Transcript – Interview with Gary Adshead, 6PR Perth

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Topics: Perth Mint Senate Inquiry E&OE Gary Adshead Dean Smith, Liberal Senator for WA, joins me on the line. G’day, Dean. Dean Smith Good morning to you, Gary. Gary Adshead Well, I’ll tell you what, first off, let’s just go back to what AUSTRAC have decided, this enforceable undertaking that Perth Mint have agreed, and Goldcorp have agreed, to go into. Is that a good outcome for the Mint? Dean Smith When the WA Government and Bill Johnson tries to suggest this is a win for West Australians, that is totally delusional, and I think a very powerful example of their attempt to gaslight West Australians. What the AUSTRAC decision says is quite alarming, and it’s there for people to see on the AUSTRAC website. It talks about a variety of issues where Gold Corporation has failed to meet a compliance requirement. Let me just read a quick quote for you, Gary, and for your listeners. From page two of the documents. It says that the AUSTRAC CEO is concerned that the Gold Corporation needs to take specific actions. Page three of the same document talks about the fact that Gold Corporation lists from point 8 through to point 12, a whole variety of compliance issues that it fears have not been met. And then at page four of that same document, and I’m quoting now, it says that Gold Corporation has failed to comply and may remain non-compliant with provisions of the anti-money laundering laws in our country. And let me just make one point – it’s not yet true that AUSTRAC will not fine Gold Corp and by extension West Australian taxpayers. That document says this enforceable undertaking does not affect AUSTRAC’s right to take any action, so future action in relation to any contraventions of the anti-money laundering laws, or the Counter-Terrorism Financing Act. This is gaslighting at its extreme by Bill Johnson and the WA Government. Gary Adshead Okay. Now, one of the other things that the Minister said was that, you know, when they came to government in 2017, they started to identify the fact that there were not the sort of processes and rigid processes that need to be in place in order to prevent money laundering, et cetera, through Perth Mint, given that they deal in gold bullion. He went on to say that they were starting to work on that. And then along came COVID. And, I think, to quote him, he said that the West Australian Premier at the time, Mark McGowan, was too busy saving lives, to take up what was required in relation to fixing the Perth Mint. And that’s why the job was handed to Bill Johnston. What do you make of that? Dean Smith That’s Bill Johnson’s account of things. And I’ve got a slightly different interpretation. I suspect that people in the WA Government started to appreciate just how serious some of these, non-compliance or failure to comply issues were with the anti-money laundering laws. And the then Premier Mark McGowan decides to offload it to Bill Johnson. That’s not an excuse. And that was on the public record when we had our inquiry in Perth on the 3rd of November. That is what Bill Johnson said to the Senate inquiry. That’s not an explanation that I’m prepared to accept, but we’ll have an opportunity to explore these matters again, because the Senate only in the last two weeks agreed to extend the Senate inquiry reporting date until the 30th of March. And that’s why I think AUSTRAC’s enforceable undertaking that was released early this week has come at the perfect time for the Senate inquiry, because I think it leaves many questions still unanswered. What Bill Johnson is attempting to do here, I’m hoping that West Australians will see through it, is create his own narrative. A narrative that’s in contrast to what has been brought forward as evidence in the Senate inquiry thus far. Gary Adshead But he’s right when he says there’s no actual evidence of money laundering taking place. Dean Smith This is an example of Bill creating his own narrative. What we are examining here is the failure of the Gold Corporation to meet its’s very clear legislative requirements in regard to anti-money laundering laws. And if they haven’t been doing that, then it does open the door for clients to act criminally. So, what Bill is trying to say is actually not what we’re talking about here. What we are talking about here is that the Gold Corporation has not been compliant with its very clearly stated obligations under Federal law to ensure that it doesn’t leave itself and its client’s open to any anti-money laundering. This enforceable undertaking is there for people to see, eight pages of it. I think it is damning and the decision of AUSTRAC to require an independent auditor to oversee Gold Corp’s implementation of the remediation program that it has in place, I think speaks volumes. It suggests that AUSTRAC isn’t completely comfortable with the work that the Gold Corp is doing now. That is my opinion at the moment, but I can test that opinion when AUSTRAC comes before the inquiry in the next few weeks. Gary Adshead Can I just ask you that specific claim that Bill Johnson made about you where he says that you’re touting sort of allegations around two banks that just don’t stack up? What do you say? Dean Smith Bill is absolutely wrong. There were numerous media articles in 2020 that identified HSBC and JP Morgan as having ceased purchasing gold from the Perth Mint. These were articles written by very reputable journalists, including a Walkley Award winner. Nonetheless, it was a matter I put directly to Mr Walsh. When he was at the Senate inquiry on the 3rd of November, I said to the Chairman, in 2020 the Australian Financial Report Financial Review reported that HSBC and JP Morgan stopped buying gold from the Perth Mint. Has the…

