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FOUNDED IN 1854 Published by the AgeCompany Ltd (ABN 85 004 262 702) of 250Spencer Street, Melbourne. Printed by The AgePrint Company Pty Ltd (ABN 36096 607 402),Western Avenue, Tullamarine. Paul Ramadge,Editor in Chief, takes responsibility for politicaleditorial comment in this publication. To findout more about The Age, its people, historyand services, go to about.theage.com.au

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Notes on a scandal

Hanoi businessman AnhNgoc Luong has strong

connections with theVietnamese Government.So why is Securency, theReserve Bank’s polymerbanknote firm, sending

him money?By Richard Baker and

Nick McKenzie.

FOCUS PAGE 13

Myer price settles low PAGE 1

Timbercorp faces class action PAGE 3

Banks have turned corner: ANZ chief PAGE 4

Newcrest cashed up, ready to strike PAGE 5

BUSINESSDAY

Taliban strike puts UN aid programs at risk PAGE 9

Canadian folk singer killed in coyote attack PAGE 9

Swiss move to end ‘suicide tourism’ PAGE 10

Dead celebrities rake in the cash PAGE 10

WORLD

Government scramble over liquor licensing PAGE 3

Body in barrel is missing grandmother PAGE 3

English test scam investigated in India PAGE 4

Cataract rebate slashed, for now PAGE 4

More charges likely in pack rape case PAGE 5

Fire spotters ‘lacking basic equipment’ PAGE 5

Workers sicker than they think they are PAGE 6

Bid to repair China-Australia relations PAGE 7

Cancer challenge a clear-cut revelation PAGE 7

NEWS OPINION PAGE 15

Maureen Dowd on Barack Obama:‘Like other bosses,

presidents surroundthemselves with

people who makethem comfortable.’

Lady swings the bluesTHE ARTS PAGE 17

As singer-guitaristDeborah Coleman points

out on the eve of theWangaratta Jazz Festival,the blues keeps comingback in fashion, writes

Ken Williams.

2 THE AGEFRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

THE AGE TODAY

RBA’s new ‘bribe’ stormFrom PAGE 1

Government sources said theDepartment of Foreign Affairsand Trade had long believed MrLuong to be a government offi-cial and his firm an arm of thePublic Security Ministry. Onesenior source said CFTD’s gov-ernment connections were‘‘common knowledge’’ amongAustralian embassy officials inVietnam.

A Securency source saidsenior company officials hadprivately claimed that Mr Luongwas a senior security official.

Mr Luong is also listed as adirector of CFTD’s Australianoperations, based in Frankston,Melbourne. A second directorand shareholder of CFTD’sAustralian firm is Vietnam’sattache to the United Nationsand World Trade Organisation

in Geneva, Thuong Minh Do.Securency and the RBA have

refused to explain why the pay-ments to Mr Luong and CFTDwere so high and sent to off-shore accounts, saying it wasinappropriate to comment dur-ing a police inquiry.

In 2007, when Securencyexecutives were quizzed by anoverseas reporter about whytheir firm was working withCFTD, they stressed the Hanoicompany’s role was limitedmostly to the translation of doc-uments, arranging meetingsand airport pick-ups.

‘‘A lot of the [CFTD’s] roles inthe early stages were to do withinterpreting and translating . . .so that is the primary role theyplay. So it is the liaison betweenthe state bank,’’ Securency man-aging director Myles Curtis saidin the 2007 interview.

New chance to aid Murray DarlingCotton farm sale lifts hope for riversBy PETER KERand TOM ARUP

HOPES have soared that hugeamounts of water from Aus-tralia’s most famous cotton farmcould return to the Murray-Darling river system, afteradministrators were appointedto handle the affairs of Queens-land’s Cubbie Station.

After months of trying to sellthe huge station and its waterentitlement to governments andagricultural businesses, Cubbiechairman Keith De Lacy said thecompany would be handed toadministrators today. ‘‘In the

end it was drought that beat us,’’he said.

‘‘We have only had one goodseason in the last five.’’

When full, Cubbie holds amammoth 530 billion litres ofwater; by comparison,Melbourne’s massive Thomsondam yesterday was holding219 billion litres.

Mr De Lacy said the com-pany was struggling to satisfy a$320 million debt arrangementto the National Australia Bank,and he was confident that goinginto administration wouldcause the least disruption toCubbie’s operations.

‘‘We have discussed and havein-principle agreements withthe voluntary administratorssuch that the business can con-tinue to trade and we will workwith them during the adminis-tration period,’’ he said.

‘‘This will allow the value inthe assets to be realised in anorderly way, in the interests ofall our stakeholders.’’

It was unclear last night whatthe development would meanfor the sale of Cubbie and theCommonwealth’s buyback ofwater entitlement in theMurray-Darling river system.

University of Adelaide waterexpert Professor Mike Youngsaid it increased the chancesthat Cubbie’s infamous waterentitlement returning to the

environment. ‘‘Whether that isthrough acquisition or thelicences being cancelled, thisclearly increases the chancesthat Cubbie’s water will return tothe river,’’ he said.

Australian ConservationFoundation spokeswomanDr Arlene Buchan said the Com-monwealth, which has baulkedat offers to buy Cubbie’swater, was faced with a newopportunity.

‘‘There is a renewed space forthe Commonwealth to explorethe opportunities with stategovernments and other stake-holders,’’ she said.

Federal Water MinisterPenny Wong would not com-ment on the shift to administra-tion, but said the Government

remained open to talks with anywilling seller of water in theMurray-Darling system.

Water rules in Queensland,which insist on land and waterentitlement being sold together,are known to have played a rolein dousing Commonwealthinterest in Cubbie.

Independent senator forSouth Australia Nick Xenophonsaid Cubbie’s failure was proofthat the enterprise was not sus-tainable and state governmentscould not be trusted with waterallocations.

‘‘The only way to avoid moreCubbies is for there to be animmediate national takeover ofour river systems, including theMurray-Darling Basin,’’ he said.

Queensland National sen-

ator Barnaby Joyce yesterdayblasted Liberal senator Bill Hef-fernan and members of the Fed-eral Government who hadpublicly questioned the askingprice of Cubbie’s owners.

Senator Joyce said commentsby Senator Heffernan hadscared away potential investorsand destroyed jobs for residentsof the nearby town St George.‘‘Who wins out of this? . . . Inever hear them talk about waysto reinvest in the employmentof the area,’’ Senator Joycesaid.

‘‘All I ever hear about is atirade of venom that has finallybrought about what they want— they have managed to be partand parcel of sending a townbroke.’’ With AAP

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THE AGEFRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2009 9

FITZGIBBON’SFALL

MARCH 26 The Age reveals that defence officials conducted a covert probe into Joel Fitzgibbon’s relationship with Chinese

businesswoman Helen Liu (left).There were concerns their

relationship might pose a security risk given Ms

Liu’s ties to the Chinese Government.

MARCH 27 Fitzgibbon reveals that he failed to disclose two

�

�

trips to China paid for by Liu, after earlier telling the media he only received “very small gifts” from her.

MARCH 28 Australia’s intelligence watchdog, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, begins investigation into claims that a Defence intelligence official improperly searched the minister’s computer. Defence Department also investigating claims that defence officials looked into Fitzgibbon’s personal affairs.

MARCH 28 The Age reveals that defence officials had privately raised concerns about Fitzgibbon’s

�

�

role in the lobbying by a business connected to his brother. Mark Fitzgibbon (right), whois managing director of the NIB Health Fund, and executives of US health services giant Humana, met Government and defence officials. Joel Fitzgibbon said he had drinks with NIB and Humana representatives, but had referred their request to discuss business dealings to other Government ministers.

APRIL 2The Agereveals a third China trip paid for

by Liu, taken in 1993 before Fitzgibbon was a minister. Also on the trip was Fitzgibbon’s father,Eric, who was then

a federal Labor MP.

APRIL 4 Revealed that Liu gave Joel Fitzgibbon at least $40,000 in direct political donations while she was working closely with Chinese

�

�

embassy officials in Australia. Liu gave at least another $50,000 to the NSW ALP between 2001 and 2007.

MAY 30Defence Department secretary Nick Warner(right) dismissesas “fiction”claims his officials spied on the minister.

�

JUNE 2 Fitzgibbon reveals he failed to declare an interest on the MPs’register in regard to $450 of hotel accommodation paid for by his brother’s company in June last year.

