The Governor-General David Hurley personally lobbied Prime Minister Scott Morrison about a leadership program that was later allocated more than $18 million in federal funding.
Last week's budget included the money for the Australian Future Leaders Foundation Limited, which claimed to have the support of an impressive list of business leaders, was only registered as a charity in April 2021 and is yet to run any leadership programs.
It has been spearheaded by Chris Hartley, who some suggest has used the foundation to climb the social ladder.
The federal opposition is demanding to know why the foundation deserved the funding, which includes $3.6 million this financial year.
"The government should explain why it is that we've got $18 million paid over to an entity which as yet doesn't seem to be operational," Labor senator Penny Wong said.
For the past two years Mr Hartley, who is one of the three directors of the foundation and its secretary, gathered support for his leadership program and successfully asked the Governor-General to pitch the proposal to the Prime Minister.
The ABC has seen correspondence in which Mr Hartley boasted that the Governor-General had given a PowerPoint presentation to Mr Morrison in late 2020.
Mr Hartley said in the correspondence that Mr Morrison was on board with the project and asked his office to press ahead with it.
In another email seen by the ABC, Mr Hartley said that the Prime Minister's Office would "own" the project.
A spokesperson for the Governor-General confirmed there had been "several conversations" between him and Mr Morrison dating back to 2020.
"Ultimately public funding is a decision for the government. The Governor-General will continue to advocate for the program and support it once it is launched."
Promotional material seen by the ABC declared the "Governor-General's Australian Future Leaders Programme" had the in-principle support, including financial and in-kind commitments, of numerous senior leaders from different organisations and groups including Twitter, Tabcorp, Jaguar Land Rover, the Business Council, the Smith Family and Accenture.
The ABC has confirmed that while some on the list are still on board, others have never provided official support for the program or are no longer involved. Some have refused to comment.
One of the promotional brochures stated that conversations had commenced with the trade union movement.
While ACTU president Michelle O'Neil attended an event at the invitation of the Governor-General, the ACTU did not respond to any subsequent correspondence from Chris Hartley or his organisation.
Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough is one supporter. His spokesman said Mr Attenborough was passionate about developing Australia's future leadership capacity.
The Prime Minister's department insists due diligence was carried out before the funding was awarded, however, the terms and conditions of the funding agreement have not yet been finalised.
Another source told the ABC that the selection process for the program, which is yet to be made public, would result in it benefiting "privileged white kids".
Others have told the ABC they thought the program had merit because it had the backing of the Governor-General while another person asked: "Who is Chris Hartley?"
Climbing the social ladder
The ABC has been told that Mr Hartley used his connections with the royal family and people in senior positions to leverage relationships.
"He borrowed from one name to feed the next name," one person said.
"Chris is only interested in talking to people at the highest levels.
Another person told the ABC they assumed Mr Hartley worked for the Governor-General, which is why they offered to help.
The ABC was also told that Mr Hartley "bred insecurity" when trying to get people on board to support the initiative.
"He makes you feel if you don't come on board, you would be the one organisation left out," they said.
The Governor-General and his staff have been involved in the design of the program over the past two years but his office insists he has not been involved in government funding decisions.
Further questions have been sent to the Prime Minister and Mr Hartley.
