Investigate if Tony Abbott PM should have declared the $60,000 scholarship to Frances Abbott as a pecuniary gift
Investigate if Tony Abbott PM should have declared the $60,000 scholarship to Frances Abbott as a pecuniary gift
The issue
The people of Australia who have signed the attached petition are requesting that the Commonwealth Ombudsman Investigate if the Whitehouse Institute of Design, Australia Pty Ltd scholarship of $60,636 scholarship to Frances Abbott in February 2011 should have been declared by Tony Abbott on the pecuniary register. Whitehouse insiders have claimed the scholarship was kept secret, even from many senior staff, and not awarded on merit contrary to Mr Abbott's excuse for not declaring it.
Chairman of the Whitehouse Institute, Les Taylor — a long-time friend of the Abbott family — allegedly urged Frances Abbott to attend the college after Whitehouse became aware she was thinking of enrolling with a competitor. The General Manager’s Scholarship awarded to Ms Abbott has never been publicly advertised by the Whitehouse Institute, its existence was kept secret from senior staff, and it was awarded to Ms Abbott after just one meeting with the school’s owner, Leanne Whitehouse, in apparent contravention of Whitehouse’s publicly stated scholarship selection criteria.
Whitehouse chief executive Ian Tudor said publically “we have consistently stated that the awarding of the scholarship to Frances Abbott was discretionary and based on merit.” However, rather than competing for a scholarship, Ms Abbott was allegedly pursued. In December 2010, over a period of one month, at least four attempts were made to contact Ms Abbott by phone and arrange an interview with Leanne Whitehouse. A meeting finally took place on February 18, 2011. Internal documents record: “Had interview with [Leanne Whitehouse]… – offered at time of interview.” The next entry, on February 24, reads: “Student been offered ‘Managng (sic) Director Scholarship for 2011.”
Whitehouse Institute academic, Melletios Kyriakidis, has publically questioned whether Frances Abbott was worthy of a merit scholarship, saying while she was a hard-working “high achiever” who got a distinction for portfolio design, “there were a lot more people more deserving [of a scholarship].” “Even from her class I could name 10 people more deserving either for merit or financial need or both,” he said. He added that he knew of other “more deserving” students who tried to get a scholarship and were rebuffed. Mr Kyriakidis alleges he was effectively dismissed as a result of his claims and is now being represented at the Fair Work Commission by Harmers Workplace Lawyers.
Furthermore we, the undersigned, request that the Ombudsman investigate if Frances Abbott has received income from the Whitehouse institute for work not performed. An internal staff register from Whitehouse Institute details 74 employees at the college, spread across two campuses – Sydney and Melbourne. Every single member of staff has a role allocated to them in the register, with one exception — Frances Abbott. Under the heading ‘Role’ her entry is allegedly blank – it simply lists her name, and a private email address. If so, this would amount to further pecuniary gifts that should be declared on the register by Mr Abbott.
Adding to the prima facie case of alleged impropriety is the fact that Tony Abbott MP did not disclose the scholarship despite regulations that MPs must disclose gifts above $750 that go to dependent children. It is alleged that Mr Abbott acted in collusion with Ms Leanne Whitehouse, owner, Mr Ian Tudor, CEO, Prof. Andrew Gonczi, Chair - Academic Board and/or Mr Les Taylor, Chair – Board of Governors, in concealing the scholarship from stakeholders and competitors.
Tony Abbott MP’s association with the Whitehouse Institute has been of benefit to the Institute at the expense of other competitors in the industry and even, allegedly, effectively pressuring the local council to indirectly promote the Institute. The Whitehouse website boasts - Prime Minister praises Interior Design at Whitehouse Institute of Design, Australia: Interior Design at Whitehouse Institute is seeing one of its strongest years of student work with Prime Minister Tony Abbott personally commending one of the Institute’s graduating Interior Design students, Elizabeth Upfold... On the evening of the exhibition the Prime Minister excitedly suggested that Elizabeth’s Interior Design project be presented and exhibited at her local council to showcase the innovative ideas of the next generation of Interior Designers.
Finally, we petition the NSW Police who have charged Freya Newman with unauthorised access to restricted data held in a computer. Ms Newman worked as a night librarian at the Whitehouse Institute of Design. We believe the NSW Police should suspend any investigation into Ms Freeman and offer her protection as a State’s witness. The above alleged claims against Mr Abbott are by far the greater criminal offence and, if proved true, imply that Ms Newman was operating in the public interest and not for personal gain.
