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1st August 2014, 07:38 AM
FOUR years ago, dozens of farmers across the drought-plagued southern region of Western Australia began receiving cheques from an anonymous benefactor.
The interest-free loans, which totalled millions of dollars, enabled the farmers — many of whom were suffering depression — to plant their crops that year and stay in business amid some of the worst agricultural conditions ever experienced.
Until now, the donor’s identity has remained a mystery.
But Fortescue Metals founder and philanthropist Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest tells The Australian he is happy to be outed as the businessman who extended the loans in 2010.
“These farmers were identified by a men’s health organisation — they were depressed or anxious or suicidal,” Forrest says in an interview.
“We were so moved by their plight and how crucial we see farmers as the fabric of society that we made those loans.
“All of them were overwhelmed in their gratitude and wanted to know who it was — and to this day it hasn’t been revealed.”
The belated disclosure is part of the indefatigable Forrest’s latest mission: to rescue Australia’s agricultural sector by creating a powerful partnership with China that will deliver prosperity for at least the next 100 years.
The entrepreneur who successfully picked the iron ore boom when he created Fortescue in 2003 is now devoting much of his energy to what many believe will be the next great boom: the surge in Chinese demand for high-quality agricultural produce.
He rubbishes talk that there are too many constraints — such as drought, lack of money and poor infrastructure — for Australia to become a key agricultural supplier to Asia.
With typical Forrest zeal, he sees solutions rather than problems. And on his next trip to China, he will be handing out samples of Australian steak to convince the locals of the quality of our beef.
“I know for certain that demand for our agricultural products is going to accelerate in the years and decades ahead, and I’m positioning our country to be the major beneficiary of that,” he says.
In Sydney yesterday, Forrest led the first local meeting of his Australia-Sino 100-Year Agricultural and Food Partnership (ASA 100) — an idea that was crystallised at a meeting the tycoon held with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing in April.
Yesterday’s meeting was attended by a who’s who of national agribusiness, including Goodman Fielder’s Chris Delaney, Meat & Livestock Australia’s Richard Norton, Wesfarmers commercial director Ian McLeod and AACo’s Jason Strong
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce was also there, along with his state and territory counterparts.
Some of China’s biggest food companies — including the private New Hope Group and Singapore-listed Wilmar International — have also signed up to the new partnership
The participants agreed yesterday to hold an inaugural session of both Chinese and Australian members around the time of the G20 meeting in Brisbane in November.
And they agreed that from now on the Australian agricultural industry would market itself to China as a common brand under a single logo.
Forrest says he is happy to finally discuss his farm aid of recent years because it highlights the despair many on the land have experienced for so long.
But he also hopes it proves to his sceptics — and there are many — that his focus on agriculture is tied to his philanthropy and his lifelong links to the land rather than his money-making prowess.
“The heart of this goes back to my growing up and doing it pretty tough on a sheep and cattle station, where the margins were incredibly thin and eventually it had to be sold,” he says.
Forrest grew up at Minderoo station, near Onslow in Western Australia’s Pilbara.
It was a happy childhood full of outback adventure, but one of the worst experiences of his life was being told by his father in 1998 that he was selling the vast station due to years of debt and drought.
Minderoo had been in the family’s hands since the 1970s, when it was established by Forrest’s great grandfather David, who owned the property with his famous brothers John and Alexander.
When Minderoo was put up for auction in 2009, Forrest bought it back for $12 million, joyfully reclaiming what he had always viewed as his ancestral land.
More recently, Forrest tripled the size of his pastoral holdings to 7300sq km by snapping up two adjoining cattle stations. He is now one of the state’s biggest individual property holders, boasting a land area that is roughly six times the size of New York City.
This year, Forrest bought Western Australia’s biggest beef processor, Harvey Beef, in a deal worth more than $30m.
Harvey Beef is WA’s only accredited exporter of beef to China, processing about 145,000 grass and grain-fed animals each year, and Forrest plans to upgrade its facilities to meet growing domestic and international demand.
Forrest says some people have questioned his motives in forming the ASA100 given he is also seeking to personally capitalise on agricultural exports to China.
But he points out that agriculture accounts for less than 1 per cent of his total investments and the creation of the Sino-Australia partnership is aimed at creating greater competition among beef exporters that would be to his detriment.
“If I was to act as hardcore entrepreneur, I’d be doing none of this because I’m increasing my competition dramatically,” he says.
Forrest agrees that his latest ventures excite him as much as starting out in the iron ore industry and cracking open the duopoly enjoyed by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
In between trying to reform Australia’s welfare system and ridding the world of slavery, Forrest will be devoting large chunks of his time to achieving this latest vision.