JUNE 3 Australia’s intelligence and security watchdog backs Warner’s findings that no “rogue elements”in the Department conducted a covert probe of the minister. But Fitzgibbon is under fresh pressure, after revelations by Major-General Paul Alexander (right), who says he was instructed to attend

meetings with the minister’s brother at which defence health contracting was discussed.

�

�

JUNE 4 Joel Fitzgibbon resigns from cabinet after revelations that he failed to disclose additional meetings he had with his brother’s company, in contrast to theminister’s earlier public assurances.

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HOW THE AGE REPORTED THE FITZGIBBON AFFAIR

Brothers in armsRichard Baker and Nick McKenzie, whose reports exposedJoel Fitzgibbon’s problematic affairs, chart the minister’s demise.

‘Former business associates of Liu . . . haveclaimed that Fitzgibbon was vulnerable to moredamaging revelations.’

SOMETIMES theinnocuous can provedeadly. And so it wasfor Joel Fitzgibbonwhen he respondedto questions from TheAge on an afternoon

in late March. In committing to apublic statement on the level of hisinvolvement in his brother’s Parlia-ment House lobbying, Fitzgibbon seta trap for himself.

Two months later — after with-standing revelations about hisfriendship with a Chinese-bornbusinesswoman with close ties toBeijing’s political and military elite,and failures to declare gifts and spon-sored travel — that trap snappedshut. Yesterday, the Defence Ministerresigned, becoming the first minis-terial scalp in the Labor Government.

As Prime Minister Kevin Ruddexplained, the catalyst for Fitzgibbon’sresignation was the inaccuracies in‘‘undertakings that the minister madepublicly in March’’ about his role inthe lobbying activities of his brother.Mark Fitzgibbon is the managingdirector of NIB Health Fund who, inpartnership with US companyHumana, last year sought to do busi-ness with the Defence Force.

In response to The Age’s questionsin March, Fitzgibbon’s spokesmansaid the minister and his staff werenot involved in discussions with NIBor Humana regarding Australiandefence health contracts. Fitzgibbon’soffice had directed both companiesto deal with Veterans Affairs MinisterAlan Griffin and Defence PersonnelMinister Warren Snowden. Further-more, Fitzgibbon’s spokesman saidthe minister’s office was never usedfor any meeting with the health com-pany officials, only as a place for hisbrother and the Humana executives‘‘to leave their bags’’. In other words,Fitzgibbon’s spokesman had insistedthat the minister had kept well awayfrom his brother’s lobbying.

What emerged yesterday, and wasostensibly the reason for Fitzgibbon’sministerial demise, was the fact thathe was more involved with his broth-er’s Parliament House affairs than heinitially disclosed. ‘‘What he hasinformed us of today is that his staffdid attend meetings with NIB on thismatter and, furthermore, that one ofthose meetings occurred within hisoffice,’’ Rudd said.

Yesterday’s events marked thethird time in just over two monthsthat Fitzgibbon has failed to meetRudd’s ministerial code of conduct.The first came in late March when headmitted to failing to declare twotrips to China paid for by business-woman Helen Liu. Fitzgibbon hadearlier denied receiving any large giftsor travel from his friend.

On Tuesday evening, Fitzgibboninformed Parliament of anotheramendment he needed to make tohis parliamentary register of interests.This mistake concerned a $450 hotelroom paid for by his brother’s com-pany in June last year, just weeksbefore a letter was sent by NIB to

Fitzgibbon’s office requesting meet-ings to discuss defence healthcontracts. The slip-up over the bill,described by Fitzgibbon as a productof confusion after his brother hadpulled out of the hotel stay at the lastminute, was enough to fire up Oppo-sition MPs, who on Wednesday useda parliamentary hearing to grillDefence officials over the lobbyingactivities.

Major-General Paul Alexander,who is responsible for defence healthservices, told the Senate committeethat staff from Snowden’s office andother Defence officials told him toattend meetings featuring MarkFitzgibbon. Alexander said he was ata meeting with Humana executiveson August 27 last year. He said MarkFitzgibbon was also present andappeared to ‘‘sponsor’’ Humana.

When The Age asked the DefenceDepartment in March about meetingsbetween its officials, NIB andHumana, it referred only to theAugust meeting. The departmentfailed to disclose that Mark Fitzgib-bon also met staff from Snowden’soffice and Defence officials on July 3.Until yesterday, the department andJoel Fitzgibbon had kept quiet aboutthe meeting in his office, which wasattended by some of the Defence

Minister’s staff. That Fitzgibbon choseto resign shortly before question timeat 2pm is telling. Had he retained hisposition on the front bench, hewould have faced further questionsabout NIB and Humana. The Oppo-sition also planned to pressFitzgibbon about his relationshipwith Liu, in particular whether shehad given significant amounts of cashor company shares to his familymembers.

Fitzgibbon has repeatedly refusedto answer allegations made by Liu’sbusiness associates — and his one-time friend and former ALP leaderMark Latham — that he and his fam-ily have enjoyed considerablefinancial benefits from the woman hefirst met on a trip to China with hisfather in 1993. For the past twomonths, Fitzgibbon’s standard res-ponse to questions about cash orgifts between Liu and his familymembers has been: ‘‘As advised in theresponse yesterday, Minister Fitzgib-bon has never received any shares orcash from Ms Liu. Questions relatingto any other individuals should bereferred directly to them.’’

So where did the informationabout Fitzgibbon’s ties to Liu —including his rental of a Canberratownhouse owned by her family andhis brother’s lobbying activities comefrom? In the past two months, thesource of the damaging leaks againstFitzgibbon has created a bigger stir

than have the revelations about theminister’s associations and conduct.

In early March, The Age and TheCanberra Times received an anony-mous letter from a person claimingto be a Defence Department official.Concerns were raised about decisionsto allow mining companies to mineon Defence Department land and thepossibility that Fitzgibbon’s familymembers held shares in some of thecompanies. Nothing has emerged tosuggest this information is true.

But the bulk of the letter refers tothe involvement of Fitzgibbon’s officein the lobbying of Defence by NIBand Humana and the minister’s long-term friendship with Helen Liu.

The letter suggested the minister’soffice had been used ‘‘as a base fortheir lobbying activities’’. The fact thatthe Fitzgibbon brothers had beensocialising with Humana executiveswas also raised. ‘‘(Defence) officialsfelt they were being pushed by theminister to do business with hisbrother,’’ the letter said.

On the friendship with Liu, theletter was specific and suggested theChinese-born businesswoman poseda security risk due to her extensivepolitical, business and military con-nections in China. The letterdisclosed that Fitzgibbon was living

at a Canberra residence owned by Liuor her sister, a fact that Australia’sintelligence agencies seemedunaware of or untroubled by. Itreferred to her significant donationsto the ALP and gifts to Fitzgibbon,such as an expensive suit.

The letter also alleged that an offi-cer of the Defence Signals Directoratefound Liu’s credit card details onFitzgibbon’s office IT systems.

Upon receiving the letter, The Ageset about verifying the allegationsraised concerning Fitzgibbon’s friend-ship with Liu, her links to China’spolitical and business elite and hercorporate activities in Sydney and inShandong. The Age also began inves-tigating recent mining licences onDefence land and sought to find outif NIB and Humana had in fact heldmeetings in Canberra last winter.

Most importantly, The Age andThe Canberra Times took time toestablish the identity of the author ofthe letter and to confirm his positionin the senior ranks of the DefenceDepartment before publishing theinitial story. The official is among asmall number of Defence or Austra-lian Defence Force personnel whowere involved in discreet inquiries —done largely out of work hours andaway from work computers — afterhearing of ‘‘gossip’’ circulating amongFitzgibbon’s staff regarding his per-sonal affairs.

In establishing the author’s iden-

tity, The Age did what investigationsby the Defence Department and theInspector-General of Intelligence andSecurity were unable to do. Bothinquiries claimed to have found noevidence of an unauthorised inquiryinto Fitzgibbon by Defence staff.

Defence Department secretaryNick Warner has been at pains to sayhis organisation was not involved inany probe of Fitzgibbon’s personalaffairs, describing the notion as ‘‘purefiction’’. Asked by a Senate estimatescommittee yesterday about thereports that someone in the DefenceSecurity Authority had been lookinginto Fitzgibbon, Warner said: ‘‘Maybeit means some bloke sitting at homeGoogling.’’

