Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest yesterday made the nation’s biggest philanthropic gift by a living individual, donating A$400 million (US$298 million) to causes covering health, education and fighting modern slavery.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull sang the praises of the one-third owner of the world’s fourth-biggest iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group, who has faced occasional criticism about his treatment of Aborigines in the mineral-rich state of Western Australia.
The donation set a new benchmark for private-sector philanthropy in Australia, where educators, doctors and arts organizations — the typical beneficiaries of private-sector charity — have traditionally relied on government subsidies to stay afloat.
“It is a game-changer in the Australian philanthropic community,” Turnbull said at an event to announce Forrest’s donation, attended by government and opposition politicians, actor Russell Crowe and health researchers.
He said it was a record.
“This is not extracted from you by force of law, this is a matter of conviction, of your love and your commitment,” Turnbull added, addressing Forrest in front of media.
Forrest said he wants his donation to include A$75 million for cancer research, A$75 million for higher education, A$75 million for childhood education and A$75 million to be directed toward fighting modern slavery.
“I have been very fortunate, with my wife, Nicola, to be able to accumulate and then, as soon as we can, to commence giving it away,” said Forrest, whose stake in his Sydney-listed company was worth A$5.6 billion at yesterday’s close.
Crowe said he had a history of working with Forrest “which seem always connected to some gift or largess of Andrew’s, or some plan to help other people.”
Crowe described the donation as an “incredible A$400m gift to the nation” on Twitter.
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
‘ABSURD MISTAKE’: The election commission said that there had been a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations ran short of ballot papers South Korean riot police yesterday cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station after a 35-hour blockade sparked by a shortage of ballot papers during local elections earlier this week. Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration. Lee’s ruling Democratic Party swept most races, but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat. The South Korean National Election Commission apologized, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers. Some polling stations stayed open until 10pm to
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
A Sherpa guide was found crawling to base camp on Mount Everest a week after he went missing and was reunited with his family, who had given up hope he would return. Dawa Sherpa was last seen on Friday last week descending the mountain, but he did not reach base camp even though his client did. The pair were among the last climbers on the mountain as the climbing season came to an end and the route was dismantled. Dawa was located by a cleaning crew on Thursday morning as he was crawling down the snowy slopes around the Khumbu Icefall, just above
RSS