This is part two in a series. For the full series, go here.
Early December last year, on the eve of a top-level meeting in Washington to seal the $368 billion AUKUS deal, Defence Minister Richard Marles took time out for a game of golf. But it was not just any old hit.
The venue was the Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey — a fabulous championship course commonly ranked second only to Augusta National, the site of the US Masters.
Baltusrol (named after a one-time local resident called Baltus Roll) is a club for the elite of the elite. Its board of governors is drawn from the ranks of top-drawer attorneys and investment bankers. Membership is by invitation only. Joining fees are US$150,000. Annual fees are US$18,500. A single round costs US$125 plus US$70 (excluding tip) for a caddie.
For a golf devotee like Labor’s Marles, the experience was priceless. (Marles is a member of the exclusive Royal Melbourne Golf Club, regarded as Australia’s finest and among the top five in the world.)
But there is one key unanswered question: who paid for the minister’s round?
In Marles’ parliamentary register of interests, he declares the following under the category of hospitality: “A round of golf at the Baltusrol Golf Club (USA), hosted by a member of Baltusrol Golf Club on 4 December 2022.”
The declaration was made at the end of January this year.
According to the Parliament House website, the purpose of the register is to place on the public record members’ interests “which may conflict, or may be seen to conflict, with their public duty”. The identity of the member — and how Marles gained access to the exclusive club — is in this context the key missing information when it comes to transparency.
Marles’ round at Baltusrol took place on a Sunday, two days before he met at the Pentagon with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and UK Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace. Discussion focussed on “the trilateral effort to support Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines and the trilateral development of advanced capabilities”, according to an official statement.
Crikey has sought clarification from Marles’ office but has not received a response.
An earlier Crikey investigation in the wake of the so-called “sports rorts” affair in 2020 revealed Senator Bridget McKenzie had failed to declare the source of funds for what she called “recreational trips” she had taken to Tasmania and New Zealand.
It was only when Crikey put questions to the senator that she acknowledged the trips had been “sponsored”, to use McKenzie’s term, by the Australian branch of international firearms manufacturer Beretta, which sells rifles and shotguns in the Australian market. The senator also acknowledged that H&S Firearms, a gun dealership with an outlet in Sale, Victoria, was the source of a gift of “sports and recreational clothing”.
Richard Marles’ omission, however, is all the more notable — it is the only instance where he has failed to name the source of a received gift or hospitality.
His parliamentary declarations of interests read much like other members of Parliament on the up. Marles has declared receiving complimentary tickets to AFL matches gifted by the league and the Geelong Football Club, to the Boxing Day Test match from Cricket Australia, to the MCG corporate box from Crown Bet, and to the Australian Tennis Open from Optus. He has also declared a Foxtel package for his electorate office provided by subscription television group Astra, a membership of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge courtesy of Qantas, and a membership of the Virgin Australia’s airport lounge courtesy of Virgin Australia.
Once in government, the new deputy prime minister also recalled — and declared — that he had accepted return business class airfares to Beijing as well as three nights’ accommodation provided in 2019 by China Matters, an organisation of business and academic figures seeking to inject “nuance and realism” into discussions to balance out a China hawk narrative.
Marles has declared travel and accommodation provided by the International Institute for Strategic Leadership Dialogue, which describes itself as a private diplomatic channel fostering closer cultural ties between Australia, the UK and Israel.
He has declared travel and accommodation paid for by the Australian American Leadership Dialogue (AALD) on three occasions, starting in 2014. The AALD is another “private diplomatic initiative”, bringing together Australian and American politicians, officials and business figures with the support of “key partners”, which include defence companies Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
As opposition defence minister, Marles also declared travel and accommodation provided by European headquartered defence firms, SAAB and Thales, as well as separate travel and accommodation from the Defence Department-backed Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
He also declared a lunch in March 2019 at Chianti Restaurant Adelaide hosted by Thomson Geer and GC Advisory. GC Advisory was established by a former staff member of then-defence minister Christopher Pyne. Pyne joined the firm after leaving Parliament at the 2019 elections.
Marles has also declared thousands of dollars in overseas travel and accommodation paid for by businessman Harold Mitchell. The then-opposition MP said the travel had a humanitarian purpose.