The Age discovered informationabout Liu’s $60 million property port-folio, donations of $40,000 toFitzgibbon’s election campaigns and afurther $50,000 to NSW Labor, andher links to Chinese political andmilitary officials by accessing publiclyavailable databases, political financialdisclosures, court transcripts andcompany records. Some of the infor-mation also came from within theDefence Department or the minister’soffice. As yesterday’s events makeclear, the serious questions raisedwere not without substance.

One question left unresolved byFitzgibbon’s resignation is — wasthere more to come? Had he stayedon as minister, Fitzgibbon may haveanticipated the airing of further infor-mation about his ties to Liu ordealings with his brother’s company.Given his initial failings to issue accu-rate disclosures, the risk of furtherexposure was too great.

Certainly, former businessassociates of Liu who remain politi-cally and commercially engaged inAustralia have claimed that Fitzgib-bon was vulnerable to moredamaging revelations. They maintainthe Fitzgibbon family may haveenjoyed further largesse from Liu andher companies, dating back to 1993when the pair first met as heaccompanied his father, Eric Fitzgib-bon — then a Labor MP — on a first-class trip to China. Since then theyounger Fitzgibbon has travelled toChina courtesy of Liu in 2002 and2005 when he was a shadow minister.Eric Fitzgibbon also travelled toChina with Liu in 2001.

Little is known about the purposeof these trips or what occurred onthem. One of the trips was overChristmas, one of the few occasionsMPs get to spend quality time withtheir families. But Joel Fitzgibbon wasin China and it remains unclear why.

For all the questioning and attacksabout who was digging dirt onFitzgibbon and for what purpose, itwas not a third party who has beenthe architect of his demise. His resig-nation lies in the repeated failure tomeet basic standards of ministerialconduct. For that, he only has himselfto blame.

Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie are with TheAge’s investigative unit.

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Notes on a scandal

THE AGE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 13

FOCUS

Hanoi businessman Anh Ngoc Luong has strong connections with theVietnamese Government. So why is Securency, the Reserve Bank’s polymerbanknote firm, sending him money? By Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie.

TOP: Anh Ngoc Luong. ABOVE: Securencymanaging director Myles Curtis.

ANH Ngoc Luongalways went about hisbusiness quietly.During his time as amature age sciencestudent at MonashUniversity in the early

1990s and then as an employee at aVictorian security supplies firm, Luongwas regarded as polite, smart anddiligent.

Those who worked with him hadno inkling that he would one daybecome a person of considerablewealth and power in Vietnam. Nor didthey have any idea that he wouldemerge as a key player in the most ser-ious corruption scandal ever faced bythe Reserve Bank of Australia.

‘‘He was extremely hard-workingand intelligent. He was a pleasure towork with . . . a good guy,’’ a formercolleague recalls.

But Luong is much more than youraverage ‘‘good guy’’. He is director-general of Hanoi’s Company For Tech-nology and Development (CFTD),which supplies high-tech equipmentto Vietnam’s military and securityservices.

Furthermore, sources who haveworked in three different AustralianGovernment agencies suspect Luonghas acted as a senior representative ofVietnam’s powerful Ministry of PublicSecurity, which is responsible for thecountry’s internal security and con-trols police and domestic intelligenceservices.

Luong and CFTD are central to anAustralian Federal Police investigationof allegations that the RBA’s polymerbanknote supplier, Securency, has paidbribes to foreign officials to secure cur-rency printing contracts, most notablyin Vietnam and Nigeria.

The revelation that Securencywired more than $5 million to overseasbank accounts tied to Luong is themost serious development yet in thecorruption scandal engulfing the RBA.CFTD also received several milliondollars from Securency as part of a

business deal in which Vietnamswitched from paper banknotes tonotes made from the polymer sup-plied by the RBA firm.

Given the suspected strong tiesbetween Luong and CFTD to the Viet-namese Government, Securency andthe RBA are under immense pressureto explain the payments.

Under Australia’s criminal code,Australian companies are forbiddenfrom making payments to foreign offi-cials or firms controlled by foreign gov-ernments in order to gain beneficialtreatment.

But the Vietnamese payments casta shadow that extends well beyondSecurency and the Reserve Bank ofAustralia, which supervises andhalf-owns the polymer currencycompany: Australia’s Depart-ment of Foreign Affairs and Trade(DFAT), as well as the tradeagency Austrade, were heavilyinvolved in Securency’s dealingswith CFTD and Luong.

What was, just a few years ago,being hailed as a major Australianexport success story has morphedinto an international corruptionscandal with serious implicationsfor all involved.

The question of who knew whatand when looms large. Says RichardBroinowski, a former Australianambassador to Vietnam: ‘‘Givenwhat has now been unearthed, itseems to me that Foreign Affairswould have had [at the time] anindication of what is going on andshould have pursued it.’’

When the State Bank of Vietnambegan considering switching thecountry’s currency from paper to poly-mer about 10 years ago, Vietnameseand Australian officials were keen forSecurency and CFTD to join forces.

It appeared a good fit. CFTD, inaddition to providing equipment forVietnam’s armed forces, also haddeveloped expertise in the bankingand finance sectors.

The partnership worked for other

reasons as well: staff at Securency’soffices in Melbourne heard whispersthat some CFTD staff had considerablepull in Vietnam. One of the senioremployees of a CFTD subsidiary wasthe son of the governor of the StateBank of Vietnam.

This in itself sparked corruptionconcerns in Vietnam, but newspaperreporting on the subject was quicklysuppressed by authorities. A later Viet-nam Government inquiry in 2007found the central bank’s handling ofthe polymer contract to be ‘‘irregular’’and ‘‘lacking in transparency’’. But theinquiry’s impact was minor: centralbank governor Le Duch Thuy was cen-

sured and the banknote deal rolled on.The joint venture partnership betweenSecurency and CFTD became officialin 2002 when Vietnam’s central bankformally announced the switch topolymer money.

Diplomatic and trade sources havetold The Age the Australian Govern-ment was heavily involved in thebehind-the-scenes negotiations sur-rounding the Vietnamese currencyproject, including Securency’s partner-ship with CFTD.

The key question is did anyone

from Securency, the RBA, DFAT or Aus-trade know of Luong and CFTD’sextensive connections with Vietnam’sMinistry of Public Security and othergovernment agencies?

It is hard to believe DFAT and Aus-trade did not. Company documentsshow that in addition to Luong, CFTDand its offshoots have other Viet-namese Government representativesas shareholders and directors.

CFTD has also entered into jointstock companies in Vietnam with statecontrolled banks and oil companies.One of its subsidiaries, CFTD-Sangtaohad a website with a Viet-

namese Government address.Former ambassador Broinowski

told The Age any payments bySecurency to companies or individualsconnected with Vietnam’s Ministry ofPublic Security would constitute ‘‘ahuge moral irresponsibility’’ on thepart of the RBA and the AustralianGovernment. They may also constitutea criminal offence carrying a jail termof up to 10 years.

‘‘I would have to ask how far theknowledge of this case extends into the

senior management of the ReserveBank, Treasury and therefore into Can-berra . . . into DFAT.’’ Neither DFAT norRBA would answer questions from TheAge about the extent of their know-ledge about CFTD’s and Luong’s sus-pected ties to the VietnameseGovernment.

A Foreign Affairs spokesman saysalthough ‘‘CFTD is known to DFAT andAustrade officers’’, the Australian Gov-ernment was not involved in, or privyto, any commercial arrangementsbetween Securency and the Hanoicompany.

Several Australian diplomatic andtrade officials have privately told TheAge that CFTD’s and Luong’s connec-tion to the Vietnamese Governmentwere well known.

Says one diplomatic source: ‘‘CFTDis a consulting arm of the VietnameseGovernment, the Ministry of PublicSecurity.’’

The source highlights the danger oflooking at the Securency dealthrough Western eyes and says that,at least a few years ago, it wasroutine for foreign firms to do busi-ness with companies owned byVietnam Government ministries.Such an arrangement is commonin Communist states and, as longas there are tight controls, theremay be nothing wrong with suchdealings.

So what of the multimillion-dollar commission payments toCFTD and Luong? ‘‘I am surprisedat that,’’ the source says.

So what did Securency knowabout Luong and CFTD’s suspec-ted ties to the Communist Gov-ernment? And why the need formassive commissions?

