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AWB Oil-for-wheat Scandal
The AWB oil-for-wheat scandal (also known just as the AWB scandal) refers to the payment of kickbacks to the regime of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in contravention of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Humanitarian Programme. AWB Limited is a major grain marketing organisation based in Australia. For much of the 20th and early 21st century, it was an Australian Government entity operating a single desk regime over Australian wheat, meaning it had the sole ability to export Australian wheat, for which it paid a single, fixed price. In the mid-2000s, it was found to have been, through middlemen, paying kickbacks to the regime of Saddam Hussein, in exchange for lucrative wheat contracts. This was in direct contradiction of United Nations Sanctions, and of Australian law. AWB delivered 90% of the Iraqi wheat market before its practices were questioned in 2005. United Nations investigator Paul Volcker found that the Australian Wheat Board, and later AWB Limited, were not the only, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the Iraq–Kuwait border, southeast, Jordan to Iraq–Jordan border, the southwest, and Syria to Iraq–Syria border, the west. The country covers an area of and has Demographics of Iraq, a population of over 46 million, making it the List of countries by area, 58th largest country by area and the List of countries by population, 31st most populous in the world. Baghdad, home to over 8 million people, is the capital city and the List of largest cities of Iraq, largest in the country. Starting in the 6th millennium BC, the fertile plains between Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers, referred to as Mesopotamia, fostered the rise of early cities, civilisations, and empires including Sumer, Akkadian Empire, Akkad, and Assyria. Known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Department Of Foreign Affairs And Trade (Australia)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trade, and investment (including trade and investment promotion Austrade). Australia's total official development assistance (ODA) (US$3 billion) decreased in 2022 due to differences in Australia's financial year reporting and the timing of its COVID-19-related expenditure, representing 0.19% of gross national income (GNI). The head of the department is its secretary, presently Jan Adams. She reports to Penny Wong, who has held the position of Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2022. History The department finds its origins in two of the seven original Commonwealth Departments established following Federation in 1901: the Department of Trade and Customs and the Department of External Affairs (DEA), headed by Harry Wollaston and Atlee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (officially the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions) is an anti-corruption convention of the OECD that requires signatory countries to criminalize bribery of foreign public officials. The convention is a legally binding international agreement that focuses on the supply-side of bribery by criminalizing acts of offering or giving bribes to foreign public officials by companies or individuals. Its goal is to create a level playing field in the international business environment. A 2017 study found that multinational corporations that were subject to the convention were less likely to engage in bribery than corporations that were based in non-member states. A 2021 study found that the convention may increase bribery by firms from non-ABC member countries and lead firms in ABC member countries to shift to bribery through intermediaries in non-ABC member countries. History In 1989, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Dollar
The Australian dollar (currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: AUD; also abbreviated A$ or sometimes AU$ to distinguish it from other dollar, dollar-denominated currencies; and also referred to as the dollar or Aussie dollar) is the official currency and Legal tender#Australia, legal tender of Australia, including States and territories of Australia, all of its external territories, and three independent sovereign Pacific Islands, Pacific Island states: Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. * ThMoney Trackersite allows users to track Australian banknotes as they circulate around Australia. Images of historic and modern Australian bank notes* [https://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/historical-data.html?v=2022-09-25-02-11-35#exchange-rates Reserve Bank of Australia – historical data of AUD since 1969 (various .xls files)] The banknotes of Australia {{Authority control 1966 establishments in Australia Articles containing video clips Circulating currencies Currencies int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
News Limited
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The group's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets. News Pty Ltd (formerly News Limited) is the holding company of the group. Until the formation of News Corporation in 1979, News Limited was the principal holding company for the business interests of Rupert Murdoch and his family. Since then, News Limited had been wholly owned by News Corporation. In 2004, News Corporation announced its intention to reincorporate to the United States. On 3 November 2004, News Corp Limited ceased trading on the Australian Securities Exchange; and on 8 November, News Corporation began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. On 28 June 2013, News Corporation was split into two separate companies. Murdoch's newspaper interests became News Corp, which was the new parent company of N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Ruddock
Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born 12 March 1943 in Canberra) is an Australian politician and former Mayor of Hornsby Shire Council. He is a Vice Chair of the Global Panel Foundation Australasia. Ruddock was previously a Liberal member of the House of Representatives from 1973 to 2016. First elected in a 1973 by-election, by the time of his retirement he was the last parliamentary survivor of the Whitlam and Fraser governments. He was both the Father of the House and the Father of the Parliament from 1998 to retirement. He is the second longest-serving parliamentarian in the history of the Australian Parliament; only Billy Hughes has served longer. Ruddock served continuously in the ministry during the Howard government, as Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs from 1996 to 2001 (promoted to the federal Cabinet in 2003), Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs from 2001 to 2003, and Attorney-General from 2003 to 2007. Early life an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attorney-General Of Australia
The attorney-general of Australia (AG), also known as the Commonwealth attorney-general, is the minister of state and chief law officer of the Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing federal legal affairs and public security as the head of the Attorney-General’s Department. The current attorney-general is Michelle Rowland, who was chosen by prime minister Anthony Albanese in May 2025 following the 2025 federal election. By convention, the attorney-general is a lawyer. The attorney-general is one of only four positions in the Commonwealth Government to have continuously been held since federation, along with the prime minister, the minister for defence and the treasurer. History The attorney-general is nearly always a person with legal training, and eleven former attorneys-general have received senior judicial appointments after their ministerial service. Billy Hughes was the longest-serving attorney-general of Australia, serving for thirteen and a half year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the second-longest in Australian history, behind only Sir Robert Menzies. Howard has also been the oldest living Australian former prime minister since the death of Bob Hawke in May 2019. Howard was born in Sydney and studied law at the University of Sydney. He was a commercial lawyer before entering parliament. A former federal president of the Young Liberals, he first stood for office at the 1968 New South Wales state election, but lost narrowly. At the 1974 federal election, Howard was elected as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Bennelong. He was promoted to cabinet in 1977, and later in the year replaced Phillip Lynch as treasurer of Australia, remaining in that position until the defeat of Malcolm Fraser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Minister Of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the principles of responsible government, the prime minister is both responsible to and a member of the Parliament of Australia, Commonwealth Parliament. The current prime minister is Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party, who assumed the office on 23 May 2022. The role and duties of the prime minister are not described by the Australian constitution but rather defined by Constitutional convention (political custom), constitutional convention deriving from the Westminster system and responsible government. The prime minister is formally appointed by the Governor-General of Australia, governor-general, who is ordinarily constrained by convention to choose the parliamentarian able to Confidence and supply, command the confidence of the Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New South Wales Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court is the highest New South Wales court in the Australian court hierarchy, an appeal by special leave can be made to the High Court of Australia. Matters of appeal can be submitted to the New South Wales Court of Appeal and Court of Criminal Appeal, both of which are constituted by members of the Supreme Court, in the case of the Court of Appeal from those who have been commissioned as judges of appeal. The Supreme Court consists of 52 permanent judges, including the Chief Justice of New South Wales, presently Andrew Bell, the President of the Court of Appeal, 10 Judges of Appeal, the Chief Judge at Common Law, and the Chief Judge in Equity. The Supreme Court's central location is the Law Courts Building in Queen's Square, Sydney, New S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen's Counsel
A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's Counsel (QC). The position originated in England and Wales. Some Commonwealth countries have retained the designation, while others have either abolished the position or renamed it so as to remove monarchical connotations — for example, "Senior Counsel" or "Senior Advocate". Appointment as King's Counsel is an office recognised by courts. Members in the UK have the privilege of sitting within the inner Bar (law), bar of court. As members wear silk gowns of a particular design, appointment as King's Counsel is known informally as ''taking silk'' and KCs are often colloquially called ''silks''. Appointments are made from within the legal profession on the basis of merit and not a particular level of expe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terence Cole (jurist)
Terence Rhoderic Hudson Cole, (born 31 October 1937), is an Australian jurist, known best for presiding over two Australian Government Royal Commissions. Background Cole was born in Longreach, Queensland, and was educated at Fort Street High School in Sydney; where he was school Vice Captain. He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1961 with a BA LL.B. Legal career Cole practiced as a solicitor before he was admitted to the bar in 1962 where he represented in commercial and common law matters and before the Land and Environment Court. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1976. Cole was appointed as a judge to the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1988 in the Common Law Division; and then in the Commercial Division of the Court until 1994. He was promoted as a judge of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales in 1994 and served until 1998. Between 1998 and 2000 Cole became a Court appointed referee, arbitrator and mediator in various commercial disputes. With an act ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
