Kickback
Subtitle: inside the Australian Wheat Board scandal
By: Caroline Overington
Contributors: Australian Wheat Board; United Nations. Oil-for-Food Program
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Crows Nest, N.S.W
Language: eng
Number of pages: 308
ISBN-13: 9781741751949; 9781741762013
Subjects: Politics and government; Australian Food relief; Untersuchungsausschuss; Australia; Weizenexport; Corrupt practices; Australia. Inquiry into Certain Australian Companies in Relation to the UN Oil-For-Food Programme; United Nations. Oil-for-Food Program; Government liability; Australian Wheat Board; Administrative responsibility; Illegalita t; United Nations
Description: On the eve of the war in Iraq, Australia's wheat exporter, AWB Ltd - a company once owned and controlled by the Federal government - sent more than $290 million to the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. It bolstered the tyrant's grip on power and weakened the United Nations sanctions designed to bring him to his knees. The money flowed right up until the day Australian troops were sent to Iraq to fight a bloody war on the streets of Baghdad. The Howard government was repeatedly warned that AWB was up to its neck in corruption but took no action. And when the scandal was finally uncovered, Prime Minister John Howard, Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer and Trade Minister Mark Vaile denied all knowledge of the scam. A shadow was cast over Australia's reputation in international trade and a billion dollars' worth of business was lost.
Notes: Includes index.

Bibliography: p. [269]-292.
Table of contents: title: Contents : Part One: The kickback; title: Part two: The cover up; title: Part three: The Cole inquiry.