Securency has for monthsrefused to response to The Age’s ques-tions, citing the need to allow police todo their job. But a Securency insiderhas told The Age that senior managershad discussed Luong’s links toVietnam’s internal security agency.

The RBA has also refused torespond to questions about CFTD andLuong’s ties to government, citing theongoing federal police inquiry.

But some aspects of the RBA’shandling of Securency’s overseas deal-ings are already known, and they aretroubling. For example, it has emergedthat three years ago the RBA becameworried about the commissions-for-contracts practice adopted by

Securency and its other banknotecompany, Note Printing Australia.What triggered the RBA’s concern wasa similar corruption scandal involvinga prominent Australian company that,like Securency, enjoyed strong supportfrom the Federal Government.

In late November 2006, commis-sioner Terence Cole’s findings in theAustralian Wheat Board kickbackinquiry were made public. His con-demnation of the wheat exporter’spayment of bogus trucking fees to afirm connected to Saddam Hussein’sregime served as a warning to otherAustralian companies involved incountries in which bribery and corrup-tion are commonplace.

Cole’s warning appears to not havebeen lost on the RBA board, whichcommissioned an audit of the use offoreign commission agents or‘‘middlemen’’ by Note Printing Austra-lia to secure contracts. In some cases,NPA and Securency shared agents.

THE RBA audit confirmedintegrity fears about someagents, and NPA wasordered in 2007 to shutdown its network ofmiddlemen, whichincluded a Malaysian arms

broker. For some unknown reason,Securency was allowed to continue itsown high-risk arrangements in whichmiddlemen in corruption-prone coun-tries were offered commissions if theywon supply contracts.

Securency appears to have decidedthat, at least in some countries, a largecarrot was better than a smaller oneand offered commissions thatexceeded those offered by competingbanknote firms. The commissions thatSecurency dangled before some of itsagents were sometimes more than10 per cent of the contract value andcould be maintained over the life of acontract. Every time an order for poly-mer was rung through, a middlemangot rich. Whether other beaks werewhetted along the way is the questioncurrently being probed by the police.

This commission-for-contractsarrangement, which was condoned bysenior RBA officials, has also causedSecurency problems in Nigeria, whereit faces allegations of bribing centralbank and other government officials tosecure supply contracts in 2006.

It is believed that Australian andNigerian authorities are, or will soon

start, examining deals that involvedSecurency making multimillion-dollarpayments into the tax-haven bankaccounts of two British-based busi-nessmen with high-level contacts inNigeria.

Securency has previously said thatit required all of its agents to sign con-tracts that included a prohibition onbribery. Securency has also said that allits agents were recommended orapproved by Austrade and Australia’sembassies.

This is true to an extent, and issomething that government officialsare increasingly aware may soon causeproblems for DFAT and Austrade.

Broinowski has little doubt DFATwould have been suspicious about therelationship between Securency andCFTD and he questions why this sus-picion wasn’t raised at the time anddealt with.

As for what CFTD actually did tohelp Securency’s operations in Viet-nam, Securency managing directorMyles Curtis and Asia business man-ager Ron Marchant told a foreign-based journalist in 2007 that the Hanoicompany mainly translated docu-ments, arranged meetings and pickedup people from the airport.

At the time of this interview,Securency’s payment of more than$12 million to CFTD and Luong wereknown only to a handful of the RBAcompany’s executives.

Five months after Securency’s over-seas dealings were referred by RBAassistant governor Bob Rankin to theAFP for investigation, two key ques-tions remain. Why did Securency payso much to Luong and CFTD and wasit aware of their suspected ties to theVietnamese Government?

Several Australian diplomatic andtrade sources familiar with Vietnambelieve it would have been impossiblefor Securency to not know who it wasdealing with. Some are even sympath-etic to the company’s plight.

‘‘You’ve got to remember it is theway business is done over there.Almost all major companies in someway have a connection back to theGovernment,’’ a trade official says.

Another Foreign Affairs source says:‘‘In Australia, you would say dealingwith CFTD smacks of corruption, but itis what is done in Vietnam.’’

Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie areinvestigative reporters.

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An 18-year-old Indianapolis man is in custody after a surveillancevideo showed him warming up a bottle for a crying baby in ahouse he was allegedly robbing. Police said two suspects wereransacking the house when one stopped and gave the bottle to achild to feed the baby. No mention of the parents was made.

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SPECIAL REPORTWords ADAM MORTONPictures JUSTIN McMANUSKIRIBATI

As the globe warms up, a way of life is washed away

Villagers on the island of Abaiang standin the sea where their homes used to be.

Continued PAGE 4Turnbull takes aim at AbbottBustle of life floods Mallee PAGE 9

WHEN a coconut tree dies, thedecay starts at the top. First theleaves fall, then the fruit. All thatis left is a desiccated trunk, cut offat half-mast. In a low-lying areaflooded with seawater, the deadpalms look like natural tidalgauges, the high water mark vis-ible on their stranded remains.

There is no shortage of them inTebunginako, a tiny village on an

outer island of the Pacific republicof Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas).

Over the past 40 years the vil-lagers have seen the sea rise, stormsurges become more frequent andspring tides more forceful.

Eventually the erosion was sogreat that the village had to beabandoned. The remains of about100 thatched homes and a com-munity meeting hall, or maneabe,sit up to 30 metres offshore.

‘‘The contamination of thegroundwater started in the late’70s, and after that erosion startedand houses started to fall into the

sea,’’ recalls Aata Maroieta, the64-year-old village chief.

‘‘The force of erosion wasstronger than the sea walls andeventually the Government said,‘All you can do is relocate.’ ’’

It is a phrase that the 98,000people of Kiribati are getting usedto. President Anote Tong has longwarned that what is happening atTebunginako, on the island ofAbaiang, is only the start; thatunless there is action to cut green-house gas emissions and aninternational finance scheme tohelp countries such as Kiribati

adapt, they will eventually beforced to leave their homeland.

“We would like to be able tobuild up the islands and remainhere for the next century at least,”Mr Tong tells The Age.

“How realistic that would be Ithink could depend on theresources that are available at theinternational level. There is noway we can do it on our own andI think that we deserve, and wedemand, that the internationalcommunity come to the party.”

As a member of the Alliance ofSmall Island States, Kiribati is

fighting for a deal at next month’sCopenhagen climate summit thatno one pretends is attainable: acut in emissions of at least 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 tolimit global warming to no morethan 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. As Mr Tong con-cedes, a temperature rise of thisorder is all but inevitable.

Perhaps more pressingly, then,Kiribati hopes for billions of dol-lars from the countriesresponsible, to help it deal with theproblem of climate change.

At Tebunginako, the money

might have to be spent on anotherrelocation. The village was rebuiltabout 15 years ago, initially about50 metres from the shore. It wasn’tfar enough. Each day at high tidea handful of houses and the vil-lage’s biggest buildings — adishevelled Catholic church andgiant concrete maneabe — aresurrounded by a saltwater moat asthe sea flows in and floods whatwas once a fresh-water pond.

Just like the coast, the food

Death inPapua: atale ofscapegoatsand politics

SATURDAY REPORT

By JONATHAN PEARLMANNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT

Continued PAGE 2

Murderedmine workerDrew Grant.

AS DAWN was breaking acrossthe Indonesian province of WestPapua last July, an Australianmine worker, Drew Grant, setout with friends along the wind-ing road near the Freeport minefor a weekend of golf.

The driver and fellow mineworker, Lukan Biggs, would laterrecall that he heard a sharp popand thought the car had skiddedoff a stone. Then the back seatpassenger screamed: Grant, 29,had been shot by a bullet thatpierced the roof. Just back inWest Papua after visiting hiswife and baby in Melbourne,Grant was probably killedinstantly.

In the aftermath, six villagersfrom the nearby town of Timikawere rounded up by police andheld without trial for fourmonths. The men insist they areinnocent and that they con-fessed after being beaten withrifle butts and threatened withshootings and electric shocks.

On Tuesday, after fourmonths in jail, five of the menwere apparently released aftertheir detention period expired:their lawyers say all six still facecharges. ‘‘They were blindfoldedand the police said if they didnot confess they would be takento the bush and shot,’’ saidDackson Beanal, whose five rel-atives were among the six in jail.

The murder of Grant wasone of several military-styleambushes in the past fourmonths around the Grasbergmine, which reputedly has theworld’s largest recoverable cop-per and gold deposits and isowned by the US companyFreeport-McMoran. Two othershave died: a Freeport employee,Markus Rante Allo, and a policeofficer, Marson Pattipeilohy. Butthe shootings continued despitethe detention of the six men.

