And as Australia enters the first month of 2023.......

It is perhaps well to remember that whilst the cronyism, venality and often industrial scale corruption of national governments is well known in history, here in Australia we appear to hold the quaint notion that as a democracy we will not be led by the likes of a Pahlavi, Marcos or Putin. Men who sought not only authoritarian power but also to enrich themselves from the public purse and their nation’s resources.

But does the example of the former Morrison Government and what is happening in the U.S. right now not make one wonder if we here in Australia need to clearly define limits to the powers held by a prime minister and, perhaps also require all members of any federal Cabinet or outer ministry to present their tax returns to the Parliament for formal audit every year they are in government?

For that matter, perhaps it is well past time that members of a federal government are denied access to taxpayer funds to defray court ordered financial penalties & legal costs in relation to defamation or sexual harassment proceedings.

Both Morrison & Trump ignored democratic principles and processes whenever they chose, with Trump’s action being perhaps the more egregious. However, one has to wonder if profiteering from public office was something both national governments did – if not to the same scale at least with the same frequency.

In Australia we will never know because we have such weak mechanisms to monitor or prevent such things. The Parliament often being reluctant to police members' specific pecuniary interests, the Constitution not shutting the door firmly enough on profiting from the Crown and the Register of Members’ Interests being nothing more than a risible fig leaf covering suspected dodgy trusts and self-managed super funds.

Consider former U.S. president Donald Trump’s financial affairs and ask yourselves: Could some of the prime ministers and/or ministers in office between September 2013 and May 2022 have conducted their own financial affairs in a similar manner?

To call the business structure that Donald John Trump built – carried with him into the White House and back out again - ‘Byzantine’ is being kind.

It appears to be a maze of est. 500 inter-related companies, subsidiaries, partnerships, trusts, overseas bank accounts and possibly shells, potentially designed to literally push financial bullshite uphill until a business income loss or tax credit could be established on paper for personal benefit.

During his first presidential election campaign in 2016 Trump self-reported net wealth of almost US$10 billion with debts of at least US$265 million – thought at the time to be achieved by an exaggeration of property and brand values and that his net wealth would be closer to est. US$4.1 billion. There were calls to show his tax return. He promised to reveal his tax returns but didn’t.

As president he continued to falsely complained that his tax affairs were under almost continuous Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audit so it was impossible for him to release them.

Once the nation voted him out of office Trump went to the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to stop the release of his tax returns for the years 2015 through to 2020. A legal battle he lost in TRUMP, DONALD J., ET AL. V. COMM. ON WAYS AND MEANS, ET AL on 22 November 2022.

He was so successful in his resistance up until then that only one incomplete mandatory IRS audit occurred during his presidency - being ordered in September 2019 for the tax year 2016, but never completed and appears to have been quietly abandoned. Trump appointee as IRS Commissioner, Charles P. Rettig, reportedly excused the then president from the mandatory auditing process sometime during his tenure as commissioner.

On 16 June 2021 the U.S. Congress House Committee of Ways and Means wrote to the Treasury Secretary seeking details of the required annual mandatory audits of Trump’s personal tax returns during his presidency, unaware of the true state of affairs.

This letter requested all audit materials from 2015 to 2020 with particular reference to:

whether an IRS examination of the returns took place and the present status of the audits, the applicable statutes of limitations, and the issues considered:

1. The Federal income tax returns of Donald J. Trump (Form 1040),

2. The Federal income tax returns of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust,

3. The Federal income tax returns of DJT Holdings LLC (Form 1065),

4. The Federal income tax returns of DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC (Form 1120-S),

5. The Federal income tax returns of DTTM Operations LLC (Form 1065),

6. The Federal income tax returns of DTTM Operations Managing Member Corp (Form 1120-S),

7. The Federal income tax returns of LFB Acquisitions Corp (Form 1120-S),

8. The Federal income tax returns of LFB Acquisition LLC (Form 1065), and

9. The Federal income tax returns of Lamington Farm Club, LLC d/b/a Trump National Golf Club-Bedminster (Form 1120-S).

Trump’s personal tax returns were joint filings with his wife Melania and listed one son as a dependent. He stated his main source of income was derived from “Management Services”, “Aviation”, “Speaking Engagements”, “Real Estate”, “Golf”, “Ice Skating Rink”, and “Restaurant”.

