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Multi-billionaire Steven Lowy — who directed $550,000 in secretive payments to the Liberal Party via an obscure company weeks before the last federal election — has declared the nation is suffering a “slide in values”.
Lowy says Australia is “sleepwalking” into “social spiral” — with leaders suffering from a “conviction deficit” with politics that are “not in the interests of the Australian public”.
Late last month Steven Lowy gave an address to the University of NSW on the theme “Responsibilities and Values”, which followed by a page-one article in The Weekend Australian newspaper.
“I am concerned and very sad that Australia is now sleepwalking into a period of extremist politics and social spiral,” he told the newspaper’s Paul Kelly.
“Adherence to our Australian values is not guaranteed.
“They are fragile and can be lost very quickly if we are not careful,” he said.
“Australian values…are fragile and can be lost very quickly” — Steven Lowy
Weeks before the 2022 federal election, three payments totalling $550,000 were made to two Liberal Party divisions by an unknown company with no website, no telephone number — and “no employees” — called Oryxium Investments Limited.
As previously revealed, Oryxium Investments Limited falsely told the Australian Electoral Commission it did not operate or conduct business under any other names.
In fact, investigations showed the entity is part of a complex web of companies owned and controlled by the multi-billionaire Lowy Family — one of Australia’s best known business families, with an estimated fortune of $10.26 billion.
The $550,000 made the obscure “Oryxium Investments Limited” one of the biggest political “donors” in the country.
Former top judge Geoffrey Watson SC, director of governance think tank the Centre for Public Integrity, told The Klaxon $550,000 was “huge money” and, speaking generally, was the “type of money that could influence politicians”.
“That is far too much money for one donor to be able to give to a campaign,” said Watson, a former NSW Court of Appeal Judge.
“It’s the type of money that could influence politicians and political parties”.
“It’s the type of money that could influence politicians” – Geoffrey Watson SC
Australia facing “failure of leadership” says Steven Lowy. Source: The Weekend Australian
Lowy told The Weekend Australian Australia was facing a “slide in values” and that “we live in an age of conviction deficit”.
“Those of us who believe in Australian values”, Lowy said, “should speak up, loudly and often”.
“Those of us who believe in Australian values should speak up, loudly and often” — Steven Lowy
“Good people need to speak up when we see what is happening in Australia,” Lowy said.
Lowy has repeatedly refused to comment — since February last year — when asked about Oryxium Investments Limited and the $550,000 payments.
He and the Lowy family have also refused to comment when asked about three of their companies that earned over $1.5 billion in revenue in 2020-21 but paid no tax.
“Lowy repeatedly refused to comment when asked about Oryxium Investments and the $550,000 payments”
Lowy said there was a lack of “conviction” among politicians.
“We live in an age of conviction deficit”, he said.
“Good people need to speak up when we see what is happening in Australia” — Steven Lowy
Disclosure form filed for “Oryxium Investments Limited” – falsely claims does not “operate or conduct business under any other names”. Source: AEC
A self-described “proud Zionist”, Lowy said Israel was facing a “mini holocaust” and that Jewish people in Australia were experiencing “levels of anti-Semitism that I have not seen before in my lifetime in this country”.
Frank Lowy, a Holocaust survivor, immigrated to Australia and founded what became the global Westfield shopping centre empire.
“I want to remind the Australian people where these issues can lead if these events are not challenged and questioned,” Steven Lowy told the Weekend Australian.
“It is beyond any of us to influence what’s unfolding in the Middle East.
“But we can influence what our life is like here in Australia,” he said.
“I want to remind the Australian people where these issues can lead if these events are not challenged and questioned” — Steven Lowy
Oryxium Investments Limited is part of a web of at least 16 companies comprising the Lowy Family Group, which is owned by patriarch Frank and sons Steven, David and Peter.
The company made three payments to the NSW Liberal Party in March 2022, ahead of the May federal election, comprised of two payments totalling $300,000 to the Liberal Party NSW branch and $250,000 to the Liberal Party Victoria branch.
