Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House directs the Prime Minister to immediately establish a full and independent inquiry with:

(1) powers equivalent to a Royal Commission to investigate the bank note bribery scandal concerning the Reserve Bank of Australia, Securency and Note Printing Australia; and

(2) terms of reference that require it to investigate and report on at least the following matters:

(a) allegations of corruption in securing note printing contracts and payments to overseas agents into offshore tax havens;

(b) what the Reserve Bank of Australia, Austrade and the Australian Government each knew about the alleged behaviour, and when they knew it;

(c) what due diligence was applied and what investigations were conducted into the allegations;

(d) whether there has been appropriate governance by public institutions and companies;

(e) what action has been taken to prevent improper dealings occurring again and whether that action is sufficient;

(f) recommendations regarding future actions that should be taken by government and agencies to prevent similar problems in the future; and

(g) any related matters.

There is a dark cloud hanging over the Reserve Bank of Australia that only the government can remove. Saying hardly a word, the Treasurer has allowed this dark cloud to grow and cover ever more of the landscape. As a result, Australia's central bank sits with its governance under question. It is now time for the Prime Minister to step in and restore public confidence in the Reserve Bank with a full and independent inquiry.

It is absolutely essential in a democracy for the public to have confidence in the integrity and appropriate governance of our public institutions. In a market economy, it is particularly crucial that there is the same confidence in the key institutions that are tasked with managing the economy. That is what makes the recent allegations of involvement in bribery against two Reserve Bank subsidiaries, Securency and Note Printing Australia, all the more concerning. The more that is revealed about the bank note scandal, the more it appears that serious questions about corporate governance at the Reserve Bank need to be answered. It is also clear that questions need to be answered by the government, particularly with regard to Austrade and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

I want to review briefly some of what has been disclosed about this whole affair. According to reports by the Age, the leadership of the RBA failed to notify the police of evidence that it had as far back as 2007 that its subsidiary Note Printing Australia was involved with the bribery of foreign officials. The NPA board, which included former and current RBA board members or officials, was provided information in 2007 that company agents were bribing officials in Malaysia and Nepal, according to the Age. After being alerted to bribery concerns by the NPA board, the Reserve Bank leadership decided to handle the matter internally rather than notify the police. The Australian Federal Police were not told about these allegations regarding the NPA until May 2009, about two years later, and only after the Age exposed corruption concerns at the other RBA company, Securency. This is despite the RBA's chief auditor finding serious problems with NPA's use of agents and his findings being examined by the bank's audit committee, according to the Age.

To get to the nub of it, we are talking about tens of millions of dollars of public money. Both of the RBA's companies have now been charged with conspiracy to bribe foreign officials and a number of executives have also been charged. Yet the RBA is still to explain what and when it knew and how its oversight of these two companies could be so flawed as to allow this to happen. Most importantly—and this is crucial—we must get to the bottom of why it appears that the RBA failed for so long to notify police of the serious evidence of wrongdoing.

It is incredible to me that, in spite of these serious allegations of corruption and bribery and the breakdown in accountability and governance, the government and, in particular, the Treasurer have remained almost mute about the problem. It is the Australian Greens' view that the government can no longer be silent on this matter and it is time for action. The Prime Minister should establish a full and independent inquiry that has the powers it needs to get to the bottom of what has occurred, and it needs to look at everyone involved, including the Reserve Bank.

So I am moving this motion to make clear parliament's view that the government cannot ignore this problem and must establish such an inquiry. I want to make clear that in moving this motion there is no suggestion on our part that the AFP is not doing its job in investigating and bringing charges. This inquiry will not cut across the AFP's work because the inquiry's focus will be on the failure of governance within the RBA, something the AFP investigation does not necessarily have as its focus. This is not about undermining the Reserve Bank; it is the opposite—because now, more than ever, given the global financial instability, it is vital that public confidence in the Reserve Bank is restored. (Time expired)

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