The Wheat Bribe Affair (1 Viewer)

[erin_tonkin]

NCAP's newest conservative-a-phobic air-head. Stand in the peaceful air-head line next to Erawamai and *Abosolution. I don't think you're quite ready for the violent terrorist-communist line like Zahid and Comrade Nathan.

i didnt understand a word u said!

 

[erin_tonkin]

hmm thats where im confused i wasnt aware i was pro howard at all!

 

[erin_tonkin]

i think they meant BoS is left-wing

and Carmen Lawrence seems to be the only one ive seen who has her head screwed on.
You havent given anything against her except that she is a "loser" which seems like a common insult from a bully and nothing more.

 

[withoutaface]

BoS used to be left wing, but then the right wing pwned them into submission, and the majority of right wingers here aren't conservatives either.

EDIT: As for an alternative party whose policies are almost all awesome: www.ldp.org.au

 

[loquasagacious]

I would say that BoS was formerly dominated by lefties (I believe Labor held BoS by about a 16 point margin at the federal election).

However in more recent times free marketeers have come to dominate - this would largely be to do with more of us coming into contact with university economics.

What hasn't changed is that the majority are still commited to libetarian values (which convieniently intermesh with neo-classical economics).

BoS is now dominated by free-marketeer libetarians, Waf, Neo, myself and even Moonlight and Erawami would be prime examples.

 

[leetom]

I would say that BoS was formerly dominated by lefties (I believe Labor held BoS by about a 16 point margin at the federal election).

However in more recent times free marketeers have come to dominate - this would largely be to do with more of us coming into contact with university economics.

What hasn't changed is that the majority are still commited to libetarian values (which convieniently intermesh with neo-classical economics).

BoS is now dominated by free-marketeer libetarians, Waf, Neo, myself and even Moonlight and Erawami would be prime examples.

Is one essentially opposed to the free market if one opposes WorkChoices?

BOS has always had a healthy balance of opinion. It has never been overly dominated by any side of the spectrum, at least not during my time here.

 

[mr EaZy]

yeah i agree

but.... who else is there?

lol

try the unity party (i think its a state party)

NSW branch headed by Dr. Peter Wong

 

[withoutaface]

Is one essentially opposed to the free market if one opposes WorkChoices?

BOS has always had a healthy balance of opinion. It has never been overly dominated by any side of the spectrum, at least not during my time here.

Yes. That'd mean your in favour of either a mixed or controlled market.

 

[Generator]

I like the way in which addymac ever so gently implies that contact with a tertiary level course (or even just a unit) in economics shows misguided youth the light.

 

[mr EaZy]

I knew this food for oil thingy was a farce


children were starving and dying from lack of food and meds

a few years ago- iraq refused a shipment of wheat saying it had iron fillings in it and neededd 500 gs to clean it up

whats going on?

if iraq didnt have oil or any other resources whatsoever, what would the programme have been?

They even got Kofi Annan's son implicated but not conclusive that one. His son was involved with the company that was responsible for the liasing with the iraqis

and the biggest thing is that when the AWB was mentioned they tried to deny it - until now and our prime minister was standing up for them until now.... and the prime minister/DFAT ministers are now reduced to standing up for themselves.... i just hope that fails too- but probably wont happen.

 

[Generator]

Ah, despite what some may say (myself included, at times), most people assume the best and defend others in good faith, mr eazy. I'm sure that you quite often do the same thing.

 

[mr EaZy]

Ah, despite what some may say (myself included, at times), most people assume the best and defend others in good faith, mr eazy. I'm sure that you quite often do the same thing.

well true that!

when the children overboard affair broke out- i was the only person i knew defending the refugees

1) there was no evidence shown on tv of them throwing their children overboard and until such was shown ; i remained a skeptic

2) i can tell that john howard on talk back was using the event as a political tool- due to his over emotional attack of refugees

3) ive studied eastern cultures and i know that children are seen as the lifeblood of the family and its suicide to leave their kids back in their home country or to throw them overboard. some parents from the oriental cultures pray that they be killed/die first lest they have to succumb to the death of a child- so it didnt make sense to throw children overboard

well thats my rant on the children overboard affair- doesnt have much to do with AWB. has everything to do with John howard!

 

[MoonlightSonata]

The inquiry continues -

We knew nothing of bribes, says Howard
January 30, 2006

The government worked closely with Australia's wheat exporter but knew nothing of bribes paid to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Prime Minister John Howard said.

Furious at Labor claims that letters released to an inquiry implicate the government in the bribery scandal, Mr Howard said it was his job to promote wheat sales in the lucrative Iraqi market.

"We were in no way involved with the payment of bribes. We didn't condone them, we didn't have knowledge of them, but we did work closely with AWB," he told ABC Radio today. [...]

A letter from Mr Howard to AWB chief executive Andrew Lindberg was released, along with scores of other documents, by the Cole inquiry into the UN oil-for-food scandal yesterday.

In the letter dated July 27, 2002, after Iraq threatened to cut wheat imports from Australia, Mr Howard told Mr Lindberg: "In view of the importance of the matter, I suggest the government and AWB Ltd remain in close contact in order that we can jointly attempt to achieve a satisfactory outcome in the longer term." [...]

