Aussie billionaire encourage world's wealthy to give to charity and not 'buy another yacht'

Australian mining magnate and leading philanthropist Andrew Forrest has grown up to be a wealthy person, or rather a "another luxury good, gold piece of land, or a yacht".

Forrest said the wealthy could make a greater difference and gain more satisfaction by donating funds to communities and societies in need.

Forrest, the financial backer of the Western Force and the founder of the Global Rapid Rugby competition, made the comments as he and his wife Nicola have, over the past six months, donated a further $ 655 million to charitable causes around the globe including the fight against cancer.

If you have an ability to create and implement capital, then use it to make a difference.

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"You've gotten three meals a day, your kids are going to school you thing, the house is getting paid off, that's going to be so big that you're going to waste it. others, "said Forrest, who is chairman and co-founder of Fortescue Metals Group.

The latest generosity rate of $ 1.5 trillion to charity.

"It's the enormity of the challenge which drives the quantum of the donation," Forrest told The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald from Singapore.

"I wanted to be much more successful in the last 12 months I've just gotten closer and closer to the magnitude of the challenges, and I've been thinking for a long while – how do we bring Asia with us," he said. .

"How do we encourage our brothers and sisters up here in Asia to look at the world, and in fact even look at children, look at any child on the street and say, 'what kind of world do I want to leave you', he said.

The bulk of the donations are distributed through the Minderoo Foundation, which they established in 2001. But money is also donated to other philanthropic groups and universities.

The $ 655 million will be awarded to the fight against cancer – specifically childhood cancer; maximizing early childhood development; steps to stop the oceans in order to boost ocean health; initiatives that tackle global human rights abuses in particular modern slavery; and the funding of international education scholarships.

Forrest said it was a deliberate decision to make a donation and to help encourage philanthropy in Asia.

The Asia-Pacific region is home to the world, and it was time to collaborate for change and encourage a culture of philanthropy in the region, he said.

"We are minting billionaires up here at a speed that we are looking at this and say, let's come together, let's make the biggest difference with our capital we possibly can," he said.

"This region is so much," he said. "But as a region, we are faced with tremendous challenges, forced labor exists at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world, and cancer continues to be one of our biggest killers."

Forrest is one of Australia's richest, and most generous people, according to last year's Australian Financial Review Rich List was Australia's eighth richest person.

Asia Philanthropy Circle chief executive Laurence Lien welcomed the donations from the Forrests: "The Forrests not only inspires with their generosity but serves role models, in a region where there is little, with their strategic approach to achieve impact and desire to collaborate to multiply efforts."