Tony Abbott, Frances Abbott with founder of the Whitehouse Institute of Design Leanne Hope Whitehouse
(Sole director of Whitehouse Institute Pty Ltd & Whitehouse Investments Australia Pty Ltd)
The Guardian 21 May 2014:
Les Taylor, the chairman of the Whitehouse Institute of Design board of governors, personally recommended the prime minister’s daughter for a $60,000 design degree scholarship, and has also made donations of more than $20,000 to the state and federal Liberal party.
Frances Abbott was only the second recipient of the "chairman's scholarship", according to the institute's chief executive.
Guardian Australia revealed that Frances Abbott received the scholarship from the private higher education institute in 2011. Taylor told Guardian Australia he had “put her name forward” for the award but declined to say how much the scholarship was worth.
Taylor told Guardian Australia that, as chairman of the board of governors, “I’m entitled to make a recommendation … I’ve got the right to say [if] they’d do very well at Whitehouse.
“I knew she’d do well,” Taylor said, “And she’s flourished [at the institute]. I put her name forward as I thought she’d be suitable … she’s gone from strength to strength.”
Taylor later told Fairfax Media: ‘‘I probably did say to someone at Whitehouse, ‘Frances is a nice girl or something, good family, works hard, I reckon she’d do well’.’’
Taylor told Guardian Australia he could not recall if he had recommended anyone else for the scholarship that year, but confirmed it was not offered to students every year. Taylor said he did not “get involved” with the appraisal process for the scholarship, which was completed by academic staff. It is unclear whether any other students were considered for the scholarship in 2011.
The institute states on its website that it “does not currently offer scholarships to gain a place into the Bachelor of Design” – a cache search on the website indicates this has been the same since 2011.
The institute's chief executive, Ian Tudor, told Guardian Australia the "chairman's scholarship" was issued "occasionally" and that Frances Abbott was only its second recipient.
"I understand that the selection of Frances was done at arm's length from the chairman by the owner, founder and managing director of the institute, Leanne Whitehouse," Tudor said.
"I understand that the selection of Frances was done at arm's length from the chairman by the owner, founder and managing director of the institute, Leanne Whitehouse," Tudor said.
He said the institute awarded "various types" of scholarships, despite the statement on the website.
The director of the institute, Leanne Whitehouse, previously confirmed Frances Abbott was a recipient of the scholarship, but declined to give further details.
A spokeswoman for the prime minister confirmed that Frances Abbott was a recipient of a scholarship at the institute and said it was awarded as a result of her "application and art portfolio".
She said disclosure of the scholarship by the prime minister on the parliamentary register of interests was "not required".
"Under the Statement of Registrable Interests, a scholarship is not a gift, it is an award based on merit and disclosure is not required. If alternative advice is provided, Mr Abbott will meet the amended requirements," the spokeswoman said.
"Frances graduated with distinction-level results from Whitehouse in December 2013. She has since moved to Melbourne where she works for Whitehouse as a teacher’s aide and hopes to study for her Masters later this year."
The spokeswoman said Taylor had known the prime minister "for many years and when in opposition, he received clothing from him as a gift"….
http://whitehouse-design.edu.au/news/praise-for-interior-design-at-whitehouse.html
New
Matilda 21
May 2014:
In February
of this year, Frances Abbott – the Prime Minister’s middle daughter – completed
a three-year Bachelor of Design course at the Whitehouse Institute of Design.
New Matilda
can reveal that the Prime Minister’s daughter paid just $7,546 for the $68,182
degree.
The news come
on a day where thousands of students in six capital cities around the country
marched to express their outrage at an Abbott Government budget which see some
university fees rise by more than 100 per cent.
Documents
obtained by New Matilda also challenge claims by the Prime Minister that his
daughter’s scholarship was won on merit.
Rather than
an exhaustive application process, Ms Abbott, aged 22, was offered the
‘Managing Director’s Scholarship’ at her first and only meeting with the owner
of the Institute, Leanne Whitehouse.
The Institute
declined to nominate any other occasion when the scholarship has been awarded,
and did not address a lengthy list of questions submitted by New Matilda early
this morning.
Whitehouse
insiders have claimed the scholarship was kept secret, even from many senior staff…..
