Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles most likely wishes his former friend David Collard would disappear altogether, but just this week came the revelation that the disgraced businessman, whom Marles once described as “values-driven”, surfaced in New York court documents showing he’s being sued for over US$209,000 (A$320,000) for not paying the lease on his Rolls Royce Ghost Black.
No doubt it was partly the penchant for flashy status symbols like a Rolls that attracted Marles in the first place, given he’s not known for his subtlety. But as the Australian Federal Police remain tightlipped over their ongoing pursuit of Collard’s Scale Facilitation, the association continues to cast a shadow over the defence minister’s credibility.
Marles the hawk
Opposite Marles’ desk in his ministerial office in Parliament House is a small bookshelf which a government source labels his “shrine to America”.
There are US flags, photos of Marles stateside shaking hands with government officials, a Statue of Liberty figurine, assorted American memorabilia, and US history books. Lots of them. It’s a tangible symbol of his regard, bordering on obsession, for all things American and Uncle Sam.
In the lead-up to the 2022 election, the Coalition tried to paint Marles as some sort of Manchurian candidate under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party for not disclosing a sponsored trip to China and for giving an advance copy of his speech in Beijing to the Chinese embassy. But the smear never landed because Marles is a China hawk; a dependable supporter of the United States in its battle to stymie China’s rise as a superpower.
He is an AUKUS true believer, a modern-day Harold Holt who will go all the way with the US war machine.
A less well-known aspect about Marles is that he can be gullible. A minister with a science degree, he is normally forensic in his approach to his job, reading every departmental brief and interrogating information put to him, as defence officials know too well. But if he likes someone his judgment can go missing.
“If he falls under the charm of someone’s wealth, fame, or power, he won’t be talked down,” says a government source.
Another source from within the government confirmed these characterisations of Marles. It’s the same for pet projects like recruiting ADF personnel (with a specific interest in recruiting from Pacific Island nations). Defence officials flagged there were issues that needed to be worked through in recruiting from non-five eyes countries, but once Marles is sold on an idea, he doesn’t take kindly to dissenting views.
Marles has an enthusiasm that is endearing and charming, one of the sources said, helping him build a strong rapport with his counterparts in the United States, United Kingdom, and throughout the Pacific and Asia. People are drawn to him.
But the shadow side is he often behaves like a kid in a candy store, someone excited by his defence toys and the privileges that come with being deputy prime minister and defence minister.
Government sources confirmed reports in The Saturday Paper in October that Marles loves the trappings of office. His VIP RAAF jet, meeting heads of government, having contact with King Charles’s private secretary Sir Clive Alderton, and hanging out with the rich and powerful.
“It feeds his ego. And he doesn’t realise that this is all temporary. He will be devastated when he is no longer in power and the phone stops ringing.”
Enter David Collard
In late 2022 Marles was invited to open the New York headquarters of Australian startup Scale Facilitation on the 82nd floor of the One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the United States. The skyscraper is freighted with significance as the site of the former Twin Towers.
Scale Facilitation’s founder and CEO David Collard hails from Marles’ hometown of Geelong and worked as a partner at PwC in New York before leaving in 2019 to create Scale Facilitation and its subsidiary Recharge Industries.
Collard’s companies were pedestrian ventures at the start, supplying facemasks and medical gloves during COVID. However, by 2022 he was spruiking plans to build an EV lithium-ion battery “gigafactory” in Geelong and create high-tech jobs in Marles’ electorate.
Marles was adamant about going to the ribbon cutting on Saturday, December 3, 2022, just before his scheduled bilateral meetings in Washington the following week, as he was completely enamoured by Collard. Marles saw in him a Geelong boy done good, an entrepreneur who’d made it in New York and had a nice office and apartment to prove it.
Ever the hawk, Marles fell for Collard’s shtick that the gigafactory in Geelong would provide sovereign capacity for Australia and its AUKUS allies, freeing the West from its reliance on China, the world leader in lithium-ion battery technology.
“He drank the Kool-Aid,” the government source said.
Marles should’ve been asking himself, as many people were doing at this point, how a small company with little revenue and no track record was able to afford to lease the entire 82nd floor of the One World Trade Center and fly people in from around the world for a big party.
But not Marles. He was so captivated by Collard that he couldn’t see the red flags.
In his speech at Scale’s opening, he described Collard as, “a force of nature … innately entrepreneurial … values-driven”. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who was with many others flown business class to New York at Scale’s expense, said nice things about Collard too, describing him as ”a superman … [with] the ability to see around corners and over the horizon”.
But not everyone was taken in. “My radar was going off about Collard from day one,” says a government source. “I found him smarmy. I didn’t get what his company did, what the defence connection was. It didn’t make sense.”
Other defence officials were wary about Collard too. They’d never heard of him or his company before and viewed the invitation to Marles as a low priority. They had recommended that he decline it. But that was never going to happen, so Marles’ RAAF jet winged its way to New York.