Searches show the directors of Oryxium Investments Limited are Steven Lowy, David Lowy and John Fanning, who is chief financial officer of Lowy Family Group.
The company is 100% owned by another company, Oryxium Pty Limited, which is 100% owned by Steven, David and Peter Lowy.
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Part of the structure of the Lowy Family Group (LFG) web of companies. Oryxium Investments Limited in yellow. Source: ASIC/Graphic The Klaxon
In 2018 the Lowy family sold the Westfield empire to French property giant Unibail-Rodamco for $32.7 billion.
“We would rather be investors than executives, Frank Lowy said at the time.
The University of NSW told The Klaxon it did not have a copy of Lowy’s September 25 address, and to contact the Lowy family.
The Lowy family and Steven Lowy refused to provide a copy of the university address or to answer questions from The Klaxon regarding Oryxium Investments Limited.
The Lowys in New York City in 2019. From left: David Lowy, Steven Lowy, Sir Frank Lowy and Peter Lowy. Source: The Lowy Institute
The Weekend Australian’s Paul Kelly writes: “Lowy agreed to be interviewed coinciding with his receiving an honorary doctorate last Thursday from the University of NSW in a ceremony where he delivered an address on the theme “Responsibility and Values” – with his father, Frank, 93, in attendance”.
A “community leader known for his privacy”, Lowy had “chosen to shed a lifetime of institutional restraint” and “speak out on the malaise afflicting Australians”.
“Lowy spoke as a prominent Jewish Australian, as a proud Zionist, as someone deeply concerned about the loss of innocent life in the current war – but, above all, he spoke as an Australian whose entire life and upbringing has been in this country, as someone who has believed in Australian values and now sees those values being attacked from within,” writes Kelly.
Lowy’s university address covered “equality”, “decency” and “the pursuit of truth”.
He said the nation faced a failure of “leadership”.
“It is a sad fact that there has generally been lukewarm denunciation of anti- Semitism, at best by the leadership of many of our institutions,” Lowy said,
“Belated apologies and ‘reviews of policy’ from the leadership of Sydney University, Sydney Theatre Company or Belvoir Theatre Company have done little to give me any confidence that genuine leadership is being restored.
“When it really mattered, these institutions were incapable of living out their stated beliefs in equality, decency and the pursuit of truth,” he said.
“These institutions were incapable of living out their stated beliefs in equality, decency and the pursuit of truth” — Steven Lowy
As previously revealed, three Lowy Family Group (LFG) companies — owned by patriarch Frank and sons Steven, David and Peter — earned more than $1.5 billion in 2020-21 but paid no tax.
Steven and the Lowy family have repeatedly refused to comment when asked about the matter by The Klaxon.
“Three Lowy Family Group companies earned over $1.5 billion but paid no tax — they are refusing to comment”
Australian Taxation Office records show that in the 2020-21 financial year, three Lowy companies — called LFG 17 Pty Limited, LFG 22 Pty Limited and LFG 6 Pty Limited — each declared identical “total income” of $502,093,546.
Each company also declared no “taxable income” and paid no income tax.
The three Lowy Family Group companies reported identical total incomes of $502,093,546, and all declared no taxable income. Source: Australian Taxation Office
Lowy said Australia faces “incredibly disturbing” problems “from a moral perspective”.
Lowy criticised multiple institutions for lacking “morals”, “fairness” and “equality” and condemned a “slide in values”.
Regarding his comments, Lowy told The Weekend Australian: “I might upset a lot of people, but I feel this needs to be said”.
“I feel this is my responsibility”.
“Good people need to speak up when we see what is happening in Australia” — Steven Lowy
Lowy told The Weekend Australian that “leadership is about conviction”.
“Leadership is not about popularity.
“Leadership…is about doing what is fundamentally right for the country” — Steven Lowy
“It is about doing what is fundamentally right for the country or for the institution,” he said.
“And we are seeing this slipping in Australia now. We live in an age of conviction deficit.
“Once you create a little crack, you give licence,” Lowy said.
“We are now paying a high price for that”.
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Anthony Klan
Editor, The Klaxon
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