Ms Abbott was
awarded her scholarship before the school year began.
The
Whitehouse website does not list the Managing Director’s Scholarship on its
awards page, despite the fact it is by far the largest scholarship awarded by
the school.
There also
appears to be some confusion about the name of the scholarship – Leanne
Whitehouse told Guardian Australia today it was called the ‘Chairman’s
Scholarship’. But internal documents repeatedly refer to it as the ‘Managing
Director’s Scholarship’.
An account of
how Frances Abbott came to be a student at Whitehouse, provided to New Matilda
by a staff member, casts further doubt on the claims by the Prime Minister that
her appointment was based entirely on merit.
The source
told New Matilda that Frances Abbott was approached by Whitehouse Chairman of
the Board - and friend of the Abbott family - Les Taylor, after Taylor became
aware that Frances was looking to complete a degree with a competing design
school.
“Les Taylor
knew the Abbott family. [Frances] wanted to do something related to creativity
and styling. She was going to go to one of our competitors. I think it was
Billy Blue [a design school in North Sydney],” the source told NM.
“Leanne got
the Chairman of the Board [Taylor] to tell [Frances] she had the offer of a
scholarship.”
A few years
later, in the run-up to the 2013 federal election, Ms Whitehouse became
increasingly excited at the prospect of a Liberal win, the staffer said.
“She said to
me something like, ‘Do you know what this could mean to Whitehouse if [Abbott]
gets in?’
News.com.au 22 May 2014:
FORMER classmates of Tony Abbott’s daughter are furious that she was awarded a $60,000 design degree scholarship.
The Prime Minister defended his daughter Frances yesterday after it was revealed she won a $60,000 scholarship in 2011 to Sydney’s elite Whitehouse Institute of Design, whose chairman Les Taylor is a longtime friend of Mr Abbott and a Liberal Party donor.
Chad Mason, 20, studied for the $68,000 Bachelor of Design in styling and creative direction with Frances in 2011 and said her being awarded the scholarship was “beyond a joke”.
“Having studied in the same classes alongside Tony Abbott’s daughter … I can assure you that there were no scholarships awarded to any other students in our cohort, and I can definitely say that I studied with some extremely talented people who were more deserving of a $60,000 scholarship,” Mr Mason said….
The
Sydney Morning Herald 23 May 2014:
Pedestrian
Daily 22 May 2014:
Student #1:
We always knew that they were playing favourites. We always knew that Les
Taylor was a friend of the Abbott family. Leanne [Whitehouse, owner, founder
and Managing Director of the Institute] loved to say how Tony
Abbott's daughter was attending Whitehouse. So it became a very good talking
point for her, I believe. It looked good for Whitehouse to have Frances there.
Student #2:
No not really. When it first came out that Frances was Tony Abbott's daughter I
feel like even some of the teachers were surprised that they were related.
Student #3:
No, not at all. I guess with Whitehouse because the classes are a lot smaller a
lot of the students had personal relationships with the faculty. But not to the
extent that is obviously was with Fran. I think with Leanne it was more about
the prestige of having Fran there than it was about the quality of her work or
creativity.
Because Frances indubitably did receive that
scholarship because of who she is not because of
her extraordinary ability, above and beyond all her fellow students. That
is my solid opinion. I came to it because I know that she will have been
gifted, smiled and enveloped in a swaddling of gratuitous entitlements ever since
her father began climbing the political power beanstalk….
This
scholarship does appear to have spontaneously
materialised almost exclusively because of Frances’ DNA rather than her
portfolio and that, to my mind, was an awful thing to do to her. If it was a gratuitous
hand-out, then it was an insult to her fellow students by the Whitehouse
Institute of Design.
And her father should
have foreseen that this could hurt Frances as much as him and he should have
declined or declared the scholarship, just to be safe. If not for himself, for
his daughter’s reputation.
Poor kid. It’s one of those first-world, one
percenter sort of problems that come from privilege and wealth. Not something
my feral five will probably ever have to encounter. Lucky them.
