Letter to PM Julia Gillard - Transparency International Australia

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA
Affiliate of Transparency International, the Coalition against Corruption
17 th August 2012
Hon Julia Gillard
Prime Minister of Australia
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Prime Minister
Re G20 Anti‐Corruption Action Plan
PO Box 41
Blackburn South Vic 3130
AUSTRALIA
Ph/Fax: +61 2 9389 5930
tioz@transparency.org.au
www.transparency.org.au
Transparency International (TI) Australia joins with colleagues in the movement in welcoming the decision
by you and your fellow leaders to extend the mandate of the G20 Anti‐Corruption Working Group for a
further two years. We note that the timing of the extended mandate has particular significance for
Australia as the Working Group will report to the G20 Leaders Summit at the conclusion of that period in
Brisbane in 2014.
I draw your attention to a letter from the TI Chair Ms Huguette Labelle to the co‐Chairs of the Working
Group. While urging that work on the initial mandate remains to be completed, the letter draws attention
to important new areas which should be addressed by the Working Group over the coming two years.
While underlining the need for the Working Group to address the corruption issue at the heart of the G20
Leaders Agenda: the integration of anti‐corruption and accountability mechanisms in global financial
reform efforts, any commitment made by the Working Group will only be effective if you and your fellow
leaders ensure that commitments made are implemented back home. The recent revelations of scandals in
the banking sector internationally pointed to the diverse forms corruption can take as they highlight
extensive use of entrusted power for private short‐term gain in leading financial enterprises. The scandals
also revealed the failure of regulatory and supervisory institutions in the detection and exposure of such
incidents of corporate crime. Such disclosures further undermine public confidence in both companies and
Governments. The G20 must take action to shape and implement “a coherent programme of anticorruption
reform that is addressed at the very highest level.”
Some of this work will be on the agenda of the G20 Finance Ministers and it will be important that the
Working Group works closely with Finance Ministers in responding to these challenges. I note that the
Working Group will meet in London in October alongside the Financial Action Task Force which will provide
a further opportunity to address the continuing challenge of illicit financial flows which include the
proceeds of corruption, tax evasion and organised crime. TI Australia welcomes the focus on these issues
by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (and the oversight Joint Parliamentary
Committee) and the agencies it oversees at a time when concern about Money Laundering, including the
proceeds of organised crime and corruption, and the movement to Australia of Stolen Assets from the
people of PNG are the focus of domestic revelations in the racing and property industries. I draw attention
to the recommendations related to anti‐money laundering as of particular relevance to Australia.
Chairman: Roger Gyles AO QC Executive Director: Michael Ahrens Executive Director International: Greg Thompson
Directors: A. J. Brown Jane Ellis Seabrook Grahame Leonard AM David Mattiske Elizabeth O’Keeffe Graham Tupper Harold Werksman Peter Willis
Senior Advisors: Henry Bosch AO Jerrold Cripps QC Peter Rooke
ABN 23 068 075 525

TI’s recent report on corporate transparency, Transparency in Corporate Reporting 1 , which included 5
Australian ASX 100 companies in the resources and banking sector, highlighted the need for greater
attention to transparency in reporting by multinational companies across all sectors, not just in the
resources sector as in the USA and the European Union. This report indicated the relative weakness in
corporate transparency in the financial sector, which underlines the vulnerability to corruption of such
companies. TI Australia urges your Government to takes step to legislate or regulate for mandatory
disclosure by companies on a country by country basis, so joining the USA and the EU with appropriate
measures, while advocating the adoption of this standard by all G20 countries through the Working Group.
TI Australia values the opportunity to work with officers of the Attorney General’s Department towards the
development of a National Anti‐Corruption Plan and trusts that that plan and other measures will ensure
that the commitments by the G20 are implemented at home as well as being consistent with Australia’s
obligations to relevant international treaties including UNCAC and the OECD Convention on Foreign
Bribery.
As Australia takes action on climate change at home and contributes to global action to limit the impact of
human caused climate change TI Australia urges Australia’s support for measures which ensure the
integrity of such action. A strong commitment by the G20 to Climate Finance Integrity will be a further
opportunity for leadership by example in this area of global governance.
TI Australia is pleased to be represented on the Multi‐Stakeholder Group of the domestic Pilot of the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Experience in that process affirms the important role of civil
society in contributing to good governance. In the same way TI Australia urges that the G20 process affords
greater opportunity for civil society to engage formally with G20 processes. Looking towards 2014, TI
Australia looks forward to working with officials in your department led by Mr Gordon de Brouwer, the
Australian Sherpa, in shaping appropriate mechanisms for such engagement.
Yours Sincerely
Roger Gyles AO QC
Chairman
Transparency International Australia
Attachment: TI Letter to co‐Chairs of G20 Anti‐Corruption Working Group 31 st July 2012
1 See the report at
http://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/pub/transparency_in_corporate_reporting_assessing_the_worlds_largest_companies
Chairman: Roger Gyles AO QC Executive Director: Michael Ahrens Executive Director International: Greg Thompson
Directors: A. J. Brown Jane Ellis Seabrook Grahame Leonard AM David Mattiske Elizabeth O’Keeffe Graham Tupper Harold Werksman Peter Willis
Senior Advisors: Henry Bosch AO Jerrold Cripps QC Peter Rooke
ABN 23 068 075 525