The government gave our richest man $45m

Why?

Artwork: Emilia Tortorella

Why? 

OK where to begin with this. Andrew Forrest is a miner and officially Australia's richest man who made his money riding the wave of China's demand for WA steel. Over the past few years Forrest (whose nickname is Twiggy - see what they've done there?) has rebranded with stunning success by throwing his weight (but not necessarily all of his money) into green energy, while keeping all of his mining interests. 

And... that's where the latest not-small government grant comes in. 

Buried in a press release on Wednesday was the news that the Government will bestow $45m of taxpayer money on Forrest's company, Fortescue Future Industries.

The money is to go towards building the world’s largest electrolyser manufacturing facility (absolutely not anything to do with hair removal devices but a machine used to produce hydrogen - thanks Google) in the northern Queensland city of Gladstone.

The good news: when hydrogen is produced using renewable power or processes, it can be a form of green energy. Once operational Forrest's facility will be the world’s largest electrolyser manufacturing facility globally and is expected to create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs in regional Queensland.

The hmmm news: Forrest has plenty of his own money. His wealth is believed to be $31.77 billion - second only in Australia to Gina Rinehart's $32.64 billion. Fun fact: $45m happens to be just shy of the cost of a single iron ore shipment.

And Fortescue Metals has only just recently posted a record half year in iron ore shipments and its highest ever annual profits.

A spokeswoman confirmed that Fortescue Future Industries had applied for the grant via the government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative.

"The first electrolysers are scheduled to be manufactured by 2023," a spokesperson said.

"FFI applied for funding as part of the Australian Government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) and we fully welcome this funding towards the total cost from the Federal Government. There has not been a change in project cost."

So money really does grow on trees if you're a Forrest. Boom tish.