- Full Article, SMH

AWB paid official $16m: inquiry
January 30, 2006

Exporter AWB paid $16 million to a Pakistani government official to secure grain sales to Pakistan as it accumulated a massive wheat debt to the company, an inquiry has been told.

The Commission of Inquiry probing the wheat exporter's murky deals with Iraq under the UN oil for food program has revealed further details of the company's Pakistan trading in an attempt to show AWB had a culture of kickbacks to foreign governments.

The evidence came as the head of the inquiry, Commissioner Terence Cole, warned he will consider a large number of "prospective offences" under Australian criminal law when he hands down his report. [...]

- Full Article, SMH

 

[leetom]

Wheatgate

Ex-AWB manager reveals kickbacks
SMH, February 2, 2006

A former AWB manager has blown the whistle on the wheat exporter's payment of kickbacks to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime, telling an inquiry that senior executives agreed to the system and knew it could be illegal.

Mark Emons, the former manager of the company's Middle East section, has begun giving evidence to the Commission of Inquiry examining $300 million in kickbacks paid by AWB to Iraq under the United Nations oil-for-food program.

Mr Emons, who was interviewed by commission investigators in secret a week before Christmas, has told the inquiry he helped set up the system that funnelled money to Saddam's regime.

Looks like the shit has really hit the fan. Interesting to see what Cole has to say on the "scope" of the inquiry tomorrow. (Whether the Howard Government personnel should be interviewed.) The US isn't happy either. (RE: Beazley today- "We've got the US Congress breathing down the back of our neck...")

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Re: Wheatgate

Looks like the shit has really hit the fan. Interesting to see what Cole has to say on the "scope" of the inquiry tomorrow. (Whether the Howard Government personnel should be interviewed.) The US isn't happy either. (RE: Beazley today- "We've got the US Congress breathing down the back of our neck...")

Hah. For once a smart move by Beazley

 

[transcendent]

Re: Wheatgate

i don't get what AWB did wrong. what did they do? who did they bribe? i've been trying to read the papers but i don't get it. what did they do wrong?

i was a former left winger, now kinda centre left. NCAP was partially left wing with Asquithian ( peace be with him ) as our prophet.

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Re: Wheatgate

i don't get what AWB did wrong. what did they do? who did they bribe? i've been trying to read the papers but i don't get it. what did they do wrong?

i was a former left winger, now kinda centre left. NCAP was partially left wing with Asquithian ( peace be with him ) as our prophet.

As you probably know, the oil-for-food program established by the UN was set up to allow the Iraqi government to sell oil in exchange for non-military products (humanitarian items like food, basic supplies, etc.). Baring in mind that Iraq had tough sanctions on it for a long time, the US and UN wanted a way to get food to the Iraqi people without allowing Saddam to buy anything remotely military in nature. While it did feed a lot of people, the problem was that there was apparently a great deal of corruption involved.

Some of this corruption was alleged to have been associated with UN officers, but more has been unearthed now about particular parties, including the AWB.

What was supposed to happen was that most of the revenue from the oil sales was to go to the Iraqi government so that they could purchase goods/commodities. Every penny passed to Saddam was to be scrutinised and distributed through a special fund managed by the UN.

Unfortunately, Saddam found a way to funnel more money to himself and less to his people. Among other things, the Iraqi government offered contracts to purchase goods to some particular sellers on the condition that they pay back some of their profit ("kickbacks") to Saddam directly. The price of the goods was then raised to cover these bribes.

As I understand it, the seller not only received the benefit of getting the contract, but they also kept some of the extra, overcharged amount.

One such seller was the AWB. Not only that, but it turns out they were the biggest contributor of the kickbacks. Not only that, but it turns out Saddam was purchasing military equipment during this period and that he was using the cash made from the kickbacks to do so. You can see why the UN is not particularly happy about this.

 

[transcendent]

Re: Wheatgate

is that all? sounds like what any shrewd and opportunistic businessman would do, i know i would. the director of the AWB should've found himself a nice island to relax. i guess the Americans are getting worked up cause they couldn't get away with it.
thanks for the explanation and how it was related to the UN.

 

[MoonlightSonata]

Well I suppose if it was any other regime - but it was Saddam Hussein.

I should also mention that for each transaction (or some predefined amount) the UN was distributing some of the money to Kuwait before giving the remainder to the Iraqi regime. So Saddam was jumping that filter as well.

 

[erawamai]

I would say that BoS was formerly dominated by lefties (I believe Labor held BoS by about a 16 point margin at the federal election).

However in more recent times free marketeers have come to dominate - this would largely be to do with more of us coming into contact with university economics.

What hasn't changed is that the majority are still commited to libetarian values (which convieniently intermesh with neo-classical economics).

BoS is now dominated by free-marketeer libetarians, Waf, Neo, myself and even Moonlight and Erawami would be prime examples.

I think you are talking about 8 levels above the standard shown in this thread. About three people in this thread would actually have some kind of idea of what you said