Analysts say the attacks,which were well planned andinvolved skilled marksmen andmilitary-issue bullets, bear thehallmarks of the Indonesianmilitary.

Securency executivesstood down by boardBy RICHARD BAKERand NICK McKENZIEAGE INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

Policeraids inRBAprobe

Got a tip?investigations@theage.com.au

How The Age broke the story.

FEDERAL police have raided thehomes of executives from aReserve Bank of Australia com-pany as part of an internationalbribery investigation.

Warrants were executed onThursday to search the MontAlbert North home of Securencymanaging director Myles Curtisand the Roxburgh Park home ofcompany secretary John Ellery.

Australian Federal Policeofficers also executed a searchwarrant on the Melbourneheadquarters of the RBA poly-mer banknote firm on Thursday.

An AFP spokeswoman lastnight said no charges had beenlaid as yet nor had anyone beenquestioned.

An emergency meeting ofSecurency’s board, which ischaired by RBA assistant gov-ernor Bob Rankin, last nightresolved to stand down MrCurtis and Mr Ellery while

the police inquiry continued.The board has also ordered

Securency to immediately sus-pend all overseas marketingactivities involving foreignagents and has asked externalauditor KPMG to conduct acase-by-base review of the com-pany’s agreements with agents.

The Age can also reveal thatBritain’s Serious Fraud Officehas become involved in theinvestigation. Two of Securen-cy’s leading sales executivesconduct much of their workfrom England.

Securency, which is half-owned and supervised by theRBA, makes polymer materialused to print money in Australiaand 28 other countries.

The AFP has been investigat-

ing the company since May forallegedly bribing foreign gov-ernment officials to securebanknote supply contracts incountries such as Vietnam,Nigeria and Malaysia. The

investigation has centred on aseries of multimillion-dollarpayments by Securency to polit-ically connected middlemen oragents hired to help it win con-tracts.

In a statement released lastnight, the Securency boardrevealed KPMG auditors haddiscovered that concerns aboutthe company’s payments tomiddlemen were raised by astaff member in 2007.

The statement said Secur-ency management investigatedthe claim and took no action.

Securency management didnot disclose the complaint tothe Securency board or the RBA.‘‘The [Securency] board’s view isthat such non-disclosure bycompany management is unac-

ceptable,’’ the statement said.Under Australia’s criminal

code, it is an offence to pay aforeign government official inorder to obtain a businessadvantage. Jail terms of up to 10years and hefty fines apply tothose convicted of foreignbribery offences.

If police charge Securencyand its executives, it will be Aus-tralia’s first prosecution for for-eign bribery offences.

The RBA called in the federalpolice after The Age in Mayrevealed Securency’s paymentof commissions to middlemen.Many of these men had beenimplicated in previous corrup-tion scandals and one was aconvicted white collar criminal.

In an apparent breach of RBA

policy, Securency paid millionsof dollars into tax haven bankaccounts linked to the foreignmiddlemen.

In 2007, the RBA ordered itssister company, Note PrintingAustralia, to sack its network offoreign agents after an auditconfirmed integrity fears.However, the RBA allowedSecurency to continue payingmillions of dollars to middle-men to help win contracts.

Securency’s biggest contractshave come from Vietnam andNigeria.

The RBA last night released astatement endorsing the actionsof the Securency board.

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A Long journey inspires others to follow

PICTURE: SIMON SCHLUTER

When Michael Long came to Essendon 20 years ago, he was the club’s only indigenous player; now there

are seven (pictured). And back then there were only 15 in the entire competition; now there are 82. This

weekend is the AFL’s indigenous round, the centrepiece of which is tonight’s match between the Bombers

and Richmond at the MCG. In SPORT, Caroline Wilson writes on the Long legacy.

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Min 12 Max 15

TOMORROW Windy Min 13 Max 21MONDAY Windy and rain Min 14 Max 19TUESDAY Showers developing Min 10 Max 19WEDNESDAY Shower or two Min 8 Max 17

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Quick-thinking Tustin Mains, 6, jumped from the back seat andgrabbed the wheel of the family pick-up truck after his fatherpassed out in North Platte, Nebraska. The boy stood on his fath-er’s lap and steered for several hundred metres until police haltedthe vehicle, which also carried Tustin’s three-year-old brother.

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THAT FLUARE WE READY

TO BEAT IT?NEWS, INSIGHT

DEATH BY POISON

A COUNTRY HOUSE MYSTERYBY ANDREW RULE

INSIGHT

MY YEARWITHOUT SEX

GLOWING VERDICT FORSARAH WATT’S NEW FILM

NEWS

This coin could soon make no sense at all

Continued PAGE 4

By DAVID HIRST

THE Royal Australian Mint isbelieved to be poised to scrapthe five-cent piece as part of anoverhaul of Australian coins thatwill also give the Queen amakeover.

The move — which manyretailers support — could upsetsome consumers, with all tran-sactions needing to be roundedto the nearest 10 cents.

Sources have told The Agethat secret preparations for thechange have been under waysince early this year.

Royal Australian Mint acting

CEO Graham Smith would notcomment yesterday, but said hewould give The Age a statementon Monday.

Earlier a mint spokesman didnot deny the plans to abolishthe coin, saying: ‘‘We are notgoing to answer that question.’’

But a reliable source saidstaff in the design and engravingsection had been working forsome months on a redesign that SPORT: Reports, pictures

CATS IN ATHRILLER Flu alert raised as cases grow

By JULIA MEDEW,BEN DOHERTYand SARAH-JANE COLLINS

Continued PAGE 4

MORE schools and child-carecentres could be closed soon toprevent the transmission ofswine flu after the Federal Gov-ernment upgraded its responseto contain the virus yesterday.

As the number of confirmedcases rose to 13 nationally,Health Minister Nicola Roxonraised Australia’s pandemicresponse to the ‘‘contain phase’’,allowing governments to closeschools and child-care centresand to start distributing stock-piles of antiviral medication.

The step also empowers localhealth authorities to quarantine

a defined area, such as a work-place, if the virus is spreading.Preventive health services,including elective surgery, canalso be suspended if necessary.

In Victoria, the number ofconfirmed cases rose to eight,with the latest case an eight-year-old boy from Melbourne’swestern suburbs.

Earlier, a 17-year-old studentfrom St Monica’s College inEpping tested positive to the flu.

Health authorities are con-cerned that neither this youthnor the eight-year-old or a15-year-old South Australian girlwith the virus had travelledoverseas recently or been inapparent contact with anyonecarrying the disease.

The girl recently returnedfrom a camping trip to Mildura.

Ms Roxon urged people notto panic about the virus, whichremains mild in those Aus-tralians affected.

The upgrade came as expertswarned that the virus was cer-tain to mutate in comingmonths, potentially becomingmore dangerous. Everyone withflu-like symptoms is now urgedto call GPs in advance so theycan be given a mask on arrivaland separated from otherpatients.

Young people and those withrespiratory problems, diabetesor obesity are most at risk.

Health Minister DanielAndrews said officials were

speaking to the family of theeight-year-old boy last night tocheck on his movements overthe past week. The boy becameill on Monday and saw his doc-tor on Tuesday, when he wasgiven antiviral drugs. Hereturned to school yesterday,when he was at the end of hisinfectious period. He and hisfamily are in home quarantine.

Acting Victorian Chief HealthOfficer Rosemary Lester saidofficials were trying to establishthe link between the 17-year-oldand other swine flu sufferers.

She said he fell ill on Satur-day, went to his GP on Mondayand stayed home from schooluntil Thursday. He tested

Revealed: theRBA’s dodgyglobal deals

Bank linked to shady payments

By RICHARD BAKERand NICK McKENZIE

EXCLUSIVE

Continued PAGE 6

The MoneyMakers

AN AGE INVESTIGATION

THE Reserve Bank of Australiahas been involved in the pay-ment of multimillion-dollarcommissions to shady middle-men in its drive to win banknoteprinting deals with foreigngovernments.

Securency Pty Ltd, aMelbourne-based banknotesupplier half-owned by the RBA,has made a substantial numberof ‘‘commission’’ payments toagents, including some pre-viously implicated in corruptionscandals.

