A secretive federal payment to a mysterious foundation has been scrapped. 

Reports this week say the Australian Future Leaders Foundation will no longer receive millions of dollars promised by the former Coalition government.

The foundation has never run a leadership program and has no website or staff, but still managed to secure a pledge for $18 million dollars in the Morrison government's March budget.

The foundation was established just over a year ago by a businessman with connections to the Governor-General. It was awarded the cash with no competitive grants process.

The Morrison government’s budget papers pledged $18 million over five years, and $4 million per year after that.

Reports say Governor-General David Hurley backed the foundation, and spoke to former prime minister Scott Morrison several times across 2020 and 2021 before the funding was awarded.

The foundation was meant to establish leadership programs for emerging mid-career leaders, but will now have to fund them some other way, after the promised funding was identified in an ongoing “waste audit” by the Albanese government.

The foundation was registered as a charity in April 2021 and held an official launch at the Governor-General's house in Sydney in May.

Promotional brochures reportedly claimed vice-regal and government endorsement of the program, which was titled “The Governor-General's Australian Future Leaders Programme.”

Foundation director and secretary Chris Hartley allegedly boasted that the Governor-General gave a PowerPoint presentation to Mr Morrison, and allegedly declared that the Prime Minister's Office would “own” the project.

The Governor-General was named as the inaugural patron of the foundation.