Latest news with #Farrer
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Barnaby's big call after ‘brutal' poll
Nationals heavyweight Barnaby Joyce is calling for a strategy switch up after a 'brutal' poll found the Coalition's core support has fallen to its lowest point in 40 years. The first Newspoll published since the federal election found the primary vote for the Coalition fell further from 31.8 per cent at the May 3 vote to just 29 per cent. In worse news for Sussan Ley, she trailed Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister, with 32 per cent to the Labor leader's 52 per cent. Though, her approval rating was 35 per cent – the typical mark for newly elected opposition leaders. Mr Joyce, who was booted to the backbench after the Coalition's brief post-election break-up, said on Monday his side needed to be clear on where it stood on issues. 'They are brutal numbers,' he told Seven's Sunrise. 'I think the first thing you do is you be honest about them.' He said the Coalition would need to be strategic with its approach to question time in parliament if it was going to claw back support. 'Let's be frank, any person in a lower house seat … wherever it is – Watson, Farrer, New England – if you had a 3 in front of your primary vote, you would be very, very worried,' Mr Joyce said. 'If you had a 2-3 in front of your vote, you would basically kiss yourself goodbye.' He said the Coalition needed 'to find issues which are binary, which you are fully for, and the Labor Party is fully against'. 'If you try and work on nuances and ameliorations and views of a different issue – that's no good,' Mr Joyce said. 'That's why such issues such as net zero, I say – find a point of division. 'You don't believe in net zero, they do believe in net zero. 'You believe in looking after pensioners and power prices, they believe in abiding by the Paris Agreement. 'But if you've got another way about it, they're your numbers.'
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Barnaby Joyce calls for clear policy lines after ‘brutal' Newspoll
Nationals heavyweight Barnaby Joyce is calling for a strategy switch up after a 'brutal' poll found the Coalition's core support has fallen to its lowest point in 40 years. The first Newspoll published since the federal election found the primary vote for the Coalition fell further from 31.8 per cent at the May 3 vote to just 29 per cent. In worse news for Sussan Ley, she trailed Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister, with 32 per cent to the Labor leader's 52 per cent. Though, her approval rating was 35 per cent – the typical mark for newly elected opposition leaders. Mr Joyce, who was booted to the backbench after the Coalition's brief post-election break-up, said on Monday his side needed to be clear on where it stood on issues. 'They are brutal numbers,' he told Seven's Sunrise. 'I think the first thing you do is you be honest about them.' He said the Coalition would need to be strategic with its approach to question time in parliament if it was going to claw back support. 'Let's be frank, any person in a lower house seat … wherever it is – Watson, Farrer, New England – if you had a 3 in front of your primary vote, you would be very, very worried,' Mr Joyce said. 'If you had a 2-3 in front of your vote, you would basically kiss yourself goodbye.' He said the Coalition needed 'to find issues which are binary, which you are fully for, and the Labor Party is fully against'. 'If you try and work on nuances and ameliorations and views of a different issue – that's no good,' Mr Joyce said. 'That's why such issues such as net zero, I say – find a point of division. 'You don't believe in net zero, they do believe in net zero. 'You believe in looking after pensioners and power prices, they believe in abiding by the Paris Agreement. 'But if you've got another way about it, they're your numbers.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The 100-year saga of one man's attempt to pay off the national debt
Gaspard Farrer may be just a footnote in history, but he will be remembered fondly by Rachel Reeves. A £585m fortune donated by the wealthy banker almost 100 years ago has finally been donated to the public purse after a five-year legal battle. Mr Farrer, a former partner at the now-defunct Barings Bank, is thought to have left £500,000 in 1927 as a gift to the nation in response to the UK's huge national debt after the First World War. But rules stipulated that the so-called National Fund, established in 1927, could only be made available when it was enough to pay off the national debt in full. It means that for years, the fortune has been locked away from successive governments. However, a 2022 High Court ruling ordered the funds to be released – a decision upheld after the fund's trustees lodged an appeal. They were finally paid to the Debt Management Office (DMO) in the financial year ending in April, according to a Freedom of Information request seen by The Telegraph. The DMO offers a little-known scheme that allows taxpayers to voluntarily contribute to