Don’t fall for Mint gaslighting – The West Australian

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Whenever a history of Western Australia is written, you can be certain one word will loom heavy among the pages. That word is gold. Before the discovery of this precious metal in the 1890s, WA was a struggling outpost. The State’s sparse European population, for the most part, toiled thanklessly on the ancient lands they were ill-equipped to live and work on. Inspired by rumours of vast fortunes, more than 100,000 people migrated to the State in a decade at the end of the 19th century, iconic country towns like Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie exploded into life and the population of Perth tripled. Gold put WA on the prosperous trajectory it has enjoyed, apart from inevitable fluctuations, ever since. It’s no surprise the Perth Mint quickly grew in stature and significance to become an icon. Not only is it a beautiful and distinctively West Australian building that has been in the heart of the city for 120 years, it’s Australia’s official bullion mint and trades with central banks, sovereign wealth funds and private investors globally. It turns over more than $20 billion annually and employs more than 700 locals. One other thing. As the world’s only government-owned precious metals producer, it’s underwritten by you and I – the WA taxpayer. Given this unique arrangement, anything that affects the Mint affects us too, leaving us in a potentially vulnerable situation. That is why we should be deeply disturbed that the Mint could be facing fines totalling hundreds of millions, even a billion dollars from AUSTRAC for its failure to comply with anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing laws. As has been widely reported, the Mint has also been beset by gold doping issues, which, despite what the chair of the board said last week, has damaged its reputation. So much so, in fact, that international banks HSBC and JPMorgan stopped buying its gold. It was obvious that matters at the Mint, especially those concerning regulatory compliance with Commonwealth legislation, required investigation. That’s why a bipartisan group of colleagues and I established a Senate inquiry into compliance matters at the Mint – made all the more necessary after the minister responsible for the Mint, Bill Johnston, former premier Mark McGowan, and WA Labor used their parliamentary majority to stifle any investigation at State level. The Senate inquiry held its third public hearing last Friday. It was the first in Perth, and what we heard should be of concern to all West Australians. We were told that, despite holding multiple internal audits between 2018 and 2020, the Mint failed to detect the Euro Pacific Bank as a major client. Multiple media reports have established that this bank was under investigation in five different jurisdictions, including Australia, for its ties to money laundering. But it was allowed to hold more than $100 million in gold at the Mint. The head of the Mint’s audit and risk committee insisted he had no regrets over how internal audits had been conducted – despite admitting there were “inconsistencies” in their customer identification requirements – and the fact they failed to identify Euro Pacific Bank as a customer. Equally troubling was the seeming lack of due diligence shown by the chair of the board, Sam Walsh, who was appointed at the beginning of 2019 by Mark McGowan specifically to improve governance and compliance standards. It was surprising that, in light of this directive, Mr Walsh failed to familiarise himself with any of the Mint’s biggest international clients. Here it is worth noting that, according to AUSTRAC’s evidence on Friday, know-your-customer requirements are the “cornerstone” of Australia’s anti-money laundering laws. AUSTRAC also told the inquiry it was “incredibly important that any reporting entity knows and understands the customer” and has “ongoing due diligence” of their customers. Mr Johnston also appeared before the inquiry. He insisted we had accused the Mint of money laundering “without a shred of evidence”. To be very clear, the inquiry’s focus is on the Mint’s compliance with Commonwealth legislation – with no suggestion at any point the Mint had engaged in this activity. The reality is that suits Mr Johnson to focus on money laundering as a distraction from the genuine concern, which is that, for a time, the Mint was not in regulatory compliance. Whenever the State Opposition tried to get a parliamentary inquiry up into the Mint, Mark McGowan and Bill Johnston have dismissed their concerns as irrelevant and baseless. Mr Johnston said so again last Friday. But we know from their own actions, in Mark McGowan’s case as far back as 2019, that they held grave concerns over the conduct of the Mint. Why else did the former premier appoint Mr Walsh to clean up the Mint’s act in the first place? There’s a word for this kind of behaviour, assuring WA it’s business as usual, and it’s called gaslighting. That includes shrugging off any shortcomings – past or present. WA Labor could, and should, hold a parliamentary inquiry into this immediately, as the State Opposition has been calling for. We owe it to our history, our modern-day gold producers, our international reputation and the hundreds of West Australians it employs, to make sure the Mint is the very best it can be. Until it does, the Senate inquiry will continue to do its work and ask the questions the Cook Government won’t.

