| Cherie Blair 's Australian charity tour embroiled in controversy |
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LONDON: British prime minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie is involved in a controversy in Australia. There could be possible Australian government investigations into a charity fundraising dinner in Melbourne in February where she was a speaker. The event was organised to raise funds for an organisation working among children afflicted with cancer and it now emerges that although 60 per cent of the collections were to be given to the organisation, it received only 10 per cent.
The investigations were ordered after doubts were expressed whether the funds collected through the Melbourne Exhibition Convention Centre dinner indeed went to the Children's Cancer Institute Australia (CCIA).
A watchdog organisation in Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria, found that only 6,729 pounds (just over 8 per cent) of the 81,700 pounds raised at the dinner went to the organisation, while as much as 74,900 pounds were utilised in paying for the dinner and guest speakers.
Under Victoria's Fundraising Appeals Act, a charity must receive no less than 60 per cent of funds raised in an appeal on its behalf. CCIA has been given time till 27 October to explain why its registration should not be cancelled.
Earlier Cherie Blair's Australian tour had caused another controversy when it was reported that she received 100,000 pounds for her engagements. There were critical reactions from politicians in the opposition in Britain, who said the prime minister's office cannot be dragged into an issue of this nature in a foreign country.
Downing Street refused to offer any comment on the matter.
However, the New York-based Harry Walker lecture organising agency, of which Cherie Blair is a client, said she had spent an enormous amount of time fundraising for different charities, the vast majority of it unpaid. It added that while the Melbourne event "didn't raise much money, approximately 212,900 pounds overall was raised for two charities" from Cherie Blair's speaking events in Australia and New Zealand.
Apart from allegedly receiving the fee, Cherie Blair has also been charged with promoting her book, "The Goldfish Bowl: Married to the Prime Minister", during the tour.
Posted
on : Thu, 27 Oct 2005 04:25 GMT | General News
By : Mark Richardson
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