Behind every billionaire there is a story!

Billionaire’s $100m gift to poor indigenous

THE Gold Coast’s own billionaire, Clive Palmer, has thrown down the gauntlet to resource giants with a bold move to give indigenous communities a $100 million dividend from his back pocket.

Mr Palmer, chairman of Mineralogy, which owns a swag of iron ore tenements in the Pilbara, has set up a charitable foundation into which he plans to channel some of the proceeds of a $220 million-plus deal with Chinese industrial heavyweight CITIC.

The mining magnate aims to build the foundation into a billion-dollar piggy bank that would help provide medical research and direct aid and support of indigenous communities in the Pilbara.

Mr Palmer could not be contacted for comment last night, but a spokesman said that specific spending initiatives had yet to be identified.

“(Mr Palmer) is putting out the challenge to the likes of Andrew Forrest (Fortescue Metals founder) and Rio Tinto,” said the spokesman.

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