FINALLY ACTION ON AVIATION COMPETITION, NOW LET THE ACCC DO ITS JOB

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SENATOR THE HON BRIDGET MCKENZIE SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEADER OF THE NATIONALS IN THE SENATE SENATOR FOR VICTORIA SENATOR DEAN SMITH SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA 8 November 2023 Media Release FINALLY ACTION ON AVIATION COMPETITION, NOW LET THE ACCC DO ITS JOB The Albanese Government has been dragged kicking and screaming to reinstall ACCC monitoring of the aviation sector. In response to a Private Senators Bill tabled by Coalition Senators Bridget McKenzie and Dean Smith, the Senate has been informed the Government will today, finally, send a letter of direction to the ACCC to reinstate the monitoring, 23 days after it was announced it would. Since the Albanese Government backflipped on its decision to scrap the ACCC monitoring 3 weeks ago there has been crickets with no direction given by the Treasurer to the ACCC to hit go on the monitoring despite the ACCC Chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, telling a recent Senate committee it’s ready and waiting. Senator McKenzie said the Albanese Government chose to forgo competition monitoring into what is one of the most consolidated industries in Australia, which was admitted to in the Government’s Green Paper. “Only after the aviation Senate inquiry made the recommendation to reinstate the monitoring did the Government decide to backflip on its decision,” Senator McKenzie said. “But making an announcement is one thing and taking action is another and this is where the Government continues to fail. “The ACCC is on record that it is ready to re-establish the monitoring so there is no excuse for the Albanese Government to continue dragging their feet on the matter.” Senator Smith said Labor’s delay on restoring ACCC monitoring, at a time when Australians are struggling with a dramatic rise in the cost of living, has been unconscionable. “Air travel in Australia isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity. There can be no justification stifling oversight in an industry which is uniquely central to economic and social life in Australia,” Senator Smith said. “While it’s clear that the Albanese Government prefers symbolism over substance, the Coalition had at least hoped that sending a small note to the ACCC was within the competence of Jim Chalmers. “Like the Year 12’s studying for their exams across Australia, my advice is for the Treasurer to put his phone on silent, focus on the task at hand, and ignore the calls and texts from friends – in his case, the government relations team at Qantas, whose messages Labor has found so impossible to ignore in the past.” Senator McKenzie said the ACCC monitoring needs to recommence immediately, especially given the Qantas group, including Jetstar, cancelled over 1,000 flights in September and a further 7,084 flights were delayed by more than 15 minutes, inconveniencing tens of thousands of Australians. “The fact flight cancellations and delays remain at excessive levels show the Albanese Government is not willing to tackle Qantas to fix the problems in the aviation sector. “The Government is more interested in blocking a Senate inquiry from asking questions to former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce than it is in keeping airfares down for Australian families and business,” Senator McKenzie said. “Given Qantas’ appalling Annual General Meeting last week there’s much more work to do on the behalf of Australian travellers. “If the Minister continues to delay implanting recommendations from the aviation select inquiry the coalition will continue to do the work for her so Australians can have a more competitive, reliable, and safe aviation industry. “The Albanese Government needs to stop running a protection racket for one airline and start listening to the needs of the travelling public,” Senator McKenzie said.

Transcript – Doorstop Interview with Senator the Honourable Bridget McKenzie, Canberra