The company, which hassupplied polymer material toprint money in Australia and 26other countries, is chaired bythe RBA’s assistant governor,Robert Rankin. Its board hasanother two RBA appointees, aswell as executives from Britishfirm, Innovia Films, owner ofthe other half of Securency.

Some of Securency’s agentsare closely tied to governmentor central bank officials in coun-tries ranked by TransparencyInternational as highly corrupt.

Several agents have beennamed in official corruptioninvestigations in Africa andAsia. At least one has a criminalconviction for fraud.

Company insiders haveraised concerns that the com-pany’s practices have left itexposed to allegations thatsome commissions could beused to pay kickbacks to foreigngovernment officials.

RBA deputy governor RicBattellino told The Age yesterdaythat he would demand animmediate response fromSecurency about its use of

agents and payments to them.‘‘If this is happening, then it isagainst all the policies andprocedures the RBA has put inplace for this organisation,’’ hesaid.

The Age can reveal Securencyhas:■ Made lucrative payments toLondon firm Contec Global,which was accused in an officialUgandan corruption inquiry ofhaving a corrupt relationshipwith a Ugandan governmentminister found to be ‘‘frontingand lobbying’’ for the company.■ Partnered with controversialSouth African casino tycoon,Vivian Reddy, who wasembroiled in the recently abor-ted corruption trial involvingfinancial dealings with his closefriend, South African PresidentJacob Zuma. Reddy, who wasaccused of setting up anaccount used to hide paymentsto Mr Zuma from a French armsmaker, denies the allegations.■ Made payments to companieslinked to South Africanbusinessman and Reddy associ-

ate Don McArthur, who last yearwas convicted of fraud and reck-less trading associated with oneof South Africa’s biggest corpor-ate collapses. McArthur, whowas charged with fraud in 2005and forced to pay money to acriminal assets recovery fund,denied any link to Securency.■ Paid million of dollars in com-missions to Vietnamese com-pany CFTD, whose subsidiary,Banktech was managed by theVietnamese central bankgovernor’s son at the time thecentral bank decided to switchto polymer notes in 2002. A 2007Vietnam corruption inquiryfound the governor’s role in thedeal was irregular and lackedobjectivity.

A company insider alsoclaims he was told thatSecurency had provided$US100,000 — subsequentlydonated to an Indian politicalparty in 2007 — while it(Securency) was seeking a trialof polymer notes. It is claimedthe payment was recorded incompany accounts as ‘‘market-ing expenses’’.

In a statement yesterday,Securency said it conducted athorough due diligence processwhen appointing agents, whichincluded checks by Federal Gov-ernment agency Austrade andcompliance with internationalanti-corruption conventions.

Securency said its agents —whose identities are disclosed tothe RBA representatives on itsboard — had signed agreementsforbidding payments to foreignofficials and politicians.

In its statement, Securencyacknowledged it had cut tieswith agents on a ‘‘number of

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The Prince of Wales, a black and white Tudor-era pub inHereford, England, has been painted bright pink by pranksters.Landlord Les Smith, 52, said: ‘‘I haven’t a clue who would dothis or why. We closed the pub after midnight, then I cameround at about half past eight in the morning and it was pink.’’

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TONIGHT

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NEW ROYALS, NEW RULESDO THEY NEED AFAIRYTALE WEDDING?GOOD WEEKEND

GRAND PRIX BY NIGHTWILLIAMS DRIVERS SET CRACKING PACESPORT

Tampa refugees return

A rush to praise

The other battle

PAGE 3

INSIGHT

PAGE 3

FOUR asylum seekers whowere rescued by the Tampa in2001, but sent back toAfghanistan, have been foundto be genuine refugees. Oneof the men, AsmatullahMohammadi, says he was sodesperate to escape theTaliban he risked his life in asecond boat journey withpeople smugglers.

LAST year, the FederalGovernment acknowledgedfears that the mental healthsystem for soldiers andveterans was failing andcommissioned twoconfidential inquiries. Thefindings are still secret. Butmany soldiers and veteransare struggling to find help.Nick McKenzie reports

GEOFFREY Rush has beenlauded for his Broadwaystage debut in a Melbourne-made revival of Exit theKing. Critics describedRush’s performance as a‘‘virtuoso work’’. New YorkTimes critic Ben Brantleycompared Rush’s ‘‘knockoutportrayal’’ to that of‘‘Laurence Olivier’s greatmusic-hall persona in TheEntertainer’’.

Hawks soar, but Cats avenge grand final loss

Hawthorn superstar Lance Franklin flies in vain against Geelong in last night’s MCG blockbuster. PICTURE: PAUL ROVERE

MARTIN FLANAGAN

More Reports SPORT

GEELONG hung on to defeatHawthorn by eight points lastnight in a thrilling grand finalreplay at the MCG.

Played before a crowd of69,593, the game began at thestandard and intensity expec-ted of such an encounter.There was a clever left-footkick by Geelong’s Jimmy Bartel,a man-trap of a tackle by Haw-thorn’s Cyril Rioli. Hawthornwas missing seven of its grand

final team but the Hawks’ goodplayers played well and the restheld fast.

The pattern of the grandfinal soon re-emerged inghostly fashion with Geelongdominating play, but unable totranslate superiority into goals.Cameron Mooney, whose missafter the half-time siren in thegrand final was a deeply omin-ous moment for the Cats, mis-sed with his first shot last nightand hit the post with hissecond. When he goaled withhis third shot of the night, hedanced a sailor’s jig.

At the opposite end of theground, Hawthorn’s goal-kicking sensation of 2008,

Lance ‘‘Buddy’’ Franklin, fellhorizontally from the top of apack and appeared to injurehimself. Three minutes later,he kicked his first goal andlimped no more thereafter.

The match was hard-foughtand spirited with a melee inthe second quarter and fourreports. One of those to havehis number taken was the 2008Norm Smith medallist, Haw-thorn vice-captain LukeHodge.

Last year’s grand final waswon by Hawthorn in the thirdterm. Last night, Geelong wonthat quarter emphatically,kicking six goals to lead by 33points at three-quarter time.

The match appeared over, butit was then that a primary dif-ference between the teams re-asserted itself. Geelong doesnot have a major key forward.In Franklin and Jarryd Rough-ead, Hawthorn has two.

In the final term, as Geelongstagnated, unable to pushhome its advantage, Franklinand Roughhead kicked sixbetween them at the other endas their supporters increas-ingly found their voice.

The Hawks lost the match,but they would not have lostany confidence for season2009.

Watchdog toprobe spiesin Defence

“Even on thefacts belatedly

admitted byMr Fitzgibbon,

his hold onthe ministryis tenuous”

EDITORIAL, INSIGHT PAGE 6�

By RICHARD BAKER,PHILIP DORLINGand BRENDAN NICHOLSON

Continued PAGE 8

NEW revelations about theextent of the ‘‘rogue’’ probe intoDefence Minister Joel Fitzgib-bon’s personal affairs haveemerged, with officials alleginghe facilitated lobbying by hisbrother to win governmentbusiness.

The revelations come asPrime Minister Kevin Rudd yes-terday admonished Mr Fitzgib-bon but refused to sack himover his failure to declare twotrips to China paid for by hiswealthy Chinese-born friendHelen Liu.

Australia’s intelligence watch-dog, the Inspector-General ofIntelligence and Security, saidlast night he would investigateclaims that a Defence intelli-gence official improperlysearched the computer of MrFitzgibbon.

Welcoming this move,Defence Department secretaryNick Warner said an initialinquiry by the Defence SecurityAuthority had found that noinvestigation of the minister, hispersonal relationship with MsLiu or of Ms Liu herself hadbeen conducted by ‘‘anyelement’’ of Defence.

As the Defence spy affaircontinued to rock the Govern-ment, ASIO took the unusualstep of releasing a state-ment saying it had no infor-mation relating to Ms Liu‘‘which would have given rise toany security concern regarding

her activities or associations’’.The Age was last night told

that security officials fromDefence had told staff from MrRudd’s office some months agothey were concerned about therelationship between Mr Fitz-gibbon and Ms Liu. Nothing wasdone by Mr Rudd’s office, asource said.

Mr Fitzgibbon said yesterdayit was inexplicable why he hadfailed to declare trips to Chinain 2002 and 2005 that were paidfor by Ms Liu. He apologised formisleading Parliament and thepublic.

