The Guardian 25 January, 2006
Wheat Board inquiry exposes corruption on a grand scale
Towards the end of last year a campaign was launched by the US Government against the UN "oil for food" program. The US’s aim was to discredit UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the United Nations. The food program had been introduced as a means of alleviating the hunger and poverty imposed on Iraq, even before the second invasion of that country by the UN-authorised trade boycott of Iraq. In this period the US and Britain continued to regularly bomb Iraq. These governments continued to assert that Iraq was a danger to the rest of the world and was building weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear weapons) despite the fact that a team of UN inspectors failed to find any evidence to back up this claim.
The campaign in the UN succeeded in linking Kofi Annan’s son to some alleged corrupt dealings and to some extent weakened the UN administration.
While the "oil for food" program was running, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) and the Howard Government became involved with wheat shipments to Iraq. In the past, Iraq had been an important Australian customer for wheat.
The current inquiry into this trade has shown the AWB to be thoroughly corrupt in its dealings with the Iraq Government (of Saddam Hussein) and that the Australian Government must have been aware of what was happening.
Under the "oil for food" program, any proposed contracts had to be submitted to the Australian Government by the AWB. The Australian Government then handed them on to the Australian UN representative in New York who in turn submitted them to the UN to ensure that they did not breach the UN trade embargo with Iraq. Once approved by the UN they were then returned to the AWB by the same diplomatic route and only then was the AWB permitted to supply the wheat shipment. In these circumstances, the Australian Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs can hardly claim that they did not know what was going on!
Are they so incompetent, or just lying yet again? The second alternative is more likely given their record.
The shoddy dealings by the AWB also involved BHP which was attempting to "secure an Iraqi oilfield" in the mid 1990s. There was a close tie-up between the AWB and BHP management, including an interchange of personnel. The AWB apparently attempted to set up a corrupt "deal" by which BHP was repaid millions of dollars that it claimed was owed to it by Iraq.
In the course of these dealings, two executives of BHP set up an associated company called Tigris Petroleum which took over the interests of BHP in Iraq. This company’s website has been shut down since the present inquiry was launched.
The inquiry has revealed many of the intricate relations between the AWB, BHP and the government, all of whom have a vested interest in attempting to cover-up the truth. The Australian Government has restricted the inquiry’s terms of reference to exclude any investigation of the role of its Ministers. The inquiry is headed by Justice Cole who was responsible for a virulent attack on the CFMEU, in what has become known as the Cole Inquiry. His report was used by the Howard Government to introduce specific legislation directed against the building unions.
The inquiry is continuing.