Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Wang, move:

That the following matters be referred to the Economics References Committee for inquiry and report by 1 July 2016:

(a) the measures governing the activities of Australian corporations, entities, organisations, individuals, government and related parties with respect to foreign bribery, with specific reference to the effectiveness of, and any possible improvements to, Australia’s implementation of its obligations under:

(i) the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions(OECD Convention), and

(ii) the United Nations Convention against Corruption(UNCAC); and

(b) as part of, or in addition to, paragraph(a), the effectiveness of, and any possible improvements to, existing Commonwealth legislation governing foreign bribery, including:

(i) Commonwealth treaties, agreements, jurisdictional reach, and other measures for gathering information and evidence,

(ii) the resourcing, effectiveness and structure of Commonwealth agencies and statutory bodies to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute under the legislation, including cooperation between bodies,

(iii) standards of admissible evidence,

(iv) the range of penalties available to the courts, including debarment from government contracts and programs,

(v) the statute of limitations,

(vi) the range of offences, for example:

  (A) false accounting along the lines of the ‘books and records’ head in the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,

  (B) increased focus on the offence of ‘failure to create a corporate culture of compliance’,

  (C) liability of directors and senior managers who do not implement a corporate culture of compliance, and

  (D) liability of parent companies for subsidiaries and intermediaries, including joint ventures,

(vii) measures to encourage self-reporting, including but not limited to, civil resolutions, settlements, negotiations, plea bargains, enforceable undertakings and deferred prosecution agreements,

(viii) official guidance to corporations and others as to what is a ‘culture of compliance’ and a good anti-bribery compliance program,

(ix) private sector whistleblower protection and other incentives to report foreign bribery,

(x) facilitation payment defence,

(xi) use of suppression orders in prosecutions,

(xii) foreign bribery not involving foreign public officials, for example, company to company or international sporting bodies,

(xiii) the economic impact, including compliance and reporting costs, of foreign bribery, and

(xiv) any other related matters.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Responding to corruption and the bribing of foreign public officials is something this government takes very seriously. The government has a zero tolerance approach to corruption in all its forms and is already taking significant steps to address this issue. We have strong laws to prevent corrupt activity both domestically and overseas, and in recent years Australia has dramatically stepped up efforts to enforce these offences. As a party to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, Australia is a member of the OECD working group on bribery. A number of recommendations were made by that group. In particular, the Australian Federal Police has taken significant steps to improve enforcement of foreign bribery by the launch of the AFP-hosted multi-agency Fraud and Anti-Corruption Centre to tackle serious and complex corruption, including foreign bribery, by bringing together experts from a range of agencies to ensure that foreign bribery allegations are fully investigated, and also the creation of a foreign bribery panel of experts. The government will continue to explore options to strengthen our laws and means of enforcing them but— (Time expired)

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Xenophon be agreed to.

Question agreed to.