paying off the national debt. Last year, donations reached a record £585,112,933 – almost entirely due to the payment of the 1927 National Fund. It was one of 16 donations – three of which were left in wills and 13 were one-off payments. In the nine years prior, just £175,000 per year on average has been donated to the scheme. The legal wrangling for Mr Farrer's money began under Theresa May's government which successfully used a niche legal argument to prise open the savings pot. The bid to tap into the pot used cy-près jurisdiction – meaning 'as near as possible' – which is applied primarily to charitable trusts whose original purpose became impossible to fulfil. The funds were being looked after by Zedra Fiduciary Services who acted as the defendant in the case. The Telegraph contacted representatives for Zedra for comment. The cash is now on the Exchequer's balance sheet, but will make just a 0.02pc dent in Britain's £2.7 trillion national debt, which has grown to the same size as the entire economy. The funds were originally set aside as a £500,000 investment in assets, including gilts, by a donor who remained anonymous for decades. After the government of the day lodged its legal bid to obtain the money in 2018, Mr Farrer's identity was at last revealed. The fund quietly grew in value for years until its transfer to the Treasury was revealed in a request made to the DMO by accountancy firm RSM. The documents confirmed it had received Mr Farrer's fortune. Chris Etherington, partner at RSM, said: 'It is generosity of a level that the Chancellor could not have expected. It could provide some inspiration as to how additional revenues could be generated for the Exchequer.' When Mr Farrer's donation was first made, Sir Winston Churchill said the money was 'inspired by clear-sighted patriotism and makes a practical contribution towards the ultimate – though yet distant – extinction of the public debt.' But doubts have grown over the years that the money would ever actually fulfil its original purpose. John Glenn, a former culture minister, said in response to a parliamentary question in 2018 that 'there is no realistic prospect of the fund ever amounting to a sum sufficient to pay off the whole of the national debt'. Mr Farrer's donation was held in the form of a charitable trust and was on paper one of the most well-endowed of its kind in the country. John Picton, a reader in law at the University of Manchester, said using the fund to pay off national debt would be a 'missed opportunity' to donate to more worthy causes. He added: 'It's a missed opportunity because the fund could have been kept in charity. I think it's unimaginative, personally.' Mr Picton suggested the money could go towards a charitable fund for the Armed Forces, or to support the work of the country's museums and art galleries. He said: 'In Gaspard Farrer's time, the national debt was associated with war debt and paying it off had a patriotic motivation and that's long lost.' 'But now the national debt, rather than having patriotic sentiments attached to it, is just a large number we all live with and grows throughout time. It's unthinkable now that people would want to voluntarily pay to reduce it.' Mr Farrer's only other surviving legacy is his 11,438 square foot mansion in Kent. He commissioned the legendary architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to design the property, which was built in 1911. The eight bedroom house was recently placed on the market for £3.5m. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The 100-year saga of one man's attempt to pay off the national debt
Gaspard Farrer may be just a footnote in history, but he will be remembered fondly by Rachel Reeves. A £585m fortune held by the wealthy banker, who died aged 85 almost 100 years ago, has finally been donated to the public purse after a seven-year legal battle. Mr Farrer, a former partner at the now-defunct Barings Bank, is thought to have left £500,000 in 1927 as a gift to the nation in response to the UK's huge national debt after the First World War. But rules stipulated that the so-called National Fund, established in 1927, could only be made available when it was enough to pay off the national debt in full. It means that for years, the fortune has been locked away from successive governments. However, a 2022 High Court ruling ordered the funds to be released – a decision upheld after the fund's trustees lodged an appeal. They were finally paid to the Debt Management Office (DMO) in the financial year ending in April, according to a Freedom of Information request seen by The Telegraph. The DMO offers a little-known scheme that allows taxpayers to voluntarily contribute to paying off the national debt. Last year, donations reached a record £585,112,933 – almost entirely due to the payment of the 1927 National Fund. It was one of 16 donations – three of which were left in wills and 13 were one-off payments. In the nine years prior, just £175,000 per year on average has been donated to the scheme. The legal wrangling for Mr Farrer's money began under