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TOPICS: ACCC AVIATION MONITORING/AGRICULTURE CHINA TRADE/SENATE IR BILLS/OPTUS OUTAGE 8 NOVEMBER 2023 E&OE… BRIDGET MCKENZIE We’re able to confirm that the Treasurer of Australia has finally signed a directive to the ACCC to actually reinstate the monitoring of the aviation industry. Remembering this was recommendation four out of the Senate inquiry that actually sought to reinstate the cancellation and delays monitoring. The only stakeholder who gave evidence that they didn’t want it reinstated was the Qantas group. The only body that lobbied the Albanese Labor Government to not reinstate the ACCC monitoring was the Qantas group. But it has been pressure from the Senate, from the Opposition, that has actually seen, finally, not just the press release that arrived 23 days ago, but the Treasurer be pressured into today signing off on this particular directive. We know that we’ve got one of the most consolidated aviation industries in the world. 95.1% held by two groups, and this Government continues to run a protection racket for the Qantas group, whose appalling behavior was exposed again in its AGM last week. For its staff, for its loyal customers, and its shareholders, have borne the brunt of the reputational damage. And yet you do not find a change in behavior from this Government in seeking to protect this corporate. The ACCC holds a very critical role in our economy, the friend of the Australian consumer and the enemy of big corporates. We know that the ACCC has got a lot of work to do in addressing anti-competitive behavior. And this is the first step. If Catherine King won’t do her job as Transport Minister, we’ll do it for her. This won’t be the first Private Senators Bill to make this Government take action. Whether it be consumer protections, whether it be divestiture powers, whether it be a whole another raft of competition laws that need to be actioned so that Australian travellers have access to an affordable aviation sector that is also reliable. It’ll be the Liberal and the National Party who seek to get the job done. Senator Smith. DEAN SMITH Better late than never is how the Coalition would describe today’s decision to finally put pen to paper. The ACCC direction has been given by Dr Chalmers, but remember it is the 8th of November. The media statement that the Government launched when it said it would recommit to the ACCC monitoring regime was dated the 18th of October. There’s a very legitimate question here. Why did it have to take this long? Secondly, the devil is always in the detail. Dr Chalmers and Dr Leigh, as the Treasurer and the Competition Minister, need to explain why is the first monitoring report to be issued in March 2024? What is the reason? What is the excuse for a 12 month aviation monitoring black hole? I can’t explain it. And indeed the ACCC won’t be able to explain it. At Senate Estimates just recently the ACCC Chair answered, in response to questions from me, that the ACCC was ready to go, the people were in place and there would be no need for any gap in the reporting. So, Dr Chalmers, Dr Leigh, we welcome finally the decision to direct the ACCC. The cop is back on the beat. But why is there a 12 month aviation reporting black hole? Because the ACCC said there did not need to be any gap in the monitoring regime. This is an important step in restoring consumer confidence in Australia’s aviation industry. It’s been a powerful demonstration. How the Senate inquiry into the Qatar and Qantas matters, how a Private Senators Bill brought to the Australian Senate by Senator McKenzie and myself, can force the Government to do what they don’t want to do. So as Senator McKenzie and I said in the Senate chamber today, if it takes Private Senators Bills, if it takes Senate inquiries to get the Government to do what it should be doing in the interests of Australian aviation consumers, then we will bring forward other Private Senators Bills. And the next on the list will be competition law reforms that protect consumers. That give consumers a better say over flight cancellations, flight delays and poor service. BRIDGET MCKENZIE Any questions? JOURNALIST One on ag. BRIDGET MCKENZIE Why not what? JOURNALIST One on ag. So, we’ve just had the Prime Minister return from his trip to China and we’re expecting movement on wine and some other products. Why should Australian businesses go back to China if they could face punitive tariffs? BRIDGET MCKENZIE I think we’ve seen from China changing their behavior, which is a good thing. Let’s not forget who slapped those prohibitive trade restrictions on Australian agriculture in response to legitimate concerns raised by Australia, post COVID. That was the Chinese Government. Returning to normal shouldn’t be cause for celebration. I mean, this is actually what should be happening. Australian producers have found, and sought, and are currently delivering to a diversity of markets now as a result of those trade sanctions by China. And I’m sure that they will continue to do so. I think the issue has highlighted the importance of having a diversity of markets and, as when we were in Government, we sought to assist industry to do that. And that’s actually the right economic strategy for primary producers to be seeking. Can I just, I just wanted to touch on the ACCC. The length that this Government has gone to to restrict competition in aviation. They ruled aviation out of their competition review. They halted the cancellation and delay reporting. They also refused to approve and subsequently review the Qatar Airways decision, that would have allowed for more competition in our aviation sector. Why is this Government continuing to protect the Qantas group from greater competition? If we’ve ever needed the ACCC to be the strong, independent and free body that it is, it is now. The ACCC needs to be protected from political sabotage.…