For a man who repeatedly bragged about his business acumen and wealth in the billions, his 2015 personal and business tax returns indicated that he carried forward business loses of US$105.15 million and he and his wife declared a 2015 calendar year joint negative income of $31.7 million leaving a nominal tax bill of $0.

So by 2015 either he was fast approaching the need for yet another strategic corporate bankruptcy or he had applied the most ‘creative’ accountancy when dealing with the U.S. IRS for that year and the following five years.

Either way, once in the Oval Office Trump appears to have continued to follow his own unique tax return template so that by 2020 he was still paying low tax or no tax – apparently due in part to sizeable business income losses at two of the nine entities whose tax returns were requested by the House Committee on Ways and Means – DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC and DTTM Operations LLC. It is interesting to note that 2020 was also a year devoid of charitable donations by Mr. & Ms. Trump and, it seems that there is some suspicion that previous charitable donation figures may be largely unsupported by appropriate documentation.

Page 2 of the House Committee on Ways and Means Final Report spells out some specific accounting concerns:

• Charitable contributions—whether the 2015 conservation easement deduction of $21 million and other large donations reported on the Schedule A were supported by required substantiation.

• Verification of Net Operating Loss Carryover Schedule—whether the amount of net operating loss carryover in 2015 of $105,157,825 and future years was proper.

• Unreimbursed partnership/S corporation expenses—whether the terms of the partnership agreements supported unreimbursed expense deductions totaling $27 million over six years.

• Related party loans—whether loans made to the former President’s children are loans or disguised gifts that could trigger gift tax.

• Cost of goods sold deductions by DJT Holdings—whether these deductions of about $126.5 million over five years is appropriate when it is not clear what DJT Holdings is selling from the face of the return.

• LFB Acquisition LLC—whether there is any support for changes in the management fees and general and administrative expenses of LFB Acquisition that were significantly higher in 2017 ($1.9 million and $2.8 million, respectively) than 2016 ($750,000 and $549,000, respectively) and 2018 ($707,000 and $570,000, respectively).

In fact when it comes to actually paying personal income tax Donald and Melania Trump paid US$641,951 tax in 2015, $US$750 in 2016, $US$750 in 2017, US$999,466 in 2018, US$133,445 in 2019 and US$0 in 2020, claiming a refund of US$5,468,593.

Then there is the matter of the two shell companies set up by Trump’s then personal attorney Michael Cohen in 2016, Resolution Consultants LLC and Essential Consultants LLC. The former allegedly created for the US$120,000 purchase and then suppression of a story by former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal about her involvement with Trump and the latter created to pay US$130,000 to former adult-film star Stephanie Clifford, professionally known as Stormy Daniels.

A Delaware state judge ordered the dissolution of Essential Consultants LLC and Resolution Consultants LLC in October 2020.

It has been reported that Trump had claimed the second personal expense of $130,000 as a business expense though whether he did that in his 2016 tax returns or later I have been unable to ascertain.

It is noted that, in the three years from 2017 to 2019 Trump donated the annual US$400 million presidential salary “solely for public purposes” in order to get a back a combined total of US$1,200 million as a deduction on his tax bills, according to The Washington Post.

As for an overview of Trump’s business practices…..

To quote Page 5 of the House Committee on Ways and Means’ 20 December 2022 Final Report:

Numerous investigative reports have revealed that the former President, through the complex arrangements of his personal and business finances, has engaged in aggressive tax strategies and decades-long tax avoidance schemes, including taking a questionable $916 million deduction, using a grantor trust to control assets, manipulating tax code provisions pertaining to real estate taxes, and extensively using pass-through entities. Media reports have also revealed that he benefited from massive conservation easements, and that certain of his golf courses failed to properly account for wages paid to employees, raising questions about compliance with payroll and Social Security tax laws. As President, he took pride in “brilliantly” maneuvering the tax laws to his personal benefit. Even as he was championing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the former President referred to the tax code as “riddled with loopholes” for “special interests—including myself.”

