Australia’s Ex-transport Boss Tops List of Generous Givers

Charity News Online

Former transport magnate Greg Poche was Australia's most generous donor to charity in 2005, handing over $32.5 million for a melanoma unit at a Sydney hospital. While not the biggest sum given to charity last year, Poche tops a list of the country’s top charity makers issued this week, because his donation represented 4.3 per cent of his net wealth.

The 64-year-old founder and former owner of Star Track Express became seriously wealthy in late 2003 when he sold the freight operation to Qantas and Australia Post for $750 million. His donation of $32.5 million to Sydney's Mater Hospital is believed to be the largest to a single cause by a single donor in Australian history.

A larger donation, but a smaller percentage of her net wealth, was the $37million given to charity by Marjory Edwards in her will last year. Edwards, of Adelaide, gave to 12 charities in her will and was recognized for her philanthropy before her death with a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2004. The former pastoralist was known in South Australia for her generosity to medical research and educational and cultural organizations.

But despite the huge sums of money given away by Poche and Edwards, Australia is far from the world's most generous nation, Canberra Times reports. The total amount of money Australians donated to charities in 2005 was 0.68 per cent of GDP, which is less than half that given by Americans. Americans donated 1.6 per cent of GDP last year.

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