Federal Labor promises to pursue return of dodgy grant to Great Barrier Reef Foundation

Excerpt from email sent out over Labor Senator Kristine Keneally's signature on 17 August 2017:

On April 29 Mr Turnbull announced the largest donation of taxpayers money to a private foundation in Australian history.

Half a billion dollars was given to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, a private foundation with only six full-time staff at the time.

That's why we're calling on Mr Turnbull to return the reef money. Here's what we know so far:

• There was no tender process for the donation and the foundation never applied for the money.
   
• The Prime Minister was present at the meeting with the foundation and he personally told the chair, Dr John Schubert about the donation. It appears no public servants were present.
   
• Before receiving the donation the budget for the foundation was only $9 million and it only employed six full time staff.
   
• The negotiations for  the contract that governs the half a billion dollars of taxpayers' money only began after the money had been announced and committed by the government.
   
• The foundation has acknowledged the biggest threats to the reef include climate change and land clearing, yet the foundation has made clear none of its work goes to act against climate change or land clearing.
   
• All the probity checks and balances which ordinarily apply to expenditure by government agencies will not apply to spending decisions made by the foundation.

Effectively, half a billion dollars of taxpayers’ money has been given away without process, probity or policy justification.
 
The future of the reef should not be determined behind closed doors by Mr Turnbull’s mates......

Labor will continue to pursue this through the Senate Inquiry process and all other avenues available to the opposition.