In his speech on the night, Collard tried to flesh out Scale’s defence links by highlighting the company’s veterans’ lounge and by acknowledging defence officials in the room.
One of those officials was Andrew Freeman, the then defence attaché at the Australian embassy in Washington. Freeman organised to play golf with Marles the next day at the exclusive Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey, a course it was understood golf tragic Marles had always wanted to play at. A few months later Collard hired Marles’ golf partner.
London calling
Fast forward to early February 2023 and Marles was in the UK with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong for Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN) with their UK counterparts. After having dinner with then UK defence secretary Ben Wallace the evening before AUKMIN, Marles retired for drinks with colleagues at his London hotel’s rather expensive bar.
During the drinks, Collard texted Marles to say he was in London finalising a deal to buy EV battery start-up Britishvolt. Marles invited Collard to join the group, and the next morning messaged him on encrypted app Signal with a selfie of their catch-up to say, “Great to see you.” Collard replied, “You too hopefully today goes smooth.”
The relationship had become personal, with the two exchanging frequent messages on Signal and reportedly dining together. Marles even visited Collard’s US$75,000-a-month Manhattan apartment on at least one occasion, which according to another source required a security sweep of the building.
ATO and AFP close in
Behind the scenes, Collard’s budding empire was a house of cards. In 2022 his companies had lodged claims with the ATO for $126 million in R&D tax incentives and GST refunds and had obtained $76 million before the tax office stopped further payments around January 2023 due to concerns about potential fraud.
The Serious Financial Crime Taskforce opened an investigation, which continues to this day as Operation Queenscliff under AFP Detective Sergeant Stephen Cato.
No charges have been laid and Scale and David Collard have previously denied any wrongdoing.
The $76 million was almost the sole source of funds for Scale Facilitation as Collard had been unable to snag any big private investors. According to several sources, taxpayer money largely funded the lease of the One World Trade Center offices, the opening party, Peter Dutton’s flights to New York and accommodation, as well as Collard’s high-priced trip to Davos in January 2023.
Several sources also suspect taxpayers subsidised Collard’s lifestyle, including his apartment facing Central Park, the lease of luxury vehicles, and most of the $780,000 cost of a bucks weekend in Monaco and wedding in Australia for his lieutenant Jimmy Fatone.
With the tap turned off on the remaining $50 million, Scale stopped paying staff in Geelong and New York on time, and eventually not at all. Supplier invoices were ignored. Collard hit up his unpaid staff and Geelong businesses for loans, none of which he’s repaid, and maxed out the company AMEX card. Staff in Geelong and New York were hit up, with the assurance, you’ll be paid back very soon.
He also lodged claims for VAT refunds based on inflated invoices with the UK’s HM Revenue & Customs to raise funds to close the Britishvolt deal.
Boosterism continues
Seemingly oblivious to any whiff of trouble, Marles continued his boosterism of Collard, telling the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia in May 2023 that Collard “was inspired by the power of the alliance — the deep trusting relationship between Australia and the US — as a foundation for doing business”. Marles described the purchase of Britishvolt as “a truly AUKUS endeavour” before concluding, “the story of Scale Facilitation is the story of so many of you”. A day after the speech Marles joined Industry Minister Ed Husic for a visit to the site of Recharge Industries’ planned gigafactory in Avalon.
Husic was an important target for Recharge Industries as the company was desperately seeking finance from the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, which was being established at the time by Husic to boost Australia’s capabilities in areas like renewables and transport.
How much was sought is not known, but a leaked letter from Collard to Trade Minister Don Farrell four months earlier shows he was seeking a whopping $600 million finance facility from the government for the gigafactory.
Farrell’s good mate Marles was copied into the letter.
The government source told Open Politics/Crikey that company insiders badged this as Collard’s “First Follower” strategy: if investors can see the government is investing in us, they will follow.
But there would be no first follower. Just over a month later, on June 23, 2023, the AFP and ATO raided Scale Facilitation’s offices in Geelong and executed warrants over “alleged taxation fraud”.
Marles’ praise for Collard stopped at this point and he hasn’t said a word since — beyond telling The Geelong Advertiser in August 2024 that everyone in the Geelong community was “shocked” by the revelations.
What’s also shocking is how easily Collard manipulated Marles and got so close to him. Michael Graham, the first employee at Scale and a former classmate of Collard’s at St Joseph’s College in Geelong, told Open Politics/Crikey that he spoke to Marles at a Geelong Cats game in late August, telling him, “Richard, we all got duped by this, however I feel there should’ve been more due diligence on your part before backing the company.”
Open Politics/Crikey went to Marles’ office but they did not respond before deadline. We also reached out to Collard with a series of questions but did not hear back. The AFP media unit responded to our query regarding the progress of the investigation with the line: “The AFP will provide an update at an appropriate time.”
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