I hope Andrew Forrest's bushfire PR ploy leads to more public scrutiny on his privately-controlled Minderoo Foundation
Minderoo's latest financial figures show quite astonishing cash inflows from Forrest and his business entities -- $655m in the 2019 FY and $402m in 2018. All told the Foundation has a whopping $1.4b in assets 
In contrast, Minderoo only managed to spend $75m on projects and partnerships in 2019, and $57m in 2018
This table from the annual report shows Minderoo's main philanthropic activities - the Forrest Research Foundation, another philanthropic body, is the largest item
Table here:
The Forrest Research Foundation does good work funding post-doctoral fellowships and PhD scholarships (and a very nice student residence on the Swan) for outstanding graduate students in Western Australia
Both Minderoo and the Forrest Research Foundation are of course controlled at board levels by Andrew and Nicola Forrest, with help from prominent figures like the Myers and McCusker families
I must admit I found it hard to reconcile the Minderoo and Forrest Research Foundation accounts. The Minderoo annual report says it gave $35m to FRF in 2018, for instance. But I can find no mention of that income in the FRF financial statements
One thing the Forrests are quite upfront about is that we have entered the Anthropocene. They don't seem quote so upfront about what might be causing all those "rising carbon dioxide levels"
Needless to say, the Minderoo annual report is very positive about its role in rolling out the cashless debit card in communities in the Kimberley, an idea Andrew Forrest has long publicly advocated for
This are formal government partnerships for welfare quarantining through Minderoo's 'Generation One' program
I'll leave the cashless debit card debate aside here, as its complex and there are competing views. But it's worth noting that the Minderoo Foundation's total philanthropic spending associated with quarantining the welfare payments of vulnerable people was just $1.5 million
What's next for Minderoo? Nothing less than tackling the world's intractable problems, from slavery to plastic pollution in the oceans. Oh, and moving into a bespoke new headquarters in the Old Swan Brewery.
In short, while Minderoo is a large and active philanthropic corporation, making all sorts of active investments and partnering w the Commonwealth to quarantine people's welfare, it remains a vehicle entirely controlled by the Forrest family, with little external oversight.