Theresa May's government which successfully used a niche legal argument to prise open the savings pot. The bid to tap into the pot used cy-près jurisdiction – meaning 'as near as possible' – which is applied primarily to charitable trusts whose original purpose became impossible to fulfil. The funds were being looked after by Zedra Fiduciary Services who acted as the defendant in the case. The Telegraph contacted representatives for Zedra for comment. The cash is now on the Exchequer's balance sheet, but will make just a 0.02pc dent in Britain's £2.7 trillion national debt, which has grown to the same size as the entire economy. The funds were originally set aside as a £500,000 investment in assets, including gilts, by a donor who remained anonymous for decades. After the government of the day lodged its legal bid to obtain the money in 2018, Mr Farrer's identity was at last revealed. The fund quietly grew in value for years until its transfer to the Treasury was revealed in a request made to the DMO by accountancy firm RSM. The documents confirmed it had received Mr Farrer's fortune. Chris Etherington, partner at RSM, said: 'It is generosity of a level that the Chancellor could not have expected. It could provide some inspiration as to how additional revenues could be generated for the Exchequer.' When Mr Farrer's donation was first made, Sir Winston Churchill said the money was 'inspired by clear-sighted patriotism and makes a practical contribution towards the ultimate – though yet distant – extinction of the public debt.' But doubts have grown over the years that the money would ever actually fulfil its original purpose. John Glenn, a former culture minister, said in response to a parliamentary question in 2018 that 'there is no realistic prospect of the fund ever amounting to a sum sufficient to pay off the whole of the national debt'. Mr Farrer's donation was held in the form of a charitable trust and was on paper one of the most well-endowed of its kind in the country. John Picton, a reader in law at the University of Manchester, said using the fund to pay off national debt would be a 'missed opportunity' to donate to more worthy causes. He added: 'It's a missed opportunity because the fund could have been kept in charity. I think it's unimaginative, personally.' Mr Picton suggested the money could go towards a charitable fund for the Armed Forces, or to support the work of the country's museums and art galleries. He said: 'In Gaspard Farrer's time, the national debt was associated with war debt and paying it off had a patriotic motivation and that's long lost.' 'But now the national debt, rather than having patriotic sentiments attached to it, is just a large number we all live with and grows throughout time. It's unthinkable now that people would want to voluntarily pay to reduce it.' Mr Farrer's only other surviving legacy is his 11,438 square foot mansion in Kent. He commissioned the legendary architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to design the property, which was built in 1911. The eight bedroom house was recently placed on the market for £3.5m. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
ABC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
The campaign was derided as dull, but the election aftermath kicks like a shirty mule
The aftermath of the 2025 federal election has very decidedly been a split-screen sort of affair, so it was appropriate that yesterday's swearing-in of the Albanese ministry at Yarralumla was scheduled for exactly the same time as the Liberal Party's swearing-at. Sorry, leadership vote. Live coverage toggled back and forth between the governor-general's gaff, where the twin sons of new Communications Minister Anika Wells conducted their now customary dragging of their mother (this year, a plush football was deployed in a lovely nod to Wells' continuing stewardship of the sports portfolio), and the Liberal party room, which TV cameras captured as leadership candidate Angus Taylor attempted to enter via the wrong door. These distractions aside, both events made history. The new Albanese Cabinet is the first in our Federation's 124-year lifespan to be majority-female. Of the 23 senior ministers sworn in by Governor-General Sam Mostyn yesterday, 12 — or 52 per cent — are women. And over in the blue corner, the Liberal Party yesterday for the first time chose a woman to be its federal leader: Sussan Ley, the Member for Farrer. Susan Penelope Braybrooks (as the Liberal leader was born in Nigeria, later to emigrate at age 13 to Australia after her Dad changed jobs from being a British spy) added an "S" to her first name back in the 1980s, when she became interested in numerology. "I worked out that if you added an 'S', I would have an incredibly exciting, interesting life and nothing would ever be boring," she explained dryly in a newspaper interview in 2015. Disappointingly, the numerology phase — along with Ley's teenage nose piercing and deep commitment to Canberra's punk scene — is a thing of the past. But was she on to something? Since taking on the extra