Speaking from Washington,Mr Rudd said he ‘‘expected bet-ter’’ from Mr Fitzgibbon in thefuture. But he said Mr Fitzgib-bon had done a good job asDefence Minister and would not

be dismissed over his failure todeclare the trips.

On Thursday, The Agerevealed how rogue Defenceofficials had secretly inves-tigated Mr Fitzgibbon’s relation-ship with Ms Liu.

The Age can also reveal thattheir probe raised potentialconflict-of-interest questionsabout lobbying by the minister’sbrother, Mark Fitzgibbon, whois managing director of the NIBHealth Fund, and executivesfrom US health services giantHumana.

It has been alleged byDefence officials that the minis-ter’s brother and the USexecutives used Mr Fitzgibbon’soffice as a base for their lobby-ing. The officials scrutinisedtheir minister’s contact with thevisiting lobbyists and noted hehad socialised with them out-side work hours.

A spokesman for Mr Fitzgib-bon said yesterday the ministerrejected any conflict-of-interestclaims. The minister had madeit clear to his brother and hisassociates that it was inappro-priate for him to deal with thematter of defence health con-tracts.

But the spokesman admittedthe NIB and Humana executiveshad based themselves in hisoffice and left their bags therewhile attending appointmentsin Parliament House. MrFitzgibbon’s office also acknow-ledged that he had had drinkswith the NIB and Humana rep-resentatives before leaving to

Chinese bid for OZ rejectedBy KATHARINE MURPHYCANBERRAand BARRY FitzGERALD

Continued PAGE 9

BUSINESSDAYOz in shock PAGE 1

A STATE-OWNED Chinese com-pany will not be able to takeover Australia’s third-largestminer, OZ Minerals, if theproposal includes a mine in theWoomera rocket range in SouthAustralia’s outback.

Federal Treasurer WayneSwan invoked national securityconcerns as he announced thatthe proposed $2.6 billiontakeover of OZ by Minmetalswould be scotched if it includedthe new Prominent Hill copper-gold mine, 650 kilometresnorth-west of Adelaide.

The mine is within theWoomera Prohibited Area — a127,000-square-kilometre siteadministered by the DefenceDepartment and used by theAustralian military for weaponstesting.

OZ is banking on thetakeover to keep banks owed$1.3 billion from placing it inadministration.

The company will spend theweekend recasting its deal withthe Chinese group in an effort toplacate its banks. The bid is oneof three from China worth morethan $30 billion that are beforethe Government for approval.

The Government’s decisionto force OZ to excise Prominent

Hill from any deal comes as RioTinto waits on approval for a$US19.5 billion ($A28 billion)deal with China’s Chinalco,while Fortescue Metals is seek-ing approval to issue 18 per centof its shares to China’s HunanValin group.

The knockback by Mr Swanfollowed a dramatic escalationyesterday of the Opposition’spolitical attack on the Govern-ment over its links to China, andis likely to place the bilateralrelationship under strain.

After days of controversy

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THE AGE . SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2009theage.com.auNews6

CAMBODIADARYL DEALEHR, ZOELICK PTY LTDMelbourne barrister Daryl Dealehr is Securency’s agent in Cambodia, where

he is the director of mining companyCambodian Resources Limited.

Dealehr has ties to the familiesof Cambodia’s late and notoriousnational police chief, Hok Lundyand Cambodia’s controversial Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Human rights groups and former seniorCambodian officials accuse Lundy, who died last year, of being responsible fordozens of murders. “There is hardlyanyone in Cambodia who has shownmore contempt for the rule of law thanHok Lundy,” Human Rights Watch said.

Dealehr told The Age that he wassurprised he had not yet landed abanknote deal for Securency, but said Cambodia’s reserve bank wasconservative and wedded to paperbanknotes.

Dealehr said he had developed “very good contacts” with bank officialsand had been Securency’s agent formany years. He was unable to speakfurther about Securency’s affairs due toprivacy clauses.

In 2007, Dealehr’s mining companywon the rights to develop iron ore, gold

VIETNAMCFTD AND BANKTECHIn 2002, as Vietnam switched from paperto plastic banknotes,Securency teamed upwith a Hanoi firm called

CFTD and its subsidiary Banktech.

In early 2002, Banktech’s deputy director was Le Duc Minh, the sonof the State Bank of Vietnam’s then governor, Le Duc Thuy, who was incharge of the deal.

The bank governor denied his son wasinvolved, but Banktech documents reveal it was the “exclusive suppliers” ofbanknote printing materials for Vietnam. Securency was listed as one of its“overseas partners”.

A 2007 Vietnam Government inquiryreportedly found “irregularities andweakness” throughout the banknoteproject. It found the bank governorhad failed to include a comparison ofthe polymer and paper notes in hissubmission to the Prime Minister.

The inquiry concluded that the involvement of his son had “created a lot of suspicion”, affected the“transparency” of the project anddamaged the governor’s reputation.

Securency has paid millions of dollars in commissions to CFTD directors, who are connected to Vietnam’s political

SOUTH AFRICAVIVIAN REDDY, EDISON CORPORATION The South African

casino tycoon won the rights to promote Securency’s banknotes in Africa a few years ago and has more recently declared he will push the notes across half the continent within a decade.

One of his senior employees said Reddy’s relationship with Securency was over, but would not say when or why due to “confidentiality and non-disclosure issues”.

Reddy is a controversial figure in South Africa due to his political

connections and his bankrolling of the recently elected President Jacob Zuma.

The magnate was ensnared in the South African Government’s aborted corruption trial against Zuma, who was alleged to have accepted a bribe from a French defence contractor seeking to build four ships for South Africa’s navy.

In a related corruption case against Zuma’s now jailed former financial adviser, prosecutors alleged a charitable trust account set up by Reddy was used to hide payments from French defence firm Thales to a company owned by the financial adviser and then to Zuma.

Reddy’s lawyer has rejected the claims of corruption made by the state prosecutors.

AGENTS OF INFLUENCEThe adage “it’s not what you know but who you know” still applies when seeking contracts to print money.

LONDONBENOY BERRY, CONTEC GLOBALSecurency has paidmillions of dollars to London-basedbusinessman Benoy Berry,

who heads multi-national technology firm Contec Global.

The firm has won large contracts acrossAfrica, including Sudan and Rwanda, but has also been implicated in a corruption inquiry in Uganda.

In 2005, Contec Global was accused byUganda’s internal security organisationof making an alleged $1.8 million bribeto a cabinet minister responsible for anational ID card tender process.

A 2006 inquiry by Uganda’s Inspectorateof Government found the Finance Minister

Issac Musumba favoured Contec Global’sbid even though it did not meet the selection criteria and was by far the mostexpensive.

The office of Uganda’s president alleged Contec Global had promised Musumba to share in money gained from itsinflated bid. Musumba has denied anywrongdoing.

The Ugandan inspectorate did notsubstantiate that a bribe was paid but found that: “He (Musumba)was acting inbad faith and had a personal interest inthe outcome of the procurement process. From the evidence gathered, Musumba was fronting and or lobbying for Contec Global.”

Dr Berry, who is also Burundi’s honorary consul to India, did not respond toquestions from The Age.

SOUTH AFRICADON MCARTHURSecurency has had financial dealings with companies linked to South Africanbusinessman Don McArthur, who wasthe head of a major company involved in South Africa’s biggest ever corporate

failure in 1999.

In 2005, McArthur was arrested by South African policeand charged with racketeering, fraud and corruption andaccused of improperly pocketing money borrowed frombanks.

Last year, he did a deal with the prosecutors and pleadedguilty to fraud and reckless trading. He paid a substantialfine instead of serving a two year jail term. He was alsoforced to pay money into a proceeds of crime fund.

McArthur worked for Vivian Reddy in 2005. McArthur repeatedly denied any association with Securency whencontacted by The Age, although Securency said he hasbeen an agent.

Revealed: theRBA’s dodgyglobal deals

From PAGE 1

The RBA’s Ric Battellino said he woulddemand a response.

occasions’’ when it was not sat-isfied with their performance.

Securency denies any pay-ment to Indian political partiesor politicians.

In contrast to Securency, anassociated company, NotePrinting Australia — which isfully owned by the RBA — said itno longer used agents because itwas ‘‘more responsible’’ to dealdirectly with central banks.

Another Securency agentoperating in Asia is Melbournebarrister Daryl Dealehr, who hasties to the family of Cambodia’snotorious late police chief, HokLundy, and controversial PrimeMinister Hun Sen.