The above information is in the public arena and was obtained from:
https://newmatilda.com/2014/05/23/whitehouse-staff-register-reveals-no-role-frances-abbott
https://newmatilda.com/2014/05/21/leaked-documents-cast-doubt-abbotts-60k-scholarship-claims
http://whitehouse-design.edu.au/news/praise-for-interior-design-at-whitehouse.html
The issue
The people of Australia who have signed the attached petition are requesting that the Commonwealth Ombudsman Investigate if the Whitehouse Institute of Design, Australia Pty Ltd scholarship of $60,636 scholarship to Frances Abbott in February 2011 should have been declared by Tony Abbott on the pecuniary register. Whitehouse insiders have claimed the scholarship was kept secret, even from many senior staff, and not awarded on merit contrary to Mr Abbott's excuse for not declaring it.
Chairman of the Whitehouse Institute, Les Taylor — a long-time friend of the Abbott family — allegedly urged Frances Abbott to attend the college after Whitehouse became aware she was thinking of enrolling with a competitor. The General Manager’s Scholarship awarded to Ms Abbott has never been publicly advertised by the Whitehouse Institute, its existence was kept secret from senior staff, and it was awarded to Ms Abbott after just one meeting with the school’s owner, Leanne Whitehouse, in apparent contravention of Whitehouse’s publicly stated scholarship selection criteria.
Whitehouse chief executive Ian Tudor said publically “we have consistently stated that the awarding of the scholarship to Frances Abbott was discretionary and based on merit.” However, rather than competing for a scholarship, Ms Abbott was allegedly pursued. In December 2010, over a period of one month, at least four attempts were made to contact Ms Abbott by phone and arrange an interview with Leanne Whitehouse. A meeting finally took place on February 18, 2011. Internal documents record: “Had interview with [Leanne Whitehouse]… – offered at time of interview.” The next entry, on February 24, reads: “Student been offered ‘Managng (sic) Director Scholarship for 2011.”
Whitehouse Institute academic, Melletios Kyriakidis, has publically questioned whether Frances Abbott was worthy of a merit scholarship, saying while she was a hard-working “high achiever” who got a distinction for portfolio design, “there were a lot more people more deserving [of a scholarship].” “Even from her class I could name 10 people more deserving either for merit or financial need or both,” he said. He added that he knew of other “more deserving” students who tried to get a scholarship and were rebuffed. Mr Kyriakidis alleges he was effectively dismissed as a result of his claims and is now being represented at the Fair Work Commission by Harmers Workplace Lawyers.
Furthermore we, the undersigned, request that the Ombudsman investigate if Frances Abbott has received income from the Whitehouse institute for work not performed. An internal staff register from Whitehouse Institute details 74 employees at the college, spread across two campuses – Sydney and Melbourne. Every single member of staff has a role allocated to them in the register, with one exception — Frances Abbott. Under the heading ‘Role’ her entry is allegedly blank – it simply lists her name, and a private email address. If so, this would amount to further pecuniary gifts that should be declared on the register by Mr Abbott.
Adding to the prima facie case of alleged impropriety is the fact that Tony Abbott MP did not disclose the scholarship despite regulations that MPs must disclose gifts above $750 that go to dependent children. It is alleged that Mr Abbott acted in collusion with Ms Leanne Whitehouse, owner, Mr Ian Tudor, CEO, Prof. Andrew Gonczi, Chair - Academic Board and/or Mr Les Taylor, Chair – Board of Governors, in concealing the scholarship from stakeholders and competitors.
Tony Abbott MP’s association with the Whitehouse Institute has been of benefit to the Institute at the expense of other competitors in the industry and even, allegedly, effectively pressuring the local council to indirectly promote the Institute. The Whitehouse website boasts - Prime Minister praises Interior Design at Whitehouse Institute of Design, Australia: Interior Design at Whitehouse Institute is seeing one of its strongest years of student work with Prime Minister Tony Abbott personally commending one of the Institute’s graduating Interior Design students, Elizabeth Upfold... On the evening of the exhibition the Prime Minister excitedly suggested that Elizabeth’s Interior Design project be presented and exhibited at her local council to showcase the innovative ideas of the next generation of Interior Designers.
Finally, we petition the NSW Police who have charged Freya Newman with unauthorised access to restricted data held in a computer. Ms Newman worked as a night librarian at the Whitehouse Institute of Design. We believe the NSW Police should suspend any investigation into Ms Freeman and offer her protection as a State’s witness. The above alleged claims against Mr Abbott are by far the greater criminal offence and, if proved true, imply that Ms Newman was operating in the public interest and not for personal gain.
The above information is in the public arena and was obtained from:
https://newmatilda.com/2014/05/23/whitehouse-staff-register-reveals-no-role-frances-abbott
https://newmatilda.com/2014/05/21/leaked-documents-cast-doubt-abbotts-60k-scholarship-claims
http://whitehouse-design.edu.au/news/praise-for-interior-design-at-whitehouse.html
Petition Closed
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The Decision Makers
Petition created on 9 August 2014