Transcript – Interview with Jo Trilling, ABC Perth Drive

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Topics: Perth Mint Senate Inquiry E&OE JO TRILLING Now, Good afternoon, Senator. DEAN SMITH Good afternoon, Jo. Not quite sure what happened there, but I’m here. JO TRILLING Got you in the end, that is all that matters. Let’s start with those at the top of Perth Mint. You questioned current chair Sam Walsh and CEO Jason Waters about those other investigations. Are you satisfied by their compliance? DEAN SMITH What was important about today was that even though it was the third public hearing of the Inquiry, it was the first hearing here in Western Australia. And it was the first opportunity that anybody had to hear directly from Sam Walsh and Jason Waters, Minister Bill Johnson and the WA Auditor General. I think there was broad agreement that things could have been done better. No question about that. Sam Walsh made a comment to that effect. I think Minister Johnson also, you know, reflected on that. For me, I think there are some still some important issues that remain unanswered. And there was particular evidence that we received from the Perth Mint, from the chair of their Audit and Risk Committee, and I wasn’t satisfied with the answers I was provided in regards to why, between 2018 and 2020, those internal audit processes didn’t pick up something as significant as the Euro Pacific Bank matter. And, your listeners might recall, this is the situation with a dodgy, phoenix bank, situated in a tax haven, under investigation in five different countries. It was only when that matter was revealed in the Australian Financial Review on the 18th of October in 2020 did the Perth Mint take some action. So still some important questions to be answered. But I would say this, Jo. This Inquiry is happening here in Perth because the State Labor Government denied an opportunity for the WA Parliament to do its own inquiry. JO TRILLING Do you think you’ll get those answers, Senator? DEAN SMITH Yes. To be fair, Jo, what was productive about today is the Perth Mint made themselves available. And the reason that we landed on this day for the hearing here in Perth is because we were negotiating behind the scenes to find a date when the Perth Mint could appear in person. When Jason Waters, Mr Walsh, and John O’Connor, the chair of their Risk and Audit Committee could appear in front of Senators like myself and Senators Reynolds and Brockman and others. The Perth Mint have been very obliging in responding to questions that we put on notice to them. So, a constructive first step. JO TRILLING At one point, Mr Walsh said he did not familiarise himself with major clients at the time. Just how concerning is this admission? DEAN SMITH That was an admission Mr Walsh made in response to a question from me, and I was surprised about that because he had been brought on as the chair of the board at the request of the former Premier Mark McGowan specifically to improve governance arrangements. And, by his own admission, he said he would go through or did go through a due diligence process. But when I specifically asked him about what effort he went to to acquaint himself with issues around banks, and particularly foreign banks, that’s when he made that admission. JO TRILLING Yeah. Well, surely that is his role as chair to be over those details. DEAN SMITH It’s the role of any chair, and particularly when the former Premier had asked Mr Walsh to come onto the board for that specific reason. I think that gave us a glimpse, an important and credible glimpse, into why there’s still an opportunity for further questions to be asked. But, like I said, my surprise was in regards to questions I asked the Audit and Risk chair, Mr O’Connor, who had been on the board since 2016, prior to Mr Walsh’s appointment in 2019. We’ve still got some way to go on this and I’ll, when we go back to Canberra next week, be asking my Senate colleagues to agree a schedule that I have. I would like the Perth Mint to come back. I’ve got some questions for the Audit Committee. And I think there’s a case for Richard Hayes, the former CEO, to come before the Committee and explain himself. JO TRILLING You also questioned Bill Johnson, whose portfolio oversees the Mint. He argued that much of what has been reported by the media doesn’t actually relate to Perth Mint’s compliance with Commonwealth legislation. The goal of this Inquiry, are you sure this was the best use of Federal resources? DEAN SMITH Absolutely. What Minister Bill Johnson was doing was drawing a distinction between allegations that some people had been making around money laundering and the regulatory compliance, or the Mint’s compliance with Commonwealth anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. The terms of reference are very, very specific. What this Committee Inquiry is looking at is compliance with those AML and CTF obligations. And that’s why AUSTRAC was required to appoint the independent auditor. That’s why that independent auditor has provided a report back to AUSTRAC, and AUSTRAC is now examining that. So I didn’t take that as a criticism of the work of the Committee, not at all. In fact, I think the evidence today, but also the evidence that we’ve been able to glean over three hearings, means this has been a necessary piece of work. Remembering, Jo, that the former Premier Mr McGowan, the current Premier Mr Cook, Mr Johnson, could have allowed the Parliament to initiate this Inquiry themselves and to keep it wholly within the remit of the WA Parliament. I’m grateful that West Australian Senators got together and said, if the WA Parliament’s not going to step up to its responsibilities, then we will set up a Senate Inquiry into the matter. JO TRILLING Thanks for your time, Senator. DEAN SMITH Always a pleasure. ENDS