January 19, 2007

 

Australia's AWB Board urged to step down
 

 

The board of directors of Australian agribusiness AWB Ltd. should step down in the wake of a damning report into the Iraqi kickbacks scandal, Murray Jones, Chairman of grower lobby Grains Council of Australia, said Thursday.

 

Jones also strongly criticised the millions of dollars in payouts by AWB to disgraced former executives named in a report to government by Terence Cole alleging possible criminal behavior in the scandal.

 

Jones said AWB Chairman Brendan Stewart "got it right" with his decision to step down after AWB's annual shareholder meeting Feb 22 in Melbourne.

 

As chairman he is ultimately responsible for what happened at AWB during the oil-for-food scandal, Jones said in a statement.

 

The rest of AWB's board, and the board of its International unit, which operated a wheat export monopoly during the Iraqi scandal, "should consider their own futures," he said.

 

Directors are responsible for the policies, behavior and ethics of the company they 'direct', he said.

 

All of the board members of AWB carry a heavy burden for the behavior of the disgraced former AWB executives, he said.

 

Jones was commenting after AWB Wednesday issued its annual report for last fiscal year ended Sept. 30 2006, which included an admission by Stewart that the Board "deeply regretted and accepted ultimate responsibility" for the oil-for-food scandal.

 

AWB's annual report also revealed large salaries, bonuses, termination payments and share options granted in fiscal 2005-06, Jones said, when growers were facing steadily declining terms of trade.

 

These executives have been found by Commissioner Cole to have been acting totally inappropriately in their roles as managers, yet the AWB Board sees fit to give them a 'golden handshake' and a pat on the back", he said.

 

In a report to government in November, former judge Terence Cole found that AWB might have broken local criminal and corporate laws by making payments to the Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime in breach of UN sanctions, and named 11 former AWB executives as possibly acting illegally.

 

Since then, the government has temporarily stripped AWB of its power of veto over bulk wheat exports by competitors and approved bulk wheat export license applications by Wheat Australia Ltd. to Iraq and Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd. to Indonesia.

 

It also has established an independent panel to consult with wheat growers and the industry "about their wheat export marketing needs" and report by March 30, which the government will then use to inform a decision on future wheat export marketing.