BACKGROUND

The House Committee on Ways and Means “REPORT ON THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE'S MANDATORY AUDIT PROGRAM UNDER THE PRIOR ADMINISTRATION (2017-2020” Final Report of 20 December 2022 can be found at:

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/documents/2022.12.20%20Final%20Report%20House%20Ways%20and%20Means.pdf

On 30 December 2022 the House Committee on Ways and Means released a zip file containing all Donald John Trump’s personal & business tax returns via Attachment E. Links to the full range of documents the Committee has released can be found at the bottom of this document at:

https://waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ways-and-means-committee-votes-release-investigation-irs-s-mandatory

When it comes to human rights and civil liberties is it ever safe to trust the junkyard dog or its political masters?

On 18 July 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull announced the establishment of a Home Affairs portfolio that would comprise immigration, border protection, domestic security and law enforcement agencies, as well as reforms to the Attorney-General’s oversight of Australia’s intelligence community and agencies in the Home Affairs portfolio.

 On 7 December 2017, the Prime Minister introduced the Home Affairs and Integrity Agencies Legislation Amendment Bill2017 into the House of Representatives.

This bill amends the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006, the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Act 2010, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Act 1986 and the Intelligence Services Act 2001.

The bill was referred to Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security which tabled its report and recommendations on 26 February 2018.

This new government department on steroids will be headed by millionaire former Queensland Police detective and far-right Liberal MP for Dickson, Peter Craig Dutton.

His 'front man' selling this change is Abbott protégé, former Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and current Secretary of the new Department of Home Affairs, Michael Pezzullo. 

The question every Australian needs to ask themselves is, can this current federal government, the ministers responsible for and department heads managing this extremely powerful department, be trusted not to dismantle a raft of human and civil rights during the full departmental implementation.

It looks suspiciously as though former Australian attorney-general George Brandis does not think so - he is said to fear political overreach.

The Saturday Paper, 3-9 March 2018:

On Friday last week, former attorney-general George Brandis went to see Michael Pezzullo, the secretary of the new Department of Home Affairs.

The meeting was a scheduled consultation ahead of Brandis’s departure for London to take up his post as Australia’s new high commissioner. It was cordial, even friendly. But what the soon-to-be diplomat Brandis did not tell Pezzullo during the pre-posting briefing was that he had singled him out in a private farewell speech he had given to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation on the eve of his retirement from parliament two weeks earlier.

As revealed in The Saturday Paper last week, the then senator Brandis used the ASIO speech to raise concerns about the power and scope of the new department and the ambitions of its secretary. Brandis effectively endorsed the private concerns of some within ASIO that the new security structure could expose the domestic spy agency to ministerial or bureaucratic pressure.

In a regular Senate estimates committee hearing this week, Pezzullo described his meeting with Brandis – on the day before The Saturday Paper article appeared – as Opposition senators asked him for assurances that ASIO would retain its statutory independence once it moves from the attorney-general’s portfolio to become part of Home Affairs.

“I had a very good discussion on Friday,” Pezzullo told the committee, of his meeting with Brandis.

“He’s seeking instructions and guidance on performing the role of high commissioner. None of those issues came up, so I find that of interest. If he has concerns, I’m sure that he would himself raise those publicly.”

Labor senator Murray Watt pressed: “So he raised them with ASIO but not with you?”

“I don’t know what he raised with ASIO,” Pezzullo responded. “… You should ask the former attorney-general if he’s willing to state any of those concerns … He’s a high commissioner now, so he may not choose to edify your question with a response, but that’s a matter for him. As I said, he didn’t raise any of those concerns with me when we met on Friday.”