“This has my full energy and commitment,” he says.
The interest-free loans, which totalled millions of dollars, enabled the farmers — many of whom were suffering depression — to plant their crops that year and stay in business amid some of the worst agricultural conditions ever experienced.
Until now, the donor’s identity has remained a mystery.
But Fortescue Metals founder and philanthropist Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest tells The Australian he is happy to be outed as the businessman who extended the loans in 2010.
“These farmers were identified by a men’s health organisation — they were depressed or anxious or suicidal,” Forrest says in an interview.
“We were so moved by their plight and how crucial we see farmers as the fabric of society that we made those loans.
“All of them were overwhelmed in their gratitude and wanted to know who it was — and to this day it hasn’t been revealed.”
The belated disclosure is part of the indefatigable Forrest’s latest mission: to rescue Australia’s agricultural sector by creating a powerful partnership with China that will deliver prosperity for at least the next 100 years.
The entrepreneur who successfully picked the iron ore boom when he created Fortescue in 2003 is now devoting much of his energy to what many believe will be the next great boom: the surge in Chinese demand for high-quality agricultural produce.
He rubbishes talk that there are too many constraints — such as drought, lack of money and poor infrastructure — for Australia to become a key agricultural supplier to Asia.
With typical Forrest zeal, he sees solutions rather than problems. And on his next trip to China, he will be handing out samples of Australian steak to convince the locals of the quality of our beef.
“I know for certain that demand for our agricultural products is going to accelerate in the years and decades ahead, and I’m positioning our country to be the major beneficiary of that,” he says.
In Sydney yesterday, Forrest led the first local meeting of his Australia-Sino 100-Year Agricultural and Food Partnership (ASA 100) — an idea that was crystallised at a meeting the tycoon held with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing in April.
Yesterday’s meeting was attended by a who’s who of national agribusiness, including Goodman Fielder’s Chris Delaney, Meat & Livestock Australia’s Richard Norton, Wesfarmers commercial director Ian McLeod and AACo’s Jason Strong
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce was also there, along with his state and territory counterparts.
Some of China’s biggest food companies — including the private New Hope Group and Singapore-listed Wilmar International — have also signed up to the new partnership
The participants agreed yesterday to hold an inaugural session of both Chinese and Australian members around the time of the G20 meeting in Brisbane in November.
And they agreed that from now on the Australian agricultural industry would market itself to China as a common brand under a single logo.
Forrest says he is happy to finally discuss his farm aid of recent years because it highlights the despair many on the land have experienced for so long.
But he also hopes it proves to his sceptics — and there are many — that his focus on agriculture is tied to his philanthropy and his lifelong links to the land rather than his money-making prowess.
“The heart of this goes back to my growing up and doing it pretty tough on a sheep and cattle station, where the margins were incredibly thin and eventually it had to be sold,” he says.
Forrest grew up at Minderoo station, near Onslow in Western Australia’s Pilbara.
It was a happy childhood full of outback adventure, but one of the worst experiences of his life was being told by his father in 1998 that he was selling the vast station due to years of debt and drought.
Minderoo had been in the family’s hands since the 1970s, when it was established by Forrest’s great grandfather David, who owned the property with his famous brothers John and Alexander.
When Minderoo was put up for auction in 2009, Forrest bought it back for $12 million, joyfully reclaiming what he had always viewed as his ancestral land.
More recently, Forrest tripled the size of his pastoral holdings to 7300sq km by snapping up two adjoining cattle stations. He is now one of the state’s biggest individual property holders, boasting a land area that is roughly six times the size of New York City.
This year, Forrest bought Western Australia’s biggest beef processor, Harvey Beef, in a deal worth more than $30m.
Harvey Beef is WA’s only accredited exporter of beef to China, processing about 145,000 grass and grain-fed animals each year, and Forrest plans to upgrade its facilities to meet growing domestic and international demand.
Forrest says some people have questioned his motives in forming the ASA100 given he is also seeking to personally capitalise on agricultural exports to China.
But he points out that agriculture accounts for less than 1 per cent of his total investments and the creation of the Sino-Australia partnership is aimed at creating greater competition among beef exporters that would be to his detriment.
“If I was to act as hardcore entrepreneur, I’d be doing none of this because I’m increasing my competition dramatically,” he says.
Forrest agrees that his latest ventures excite him as much as starting out in the iron ore industry and cracking open the duopoly enjoyed by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
In between trying to reform Australia’s welfare system and ridding the world of slavery, Forrest will be devoting large chunks of his time to achieving this latest vision.
“This has my full energy and commitment,” he says.