion, speech and parental rights to get the best outcome for all Australians rather than simply arguing for his colleagues to shut up,” senator Zed Seselja said at the time.

Why is he being referred to anti-corruption investigators?

Queensland Health referred to Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission allegations that Mr Entsch organised for his political donor and friend, billionaire property developer Alex Sekler, to jump the queue and receive his Pfizer Covid jab in the Torres Strait in July 2021. Mr Sekler was not eligible to get Pfizer in Cairns, and appealed for Mr Entsch’s help. The politician called local health authorities and ordered his taxpayer-funded electorate staffer to accompany the billionaire on his privately chartered plane. 

Violetta Sekler and Alex Sekler with Dr Ken Chapman (centre) after making a donation.
Violetta Sekler and Alex Sekler with Dr Ken Chapman (centre) after making a donation.

Who is Alex Sekler?

Soviet-born Mr Sekler, 65, is a businessman with companies in the tax haven of Cyprus has emerged as the biggest donor to Queensland’s Liberal National Party ahead of last year’s federal election. Mr Sekler is understood to have made his fortune through property and manufacturing companies in Russia and Israel in the 1990s and 2000s.

He moved to Cairns with his wife Violetta just over a decade ago, and became the LNP’s biggest individual backer since the days of Clive Palmer when he handed over $304,000 through one of his companies for the party’s campaign last April.

Entsch with his wife Yolande.
Entsch with his wife Yolande.

Who is Entsch’s wife and why is she making news?

Yolande Entsch is the LNP candidate for the must-win state seat of Cairns.

She is non-Indigenous but received a $213,725 two-year grant from the Morrison government’s Indigenous Languages and Arts program to teach pottery in the remote Queensland Aboriginal community of Doomadgee. A company wholly owned and directed by Mrs Entsch received the funding in 2019-20 and was not required to declare her relationship with the veteran LNP MP during the grant application. The Australian has also revealed Mrs Entch’s private company received a $1000 taxpayer-funded NAIDOC Week grant from her husband’s electorate, which takes in most of Queensland’s remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Scott Morrison and Entsch at Norship in Cairns to announce $24m funding for stage two of the upgrade of the Cairns Marine Precinct.
Scott Morrison and Entsch at Norship in Cairns to announce $24m funding for stage two of the upgrade of the Cairns Marine Precinct.

Warren Entsch and Scott Morrison: what’s the deal?

Mr Entsch says the then-prime minister convinced him to cancel his retirement plans and run again at the 2022 election by offering two incentives: a $10bn cyclone re­insurance pool for northern Australia and a $20m electricity microgrid in his electorate.

The revelations come as former prime minister Mr Morrison confirmed he attended an exclusive private dinner with Mr Entsch, then-senior ministers Bridget McKenzie and David Littleproud and Alex Sekler, at a Canberra restaurant in February 2022.

Mr Morrison insisted he did not discuss nor was involved in organising Mr Sekler’s $304,000 donation that dropped into Liberal National Party coffers on the eve of last year’s federal election.

Read related topics:Scott MorrisonVaccinations

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/warren-entsch-wifes-grants-links-to-alex-sekler-and-a-scott-morrison-retirement-deal/news-story/25326f7e97a4dc8243f97e527d9a9510