New
Matilda 24 May2014:
The Whitehouse Institute of Design has labeled claims published in New Matilda overnight that
owner Leanne Whitehouse lobbied Prime Minister Tony Abbott in front of 400
people as “ridiculous”, describing her comments to Mr Abbott about red tape as
“teasing”.
New
Matilda 24 May 2014:
The Prime
Minister’s daughter was hand-picked to help lobby a federal government
regulator for course accreditations worth potentially millions of dollars on
the basis of her “merit” as a student, a prestigious Sydney design college has
confirmed….
Leaked
documents obtained by New Matilda reveal that late last year, Ms Abbott was one
of just a handful of students from more than 400 put forward by Whitehouse to
be interviewed by assessors from the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards
Agency. TEQSA is the federal government regulator responsible for approving or
denying an application from Whitehouse to launch a new Masters of Design
course, and the re-accreditation of existing courses.
That
application was ultimately successful. Ms Abbott has since moved to Melbourne
to enroll in the course, securing a job at Whitehouse’s Melbourne campus while
she waits for it to begin later this year. Ms Abbott appears to be the only one
of 74 employees with no defined role, according to leaked documents….
In the latest
twist, assessors from TEQSA visited the Sydney campus of Whitehouse in November
2013 - two months after the Prime Minister won office - to view the facilities,
and to interview staff and students selected by Whitehouse.
Ms Abbott was
one of eight students from a body of more than 400 chosen to be interviewed.
An internal
Whitehouse document obtained by New Matilda, titled ‘TEQSA Staff & Student
profiles’, provides assessors with detail about their experiences at the
prestigious design school.
In her
profile, Ms Abbott heaps praise on the Whitehouse Institute and describes her
experience at the school as “life-changing”.
“This year
has been a whirlwind experience for me,” Ms Abbott wrote.
“I thought
that it was going to be life changing and it has been, although for all the
reasons I didn’t expect.
“Through
completing my major project, I am beginning to understand what I want to do.
Many opportunities have emerged, and doors have opened.
“I am
currently reflecting on my creative practice, and looking forward to the future
– including working with the many talented creative I have met in the past few
years.”
New Matilda
makes no assertion that Ms Abbott's comments were not genuine, nor that she was
not a student of merit. However the Whitehouse Institute declined to comment on
the appropriateness of the Prime Minister's daughter being put forward, nor
would it comment on claims from Whitehouse insiders that assessors were not
informed Ms Abbott was attending the design school on the secret $60,000
scholarship….
Pedestrian
Daily 27 May 2014:
Though both
the Prime Minister's office and the Institute themselves have been adamant that
Ms Abbott's scholarship was awarded on merit through a non-advertised and
discretionary scholarship known as the Chairman's or Managing
Director's scholarship, questions have been raised about the nature of
that so-called "merit" due to the fact that the scholarship was kept
secret from students and most high-level staff at the school, and was not
advertised before its awarding, nor announced afterwards. In fact, it seems
that in the entire history of the school, the scholarship had only ever been
awarded once before. Despite questioning, the school refused to disclose who
that other recipient was.
And, as it
turns out, there seems to be a very good reason that they're preferring to be
tight-lipped on that one. Speaking with Studio 10, New Matilda's
editor Chris Graham revealed that the only other recipient of the
scholarship was Billy Whitehouse. That surname is not a coincidence, as
she is the daughter of the Leanne Whitehouse, the founder and owner of the
Whitehouse Institute.
So while
every other student who attends the institute leaves there with an initial HECS
Debt of some $68,000 - a debt that will increase at a far more rapid rate
thanks to the re-aligning of University fee interest rates set forth in this
year's budget - the two students who receive a doggedly clandestine free ride
are the daughter of the school's owner and the daughter of the Prime Minister.
Awarded on
"merit." Yeah, righto.
Memo
to Frances Abbott,
You agreed to actively campaign on behalf of a high-profile
political relative and this is what happens.
Your
life comes under regular scrutiny and, matters you would perhaps like to keep
private go global.
You
are not a victim of this media focus - you were an adult when you courted attention and very obviously enjoyed
the spotlight.
You became a 'public' figure by consent.
You cannot complain if you don't like the form this attention takes post-election.
You became a 'public' figure by consent.
You cannot complain if you don't like the form this attention takes post-election.
CG