The Saturday Paper contacted George Brandis but he had no comment.

“ANY SUGGESTION THAT WE IN THE PORTFOLIO ARE SOMEHOW EMBARKED ON THE SECRET DECONSTRUCTION OF THE SUPERVISORY CONTROLS WHICH ENVELOP AND CHECK EXECUTIVE POWER ARE NOTHING MORE THAN FLIGHTS OF CONSPIRATORIAL FANCY…”

Watt asked Pezzullo for assurance there would be no change to the longstanding provisions in the ASIO Act that kept the agency under its director-general’s control and not subject to instruction from the departmental secretary. The minister representing Home Affairs in the Senate, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, said: “It is not proposed that there be a change to that effect.”

The new Department of Home Affairs takes in Immigration and Border Protection, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, known as AUSTRAC, and ASIO.

ASIO does not move until legislation is passed to authorise the shift, and will retain its status as a statutory agency.

Pezzullo addressed the fears of those questioning his department’s reach. He said some commentary mischaracterised the arrangements as “being either a layer of overly bureaucratic oversight of otherwise well-functioning operational arrangements or, worse, a sinister concentration of executive power that will not be able to be supervised and checked”.

“Both of these criticisms are completely wrong,” he said.

Pezzullo had already described his plans, both to the committee and in a speech he made in October last year, in which he spoke of exploiting the in-built capabilities in digital technology to expand Australia’s capacity to detect criminal and terrorist activity in daily life online and on the so-called “dark web”.

But the language he used, referring to embedding “the state” invisibly in global networks “increasingly at super scale and at very high volumes”, left his audiences uncertain about exactly what he meant.

Watt asked if there would be increased surveillance of the Australian people. “Any surveillance of citizens is always strictly done in accordance with the laws passed by this parliament,” Pezzullo replied.

In his February 7 speech to ASIO, George Brandis described Pezzullo’s October remarks as an “urtext”, or blueprint, for a manifesto that would rewrite how Australia’s security apparatus operates.

Pezzullo hit back on Monday. “Any suggestion that we in the portfolio are somehow embarked on the secret deconstruction of the supervisory controls which envelop and check executive power are nothing more than flights of conspiratorial fancy that read into all relevant utterances the master blueprint of a new ideology of undemocratic surveillance and social control,” Pezzullo said.

As for day to day human resources, financial management and transparent accountable governance, media reports are not inspiring confidence in Messrs. Turnbull, Dutton and Pezzullo.

The Canberra Times, 2 March 2018:

Home Affairs head Mike Pezzullo was one of the first to front Senate estimates on Monday.

It's been up and running for only weeks, but his new department is part of one of the largest government portfolios.

Having brought several security agencies into its fold, and if legislation passes letting ASIO join, the Home Affairs portfolio will be home to 23,000 public servants. 

Mr Pezzullo was also quizzed on the investigation into Roman Quaedvlieg, the head of the Australian Border Force who has been on leave since May last year, following claims he helped his girlfriend - an ABF staff member - get a job at Sydney Airport.

It was revealed the Prime Minister's department has had a corruption watchdog's report into abuse of power allegations for at least five months while Mr Quaedvlieg has been on full pay earning hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Australian Government asks Adelaide businessman to show the money

A look at one rocky road to Anzac Day 2016………..

Meet Chris Fox.

Campgallipoli.com.au:

Chris has a strong background in corporate finance and advisory services. He has advised on numerous business restructuring projects over the past 25 years including one of the country’s largest banks, health group organisations and logistics companies. In addition, he has substantial experience in marketing, media, advertising and event management at a National level. Chris was also the youngest Chairman of Anglicare, Australia’s largest non-for-profit organisation. Chris is the passionate leader behind the Camp Gallipoli concept and model.

