Polls & Research

More Australians Upset Over Iraq Dealings

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - More adults in Australia are expressing disappointment at the relationship between the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein and the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), according to a poll by Roy Morgan International. 65 per cent of respondents believe the AWB did not act ethically in their negotiations, up six points since February.

The AWB oversees the exports of grain products, and was established as a government body until July 1999, when it became a private company. Late last year, Australian media outlets reported that the AWB knowingly provided kickbacks to the Iraqi government headed by Hussein, under a scheme developed under the United Nations (UN) Oil-for-Food program. Close to $225 million U.S. were paid as "transportation fees."

In January, Australian prime minister John Howard—who has headed the federal government since March 1996—said his administration had no knowledge about the kickback scheme. 63 per cent of respondents believe the government did not act ethically on the issue, up six points in two months.

In October 2005, a report on the Oil-for-Food program published by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker placed the AWB as the biggest provider of kickbacks to Iraq, mainly through a Jordanian trucking company called Alia. Reports suggest that deputy prime minister John Anderson, foreign minister Alexander Downer and agriculture minister Warren Truss were warned in advance about Volcker's findings.

On Apr. 27, Howard declared, "The reality is that, and I choose my words carefully, I don't want to say something that I shouldn't be saying at this particular time, but I think I can say this, that it appears to me as though AWB (...) has misled the following: it misled the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; it misled Mr. Volcker, because it didn't provide all of the information it wanted; it's misled the United Nations."

Terry Forrest, a lawyer who represents two AWB executives, submitted a statement to the commission and expressed concern over the prime minister's remarks. The document read, "By prejudging issues that this commission will eventually have to determine, by offering the government's opinion of what the findings should be at a government-established commission, the perception of independence that ought to accompany all commissions of this kind is destroyed."

Polling Data

In your opinion, did AWB Ltd.'s (formerly the Australian Wheat Board) act ethically in their negotiations to sell wheat to the Iraqi government, or not?

Recently there has been discussion about whether or how much the federal government knew of AWB Ltd. paying bribes to the Iraqi government in their negotiations to sell wheat. From what you know or have heard, do you think the federal government acted ethically on this issue, or not?