'Whole thing is a mystery': Reef Foundation windfall hits private fund

The Turnbull government's claim its $444 million grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation would spur private donations has been disputed by a leading coral scientist who says funding for his own venture has dried up in the wake of the cash splash.

Charlie Veron, a global expert in corals, said the
granting of a huge wad of funds to the Great
 Barrier Reef Foundation saw funding for his Corals
 of the World website dry up.

Charlie Veron, a marine biologist dubbed "the godfather of coral" for discovering more than one-fifth the world's coral species, said US donors to his Corals of the World website dropped plans to donate $60,000 once they saw "the Australian government was going to pour a fortune" into reef projects.

Read Peter Hannam’s story from The Age - “'Whole thing is a mystery': Reef Foundation windfall hits private fund.”