Add to this sparse online biography, these past positions held by Chris Fox:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO) Central Bayside Community Health Services Limited, Kingston, Victoria, 2012

Managing Director and Founder Fox Finance Group of Companies, April 1994 – November 2011 which included positions as:

MANAGING DIRECTOR of Fox Finance Corporation Pty Limited (merged in 2007 with National Merchant Bank). South Australian focussed, boutique Finance Company with over 3000 business clients.
CONSULTING to Chartered Accounting firm.
MANAGING DIRECTOR of Fox Partners Pty Limited (Management buy-out 2005) Integrated Financial Services Business.
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN of H Muecke & Co Pty Limited and Muecke Carrying Company Pty Limited (sold to P&O Ports Corp. United Kingdom in 2005)
Established in 1875, States oldest transport company.
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN of Cartonics (SA) Pty Limited (sold to National retailer Nextbyte in 2005)
Original Telco.

How the media reports the activities of Chris Fox.

News.com.au, 10 October 2014:

AT first flush it is a smart idea for thousands to share the essence of the iconic Gallipoli swag experience — a vigil under the stars, followed by a dawn service — much closer to home.

But to the man behind Camp Gallipoli it is much, much more — a chance for Australians to actively rediscover a positive national identity.

“Australia has lost its identity,” says founder Chris Fox. He adds: “We have gone backwards, we are everything we hated.”

Bandt.com.au, 19 February 2015:

Outdoor media provider APN Outdoor has thrown its support behind Camp Gallipoli, a not for profit organisation that is commemorating 100 years of ANZAC spirit with sleep out events to be held across Australia and New Zealand on April 24….

All Camp Gallipoli events will have spaces set aside for camping and there will be entertainment, guests, movies, documentaries and a special Dawn Service on Anzac day, so people can immerse themselves in the ANZAC legacy. All funds raised will go to Legacy and the Returned Services League (RSL).

A Camp Gallipoli event was held in Canberra on Saturday February 14 with a service at the Australian War Memorial. The RSL ANZAC Flame was passed on for it final journey to towns and cities representing the Camp Gallipoli Foundation.  The RSL ANZAC Flame travelled to Canberra last October, after it was lit in Albany, Western Australia, the city from where troops departed a century ago.

Chris Fox, chief executive, Camp Gallipoli Foundation said, “We recognise the uniqueness of the Australian and New Zealand spirit of unconditional mateship. We feel this was forged at Gallipoli in 1915 where race, background and status meant little and mateship, trust and honour meant everything. We are pleased to have corporate sponsors like APN Outdoor onboard to promote awareness of Camp Gallipoli across Australia and New Zealand.”

2GB Radio, 23 April 2015:

Steve Price is joined by Camp Gallipoli CEO Chris Fox to discuss how the cancelled Camp Gallipoli commemoration in Sydney is now back on.

The Australian, 10 November 215:

Tomorrow, students across Australia will donate a gold coin to restore a dilapidated school in the nearby village of Pozieres where almost 7000 Australians died during a six-week campaign in 1916 — the bloodiest battle in Australian history.

Historian Charles Bean described the site as “more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other spot on earth’’.

Camp Gallipoli Foundation chief executive Chris Fox said: “Billy Hughes once said that Australia was born on the shores of Gallipoli. Well, if that’s the case, then its baptism was Pozieres.”

The foundation is organising the fundraiser to provide a living memorial to the Anzac forces and encourage Australian children to learn about the great sacrifice the village represents, Mr Fox said.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 April 2016:

The chief executive of a charity responsible for controversial Anzac-branded merchandise that has been banned from sale has hit back at social media "snipers", saying the centenary commemorations of the Gallipoli landings are being "bogged down in negativity".   

In the face of the backlash over merchandising, Chris Fox, the chief executive of Camp Gallipoli, has defended his not-for-profit organisation as one that is educating young Australians about mateship and the legacy of Anzac Day at a series of camps.

Three Anzac branded items from a range developed by Camp Gallipoli have been pulled from shelves at Target after Minister for Veterans Affairs Michael Ronaldson deemed they had breached conditions of a permit the organisation has to sell the merchandise.

