MEDIA RELEASE: MALCOLM TURNBULL ADMITS THE PRIME MINISTER WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR REEF CASH SPLASH

MALCOLM TURNBULL ADMITS THE PRIME MINISTER WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR REEF CASH SPLASH

In an extraordinary revelation today, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has written in a letter to the Senate Inquiry detailing how the Government came to the decision to donate $444.3 million to a small private Foundation.

Mr Turnbull has confirmed that Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann were principally responsible for the amount of money given and the timeframe in which it was to be donated.

While Prime Minister Scott Morrison has admitted to the media that he is responsible for the decision to grant almost half a billion dollars in taxpayers’ money to a small private foundation in one hit, it is still unclear what due diligence was done before their closed door meeting on 9 April 2018.

It has also been revealed today that the Government is considering providing more cash to this small private Foundation. The prospect of more money being given to the Foundation makes clear the Government plans to make the new arrangements permanent. Government scientists and regulators will have to go cap in hand to a group of private business people to seek permission to conduct essential government work.

Australia is custodian to one of the most precious and fragile places on earth. Responsibility for the Great Barrier Reef is not something to be privatised and controlled by a small group of business friends.

FRIDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2018