Daily Archives: 24 June, 2024

Transcript – Interview with Oliver Peterson, 6PR Afternoons

21 June 2024 Topics: Perth Mint Senate Inquiry report E&OE OLIVER PETERSON: There has subsequently been an inquiry conducted by the Select Committee on the Perth Mint, and a WA Liberal Senator, Dean Smith is the chair of that committee. He’s just released a scathing report into the failures of the mint, and he can tell you more. Senator, good afternoon. DEAN SMITH: Good afternoon to you, Ollie. OLIVER PETERSON: There are a lot of compliance breaches that you uncovered in your inquiry, Senator Smith, that we may have not known about before. DEAN SMITH: It’s interesting you say that, Ollie, because during the inquiry, a significant development took place. And that is that AUSTRAC, which is the federal financial crime regulator, issued what’s called an enforceable undertaking over the Perth Mint that took place in December last year. That enforceable undertaking means that the Perth Mint is under the sort of the careful watch, if you like, of AUSTRAC and having to provide regular monthly reporting back to AUSTRAC to make sure that it’s not only meeting compliance with our anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, but also fulfilling its remediation programs. So, what does this mean? It means that there still exists potential financial liabilities across the WA Government for which the WA taxpayer will be responsible, as seen in the report’s findings and conclusions today. And this is a report that has been supported, it’s conclusions have been supported by the Australian Greens and Coalition Senators. So, it’s far from a political inquiry. This is a broad inquiry that enjoys multi-partisan support, particularly around the recommendations. What we’re saying is that it’s time for the Perth Mint Board to accept responsibility. They have been trying to say that this is just a responsibility of the previous senior management. We said that is not good enough, Ollie, because it’s a Senate inquiry, it does have tremendous powers. We were able to see a number of documents that I can’t reveal to you and your listeners in terms of what they said. But there’s one document in particular, the 2020 internal audit report, that we’re of the strong view should be put before the WA Parliament so that the WA Parliament can see for itself some of the significant compliance failings that led to that enforceable undertaking. So unfortunately, WA taxpayers, the financial liability still sits over their head until this matter is resolved. The enforceable undertaking exists until the 30th of April, 2025. That’s assuming that the Perth Mint does actually meet all of its compliance obligations. I think it’s important to remember Ollie that, you know, why was it that the Australian Senate was forced to do this inquiry and not the WA Parliament? And your listeners might remember that then Premier Martin McGowan refused to give the WA Parliament the opportunity of having its own inquiry. So Senator Reynolds, Senator Brockman and Senator Cox, and myself, set up the Senate inquiry because we didn’t believe that these Perth Mint matters should go un-inquired. Because the Perth Mint, this is an important WA institution. It’s an institution that has tourism importance, but also has an important financial value to the state. And we would expect that it enjoys the highest level of governance and as a result of that, the highest level of public confidence. OLIVER PETERSON: Now you got a lack of cooperation from the WA Government, Ministers, and former Premier Mark McGowan, who back in March of last year in Parliament on a hot mic described the Perth Mint scandal as a storm in an effing teacup, Senator Smith? DEAN SMITH: Mark McGowan is wrong on that. And if the former Premier had been right, if there was nothing to see here, then AUSTRAC would not have put an enforceable undertaking over the Perth Mint in the way that it did in December last year. The inquiry politely asked the former Premier on three separate occasions to come and answer questions and he didn’t even do us the courtesy of a response. And why did we want to hear from Mark McGowan? Because, at critical times in this, he was the responsible Minister, because the Perth Mint, the Gold corporation, is a WA owned entity. So, very disappointing. West Australian taxpayers have got good reason to ask, what is it that the WA Government is hiding from? And if they don’t think they’re hiding from anything, then put that 2020 internal audit report before the WA Parliament and empower the WA Parliament to have its own inquiry. OLIVER PETERSON: Because you think that’s necessary? That the public has a right to know, Senator Smith? DEAN SMITH: The public absolutely has a right to know, because this is an important WA and national institution. But more than that, Ollie, because this enforceable undertaking sits over the Perth Mint. And this enforceable undertaking is just one of four enforceable undertakings AUSTRAC issued last year. In the case of Westpac, which was found to be in breach of similar issues as the Perth Mint, that fine to Westpac was in the order of one and a half billion dollars. So the failure of the Perth Mint to meet its compliance obligations under the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws means that there is a potential liability to West Australian taxpayers at this moment. I’m pleased that West Australian Senators with common sense in our national Senate thought it necessary to have an inquiry that reported today. And we hope the WA Parliament takes a very close look at this. OLIVER PETERSON: Senator, thanks you time. DEAN SMITH: A pleasure. Thanks Ollie. ENDS