Mr Fox said all profits from the merchandise were being donated to the Returned Services League of Australia and Legacy.

The investigation is announced.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 April 2016:

An Anzac charity that received millions of dollars from government grants and ticketed events is now being investigated over fears it did not pass on the money raised to veterans associations.

The federal government has ordered an investigation into the Camp Gallipoli Foundation and has stripped it of its permit to use the protected word "Anzac" just days before the foundation stages a series of educational and fundraising events around the country on Anzac Day.

The move by the Department of Veterans Affairs comes after Fairfax Media revealed the foundation's chief executive, Chris Fox, may have personally profited from the foundation by charging "management fees" worth up to $1.5 million a year through commercial companies owned by his family and an associate.

The Camp Gallipoli Foundation, which last year received $2.5 million federal grant, has been unwilling to substantiate its claims that it donated money raised on behalf of veterans' charities despite collecting millions of dollars in ticketing revenue, donations and sponsorships from corporate Australia.

The national leadership of the RSL and Legacy report they have received no financial donations from Camp Gallipoli.

The revelations raise questions about how taxpayers funds were spent on the 2015 Anzac commemorations and the regulation of groups that fund raise on behalf of charities…..

The government did not comment on whether it was aware Mr Fox was a bankrupt as recently as 2013 when it issued the grant and official permission to use "Anzac" for the foundation's activities.

The Camp Gallipoli Foundation ran nationwide events on the eve of the Anzac centenary in 2015, hosting an estimated 40,000 people who paid up to $120 each to camp out "just like the Diggers did".

Events are also scheduled for most capital cities this Anzac Day.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs – through the Anzac Centenary Fund – backed the original program with a one-off grant of $2.5 million.

Another $1 million was contributed by corporate partners such as Target and Woolworths through merchandising deals and sponsorship arrangements.

Promotional materials said any surplus generated by the events – and its membership-based "Camp Gallipoli Club" – would be donated to veterans' groups, Legacy and the RSL.

In the days before the 2015 centenary events, Mr Fox announced Camp Gallipoli was expecting to generate a "surplus" of $900,000. Fairfax Media understands that severe weather at the Sydney event did hurt the finances of the foundation but it is unknown to what extent.

A dispute has erupted between Camp Gallipoli and the veterans' charities about the funds.

"Legacy has not received any money from Camp Gallipoli," national chairman Tony Ralph said.

RSL national chief Samantha Jackman said the organisation had also not received any donation after the 2015 events.

Both veterans' groups say they have no official relationship with Camp Gallipoli for 2016.

But the foundation's deputy chair Graham Ingerson maintains the foundation has "significantly supported" the RSL and Legacy. "The Foundation has invested significantly in many projects to aid and assist these charities."

Despite committing to release a list of these contributions, none was provided by the foundation.

A Fairfax Media investigation has also found that chief executive Chris Fox is apparently trying to turn the event into a commercial venture by charging percentage-based "management fees" through companies owned by his family and an associate.

The companies are entitled to receive fees equivalent to up to 20 per cent of the fixed cost of staging the events.

Mr Fox, who is also employed on a $150,000 annual salary as the CEO, has refused to disclose how much money the for-profit companies have actually made via Camp Gallipoli.

While eventually acknowledging they qualified for a fee worth up to $1.5 million in 2015, Mr Fox said no management fees have been charged because the Camp Gallipoli events did not generate enough revenue.

He later said his company did receive a payment of $100,000 to cover staff costs, as well as received "loans" from the foundation and a $215,000 gift from an unnamed benefactor to cover expenses in lieu of the fee payments. 

Mr Fox, who said he also had not received a salary in six months, eventually claimed he "did not know" what had been received by the companies in fees.

"We're living on scraps, metaphorically. We've run it on an oily rag. No one is trying to profit from it – we're just honestly trying to do something good," he said…..

Camp Gallipoli says Mr Fox's bankruptcy is "historic and finalised" and "unrelated to the work of the foundation".