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The Forum > Article Comments > National watchdog is needed > Comments

National watchdog is needed : Comments

By Bruce Hawker, published 3/2/2006

Bruce Hawker argues there is a need for government officials to face the Cole Inquiry over the AWB oil-for-food scandal.

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Let's be honest here.To do business in Asia or The Middle East,corruption is the order of the day if you want to trade.

It is broadly accepted in business that money is paid under the table to secure deals when dealing with Asian and Middle Eastern countries.So it is alright for private enterprise to pay the ransom for doing business,but not the Aust Wheat Board,upon which the lively hood of hundreds of farmers rely,not to mention the millions in foreign tax dollars our Govt so desperately needs.

We are being a little too precious here,we either acknowledge and ban all forms of corruption or stop being so selective about who we target as the sole perpetrators.

My guess is that the instructions from the Aust Govt were to "Do whatever it takes to keep the contract" and they simply didn't want to know the details.Labor would probably have done the same.

Had the contract been lost they would have been berated for incompetence.The US is falsely taking the high moral ground since they want the contract also.

The US gets very underhanded in business dealings.Note how this free trade agreement is not benefiting us.Our exports to them have hardly changed,while the reverse is true from their perspective.
Posted by Arjay, Saturday, 4 February 2006 2:03:51 PM
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Clash of mentalities: no bribe – no business.

Voters elect those who can do something for them- is it clear?

“Job market in Australia” – this is an AUSTRALIAN forum- is de facto a playground for mates and some very lucky might get some temporary part-time post on merits of a biological origin and IF good REFERENCES, anyway. A classic question of a Melbourne University professor-a professional in an international development: If all applying for a job have the same credentials, what is a factor to select one? Honestly enough.

"International reviving activities" – do not ask do not tell. If five cents of each dollar reach needy, the UN and a DEVELOPED - DONORS’ - world will be overwhelmingly happy.

So, WHY wheat contracts should go to Australia rather than to the USA? Why Sydney Olympics – not Londonderry or somewhere? Why politicians must know particulars if playing STRATEGY was their major task and upon-all-history-run-excuse-all-over-the-world-for?

Might it r e a l i s t i c a l l y be a task of APPOINTED R O Y A L commission to disclose a c a r n a l knowledge of an appointer, if any, or a necessary good wish of the still believing in a g a m e?
Posted by MichaelK., Saturday, 4 February 2006 11:27:10 PM
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Arjay

Unfortunately, I concur with your analysis of events. Under the counter transactions will continue to be the M.O. until Asia & the middle East adopt western style democracy - if ever. And I admit to painting western democracy a higher gloss than it deserves.

Of course the USA is making a meal out of this - I think their 'high mighty' moral position on the AWB scandal irks me more than Howards now rhetorical "I wasn't informed" well, almost.

Will the Cole inquiry achieve responsible and honest government? Well, I'll not hold my breath for the aerodynamic swine to pass by my window anytime soon. I may be so bold to state "never, ever".
Posted by Scout, Sunday, 5 February 2006 11:22:18 AM
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Flashback:

• On February 21 2003 The Prime Minister, John Howard, accused 500,000 Australians who took part in peace rallies of giving "comfort to Saddam Hussein".

Well I for one think (in retrospect) in was better than giving Saddam $300 million.
Posted by Rainier, Sunday, 5 February 2006 3:01:23 PM
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"Had the contract been lost they would have been berated for incompetence.The US is falsely taking the high moral ground since they want the contract also."

Exactly Arjay! The US uses every trick in the book to do deals for US wheatgrowers. Subsidies galore, political pressure, you name it.
AWB has to sell wheat, no subsidies here, so they have to perform.

Selling in the third world, if you apply our standards, you'll battle to sell anything. I don't think Rudd understands that, so all his comments will be making American wheat farmers very happy, at the expense of ours
Posted by Yabby, Sunday, 5 February 2006 4:09:56 PM
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Part One

To Arjay and Yabby, you have both hit the nail on the head, specially concerning buggered up agreements, and dirtied down friendships. Of course, as usual, the people who are going to suffer are the wheat cockies, who some say deserve all the sh-t thrown at them, because they should never have trusted a conservative party to look after them, as proven by the way they let the old Country Party be absorbed by the now Big Biz money- minded Libs.

But onto what we’re on about, not so much the AWB stuff-up but our dear American Iraqi attack buddies, coming in on the grouter and stealing our Iraqi grain market.

As producers and dealers in cheap subsidised grain, the bloody Yanks, as we’ve called them more than once, now deserve everything we can throw at them including pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Besides disgracing their own WTO by breaking the group’s premier law rule, namely industrial protection, in this case, subsidisation of the world’s largest wheat industry, America has pretty well ruined Latin American agriculture with the dumping of its cheap subsidised wheat. Now we have the So and So’s stealing our Iraqi market, no doubt getting on the better side of the Iraqi people by landing a much cheaper protected product than we can afford to arrange.
Posted by bushbred, Monday, 6 February 2006 3:21:48 AM
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