Transcript – Interview with Jo Trilling, ABC Perth Drive

21 June 2024 Topics: Perth Mint Senate Inquiry report E&OE JO TRILLING: (AUDIO GRAB PLAYED) Well off the back of all these accusations, WA Liberal Senator Dean Smith established a committee to report into the Mint and its compliance with a range of Commonwealth laws and regulations. Today, that inquiry released its final report. So, what have they recommended? Senator Dean Smith is here to explain. Welcome back to Drive, Senator. DEAN SMITH: Good afternoon to you and your listeners. JO TRILLING: So, your first two recommendations are for the board of Perth Mint to publicly acknowledge they failed to comply with Anti-money laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act of 2006 and then publish a clear statement explaining why. Dean, why is that acknowledgement so important to you? DEAN SMITH: It’s important just to remind your listeners why it is that the Senate decided to initiate its own inquiry into compliance, specifically with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. And that was primarily because the West Australian Government denied the WA Parliament its own independent review and inquiry mechanism. So West Australian Senators thought it necessary, given that these were Commonwealth laws that had been breached, that some level of transparency needed to be brought over these matters. Also, during the course of the inquiry, AUSTRAC, which is the financial intelligence regulator in Australia, responsible for protecting institutions like the Perth Mint, issued an enforceable undertaking over the Perth Mint. That enforceable undertaking requires the Perth Mint to report very regularly to AUSTRAC on remediation programmes that it now has in place to comply with Commonwealth laws. This is a very significant event that occurred by AUSTRAC in December of last year, when the enforceable undertaking was put in place, because it also puts in place a potential financial liability to West Australian taxpayers. So we’ve had the inquiry, we’ve come to a very clear conclusion that there are still many questions that need to be answered. The board, we believe, should be required to make a detailed statement to the West Australian Parliament and to the taxpayers in terms of what were the series of events that led to this enforceable undertaking. And I would just add this point because I think it’s an important point. The Senate committee had an opportunity to inquire into and read for itself various internal audit reports. Those audit reports were provided to the Senate committee on a confidential basis, so we’re not able to talk about what they said. But we have decided in our committee report that it’s important that one of those internal audit reports, the 2020 internal audit report, be tabled before the WA Parliament so the Parliament can see for itself those compliance failings that led to the enforceable undertaking. JO TRILLING: Now, Senator, asking them to publish this statement is one thing. Do you expect them to actually follow through and do it? DEAN SMITH: It is the 125th anniversary this week. You’re quite right to point that out. I think that the Gold Corporation, trading as the Perth Mint, is very, very important institution for our country and for Western Australia. And I would like to think that the board and Mr Walsh, in particular, would understand that full transparency to the WA Parliament is a great way of ensuring that the Mint continues with a strong and credible reputation for another 125 years. JO TRILLING: And you were left disappointed by the fact that former Premier Mark McGowan didn’t appear before the inquiry? What would you have liked to have asked him? DEAN SMITH: I would like to have asked Mr McGowan to what extent was he aware of the findings contained in the 2020 internal audit report. A very simple but very important question. And I think the West Australian Parliament does deserve the opportunity to conduct its own inquiry to satisfy itself, in addition to the work that the Senate’s been forced to do because the WA Labor Government used its mega parliamentary majority to deny what I would regard as an appropriate, necessary level of inquiry over the Perth Mint matters. JO TRILLING: Senator Dean Smith, what more could the State Parliament, through their own inquiry, discover that your committee hasn’t? Is that excessive? DEAN SMITH: It is absolutely not excessive when we consider the fact that the enforceable undertaking issued by AUSTRAC – and AUSTRAC has only issued three other enforceable undertakings in the calendar year of 2023 – is an enforceable undertaking like the one over institutions like Westpac and, for similar failure to comply with matters like the Perth Mint, AUSTRAC levied a fine against Westpac of $1.5 billion. So, the West Australian Parliament not just has a responsibility, it has a duty. And the WA Government should not stand in its way to make sure that enforceable undertaking doesn’t lead to financial penalties being put over the West Australian taxpayer. I think actually the WA inquiry is more necessary now as a result of the Senate’s work, not less. JO TRILLING: And you feel that the State Government has really sort of downplayed the breaches. DEAN SMITH: Absolutely. There is no question about it that the West Australian State Government, first under Premier McGowan and now under Premier Cook, is hoping that these issues would just go away. And it’s a fundamental point that your listeners appreciate, I believe, that is that this enforceable undertaking is a very serious matter. Yes, Gold Corporation is complying with it to date. And that is the evidence that we heard from as AUSTRAC as recently as this week. But that enforceable undertaking sits over the Gold Corp until the 30th of April next year. So for Premier Cook and for former Premier McGowan this matter is far from concluded. JO TRILLING: Senator, thanks for your time. DEAN SMITH: It’s a pleasure. ENDS