American steel baron Andrew Carnegie quipped more than a century ago that "It is more difficult to give away money more intelligently than to earn it in the first place". Honouring this dictum, The Australian Financial Review Magazine today includes its inaugural list of Australia's top 50 givers, compiled by JB Were, based on the money that actually flows to end receivers.
The Paul Ramsay Foundation, established by the late Paul Ramsay from his $4 billion share in Ramsay Health Care, last year donated $45 million to mostly health-based causes. This foundation heads a list of old familiar names like Myer, Potter, Packer, Lowy and Fairfax - and newer names such as Forrest, Tuckwell and Wylie. Often maligned, Australia's richest wealth creators should be supported for giving back to a society that has supported their own success.