consonant, Ley's worked as a shearer's cook, pilot, farmer, trained as an air traffic controller, had three kids, got an economics degree and two Masters (one in taxation law, one in accounting) and followed all that with a quarter of a century in politics. Like many Australian women of the "sandwich generation", she has juggled work and family at multiple junctures, and indeed yesterday departed Canberra to be with her mother, who is in palliative care in Albury. The last week cannot have been easy, but if Ley was stressed, it didn't show. And that's fortunate, because her life is about to get even more interesting. Ley assumes custody of the Liberal Party at a particularly upsetting time in its 81-year history. Of the seriously depleted Liberal ranks meeting in Room GR-114, yesterday, Ley won 29 votes. Her rival, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, won 25. It would be way too simplistic to interpret this roughly half-half split as a division between Liberals who think that campaigning on nuclear energy, anti-immigration and culture war issues was a terrible idea, and those who think the problem was they didn't go hard enough. But the closeness of the result absolutely confirms the scale of Ley's reconstruction task. By a broader margin of 38 votes to 16, the party room also backed Ted O'Brien as deputy leader, over fellow Queenslander Phillip Thompson, who took the room by surprise when he nominated "on a whim". There are many "learnings" from this development. And to be fair, for most Aussies the headline news would be the very existence of Thompson in any capacity. (He is a veteran, and the Member for Herbert, and a former Invictus Games competitor and powerlifting coach, so consider yourself introduced) But for Liberalologists, the real surprise was the non-candidacy of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who last week took the electrifying step of defecting to the Liberals from the National party room and announcing her bid to be 2IC of her new crew. Taylor and Price hard-launched their joint ticket on Sunday morning with a split-screen social media video in which both earnestly proclaimed their respect for each other, possibly from separate rooms. Of the 400-odd Instagram comments below the video, a solid majority simply said "Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus", in tribute to one of the accident-prone Member for Hume's best-loved public misadventures. We cannot now know what Nampijinpa Price's level of support would have been; when Taylor was defeated, she decided not to run after all. And now the deputy leader is Ted O'Brien, who until last Saturday was hoping that his main job for the next few years would involve speed-assembling a series of nuclear reactors from scratch at key points around the continent, but now finds himself taking on a reconstruction challenge far more complex and fissile. Nampijinpa Price's sensational defection — in which former Liberal leader, prime minister and minister for women Tony Abbott is reported to have played a significant role — came in a week of post-election eventfulness so hallucinogenically intense that at times it appeared the nation had slipped into some kind of metaverse where every single thing that anyone had on their election night bingo card, anywhere, was coming true one by one. Peter Dutton loses his seat! Adam Bandt loses his seat! Matt Canavan challenges for the leadership of the National Party! The Deputy Prime Minister Whacks the Attorney General! The Minister for Science Loses His Job And Chews Out The PM On Live TV! Tim Wilson Comeback! For a campaign that was widely derided as dull and uninspiring, the aftermath of Election 2025 has a kick like a seriously shirty mule. Live results: Find out what's happening in your seat as counting continues Viewed in split-screen, these remarkable events are easier to understand. The Liberal Party's ructions are caused by the unexpected scale of its defeat. And the Labor Party's are caused by the unexpected scale of its victory. The landslide result last Saturday is — of course, first and foremost — a breathtaking win for Anthony Albanese. But large victories create large expectations, especially among a large and under-occupied back bench. And a crushing political victory can sometimes turn out to be political risk in very convincing drag. John Howard experienced this after the 2004 election, in which he trounced Labor's Mark Latham and won control of the Senate, a victory that empowered him to introduce the Work Choices industrial reforms that finished him off three years later. It is a horrid truth of politics that the moments at which one feels most invincible are the commonest time codes for overreach and error. Governments with too much power aren't great for democracies, or even for themselves. Of the many vexing problems with which Sussan Ley's plate is piled high from today, the risk of hubris certainly isn't one. Expectations have never been lower. Which technically should give her the freedom to be ambitious. Fortunately, she seems the adventurous type.
