Who is Stuart Robert’s mate John Margerison? And why did he leave the country?

What is it about former Scott Morrison cabinet minister Stuart Robert that keeps him constantly in the spotlight? 

Now it’s Brother Stuey’s little mate, John Margerison, who has created an air of, let’s say, intrigue after his decision to scarper from his luxury Gold Coast home to parts unknown just as his attendance was required at a parliamentary inquiry into Robert’s dealings with a consulting company once part-owned by Margerison, Synergy 360.

There are sensational claims that the company had plotted ways to back-channel funds to Robert for any assistance he could provide from his position in government at the time. Robert has strenuously denied the allegations. What a pity Margerison is not around to shed light on what happened. NDIS Minister Bill Shorten today called Margerison’s move a “truly remarkable development” and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for an explanation of how it occurred.

The first thing to know about Margerison is that he is a man of immense self-belief. The Gold Coast entrepreneur says so himself. He told UK publication Business Matters: “I have come to understand that if you truly believe in something, it can become a reality. This lesson has been the key to unlocking my full potential and achieving success in both my personal and professional life.” 

Margerison offered this career advice to budding entrepreneurs in May — just as the dark clouds were building over his relationship with Robert. 

It’s no accident that Margerison sounds like a walking, talking motivational book. He has nominated the legend of the self-belief industry and celebrated motivational speaker Tony Robbins as his ultimate role model. Margerison says Robbins’ mass-selling books have filled him with the “tools for achieving my own goals and aspirations”.

The two have evidently grown close — close enough for Margerison to have Robbins along as his “wingman” for the glittering night when, in front of 400 people, Margersion proposed marriage to his “soul mate”, the owner of an American real estate group. Crikey is lucky enough to have a Facebook record of the night, which includes photographs of the fiancée’s sparkling ring and a jubilant Robbins, with arms raised, as Margerison kneels to pop the question. (Crikey understands the marriage ultimately did not go ahead.)

Nevertheless, success is the name of the Margerison game. Like his idol Robbins, Margerison boasts of building massive corporate wealth and the joy of philanthropy it brings. It’s a positive story of a fortune made and shared that everyone can feel good about — in particular Margerison’s Gold Coast pal Robert, who has his own success and belief story as a leading Pentecostal politician.

Margerison was born in England. He came to Australia as a boy and he went on to do a degree in business commerce at Bond University on the Gold Coast. He discovered his entrepreneurial spirit straightaway, as well as a self-professed acumen for mathematical solutions that, he says, can accurately predict market changes and drive his strategic investment decisions.

His name appears in the Paradise Papers, a trove of documents leaked in 2017 detailing tax haven investments for the global rich. (It is not illegal to use tax havens to minimise tax.)

As Crikey has documented, Margerison has been a political fundraiser for Robert in his former seat of Fadden. He also set up the Australian Ibero-American Business Council, a networking body that gave investors and business people a forum to mingle with politicians. The council was Robert’s brainchild. 

The business relationship between the entrepreneur and the politician appears to have taken off in March 2018, with Robert then in political exile on the Coalition backbench under Malcolm Turnbull. As a mere local member, the MP had time on his hands. Enter Margerison.

ASIC documents show that Margerison set up a venture called JM National Property Pty Ltd, and was joined by Robert in March 2018. Robert remained a director for close to six months until his ministerial career was resuscitated by his friend Morrison when Morrison became prime minister in August 2018.

But what a time it was. Robert inserted JM National Property into the heart of his financial affairs, as a trustee company for another trust that held property and shares for Robert and his family. In August 2018, JM National Property took a 50% stake in Cryo Australia, a Brisbane-based franchise group specialising in cryotherapy. 

At the same time, Margerison went from strength to strength in a health services business called DJ Health, part of the wider DJ Group, which had a property and a capital arm. Margerison was a director and secretary of DJ Health, the engine room for several businesses involved in disability services. 

ASIC documents show that Margerison continued to expand into the disability services sector with businesses registered at the address of Sean Beasley Accountants in Robina on the Gold Coast. (This was the same address as the Australian Ibero-American Business Council.) His financial interests in one disability services company overlapped with a period when Robert was the minister in charge of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). 

Margerison has had a habit of being where the money and power lie, but for all that he has proved remarkably elusive when it comes to the media. Crikey has made several fruitless attempts to contact him previously. Now he is, apparently, no longer in the jurisdiction; his own lawyer is reportedly unsure of where he might be.

Margerison has left the building. He is said to have severed all ties with Australia, taking his unshakeable self-belief, personal growth plan and — no doubt — his well-thumbed collection of Robbins’ motivational books with him.