Securency has yet to win anycontracts in Cambodia and Mr

Dealehr has not been named inany corruption or criminalinquiries.

The revelation of Securency’spayments to agents in ThirdWorld countries has the poten-tial to embarrass the FederalGovernment and the RBA,especially so soon after the Iraqikickbacks scandal involvingAWB.

Mr Battellino told The Agethe RBA was aware thatSecurency operated in countrieswith ‘‘bad reputations’’, but was‘‘very conscious to ensure arran-gements were in place to avoidcorruption payments’’.

Securency has receivedstrong support from Australian

government ministers, diplom-ats and trade officials.

The Age is not suggestingSecurency has engaged in brib-ery, but its operations withagents in corruption-pronecountries raise concerns aboutits risk-managementprocedures.

Company insiders claimSecurency offers some agentscommissions of between 10 percent to 20 per cent of any dealthey help win. The industrystandard agent commission isbetween 2 to 6 per cent.

Securency said commissionpayments varied between itsagents and that advice fromAustrade was sought to deter-mine appropriate commissionslevels for each country itoperated in.

‘‘This adviceindicates that stan-dard commission ratesvary between coun-tries. Securency doesnot pay commissionshigher than thestandards which applyin each country,’’ thestatement said.

An Australian inter-national corruptionexpert, Sydney Univer-sity’s David Chaikin,said companies mustbe cautious of hiringagents with high-levelgovernment contacts.

‘‘Companies needto be aware of whattheir agents are doingwith their commis-

sions,’’ Dr Chaikin said.‘‘They need to know if those

commissions are being used topay people other than theagent.’’

John Burbidge-King, an anti-corruption adviser and head ofLondon-based InterchangeSolutions, said companies mustdo thorough due diligence on allagents, especially those incorruption-prone countries.

‘‘There should be a criminalrecord check, a financial checkand consultation with othersabout them,’’ Mr Burbidge-Kingsaid.

Got a tip? email investigations@theage.com.au

METAGE A008

THE AGE . SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2009theage.com.auNews Fitzgibbon affair8

HOW THE AGE BROKE THE STORYTHURSDAYThe Age Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie, working with Philip Dorling from The Canberra Times, reveal that officials in the Defence Department have conducted a covert investigation into their own minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, leaking personal information about his relationship with a wealthy Chinese-born businesswoman Helen Liu.

YESTERDAYMr Fitzgibbon admits to failing to disclose taking two trips to China paid for by Helen Liu,failing to declare the trips to Parliament as required, and misleading the Australian public by saying earlier he had received only “very small gifts” from Ms Liu.

Watchdog to investigate rogue defence probe of ministerFrom PAGE 1

attend a diplomatic reception.Mark Fitzgibbon said his

brother had ‘‘quite properly’’referred him to meetings withthe Minister for Defence Per-sonnel, Warren Snowden,Veterans Affairs Minister AlanGriffin, Health Minister NicolaRoxon and Finance MinisterLindsay Tanner.

Mark Fitzgibbon said sugges-

tions of any conflict of interestinvolving his brother were‘‘purely scurrilous’’.

Personal details emergingfrom the unauthorised inquiryhave included Mr Fitzgibbon’ssub-letting of a Canberra resi-dence from Ms Liu, his pos-session of her bank accountdetails and his receipt of giftsfrom her, including a Hugo Bosssuit, which he later returned.

Defence officials were aware

of the gift of the suit at least amonth before Mr Fitzgibbonrevealed it publicly on Thursday.

It is understood Mr Fitzgib-bon has spoken to Ms Liu in thepast few days to express sym-pathy at her being caught in thecrossfire of attempts to under-mine him. Ms Liu’s Sydney law-yer, Donald Junn, did not returnphone calls yesterday and MsLiu yesterday remained uncon-tactable.

The Defence Departmenthas confirmed that executivesfrom NIB Health, includingMark Fitzgibbon, and Humanamet the Australian DefenceForce’s Commander JointHealth, Major-General PaulAlexander, in August.

A Defence spokeswomansaid: ‘‘The companies proposedthe provision of health care toveterans and serving AustralianDefence Force members. Any

future requirement for such aservice would be managed inaccordance with governmentprocurement guidelines.’’

No contracts had beenissued to either company andneither firm had been in contactwith Defence since, she said.

Last night, the Inspector-General of Intelligence andSecurity, Ian Carnell, said hisinquiry, to be conducted insecret, would be thorough and

timely. Mr Carnell’s inquiry is inaddition to a Defence Depart-ment investigation into the spy-ing affair.

Mr Warner said yesterdaythat ‘‘prior to the current mediaarticles, no Defence inves-tigative authority was aware ofMs Liu’’.

‘‘Neither the Defence SignalsDirectorate nor any other part ofDefence has had any access,authorised or unauthorised, to

personal information within theminister’s office, including tele-phone contact numbers.’’

Australia’s Foreign MinisterStephen Smith yesterday saidthere was nothing unusualabout politicians from bothsides of Parliament acceptingtrips to China.

‘‘The key thing is whetherthey declare them or disclosethem,’’ he said.

With NICK McKENZIE

Raising theChinese bogey

PICTURE: ANDREW MEARES

ANALYSISKATHARINE MURPHY

Is Prime Minis-ter Kevin Ruddseeking solaceand adviceabout DefenceMinister JoelFitzgibbon’sChinese troub-les? Mr Ruddwas not onlyclutching hiswife, ThereseRein, in Wash-ington yester-day but also acopy of China’sRise: Challen-ges and Oppor-tunities.

Written byexperts fromthe PetersonInstitute forInternationalEconomics,where Mr Ruddhad spoken,China’s Risediscusses howthe West canaid China’s‘‘constructiveintegration’’ intothe global com-munity.

FOR a Government that has tomake several highly sensitiveforeign investment decisionsover the next few months, theworst thing that could behappening is a growing feelingin the body politic thatCanberra is too close to China.

The past week in federalpolitics has been surround-sound China — either directly inthe foreground of the nationaldiscussion, or simmering in thebackground.

Contentious issues rangedfrom Defence Minister JoelFitzgibbon’s relationship withChinese-born businesswomanHelen Liu (and one of its sub-texts, fund-raising in the Chinesebusiness community by theALP’s NSW branch) and theprivate meeting Kevin Rudd hadlast week with the propagandachief of the Chinese CommunistParty, Li Changchun, to thePrime Minister spruiking China’srole in the International Monet-ary Fund in Washington.

And those controversialmultibillion-dollar resourcesdeals bubbled away in the back-ground, with the politicalopponents of greater Chineseownership of Australia’s strategicresources firing shots in advanceof a Senate inquiry that willprobe investment by ‘‘state-owned entities’’.

Mandarin-speaking Rudd’sChina expertise is unquestion-ably a strength — but it couldturn into a domestic politicalweakness. In tough economictimes, people look for scape-goats, and for an Oppositionstruggling to cut through to thevoters, raising the Chinesebogey could prove fulfillingpolitical sport.

Yesterday’s decision by Treas-urer Wayne Swan to refuse oneof the proposed Chinese foreigninvestments in the miningindustry on national securitygrounds spices things up andallows the Government to lookhairy-chested about protectingAustralia’s national interest.

The fact the decisionfollowed a day of heavy fire fromthe Opposition on the Govern-ment’s links to China is nodoubt just a happy coincidence.

Opposition Leader MalcolmTurnbull yesterday dropped anypretence of subtlety, brandingRudd the ‘‘spokesman forChina’’ and a ‘‘travellingadvocate’’ for Beijing. Expectmore of this populist rhetoric.

The Government has somehard yards ahead — the mostdifficult will be a decision aboutwhether to let Chinese companyChinalco get a big slice of one ofthe icons of the Australianresources sector, Rio Tinto.

The Rio-Chinalco tie-up is anepoch-making deal in everysense. And our Sinophile-in-chief is in for a few sleeplessnights.

Rudd lashesEU chief’sUS outburstBy MICHELLE GRATTAN

KEVIN Rudd has lashed out atEuropean Union PresidentMirek Topolanek for his attackon US efforts to stimulate theAmerican economy.

Mr Rudd described as ‘‘extra-ordinary’’ the comment by MrTopolanek that the Americanplan was the ‘‘way to hell’’. ThePrime Minister suggested theoutburst was influenced by MrTopolanek losing the Czechprime ministership earlier thisweek. ‘‘I suppose if he just lost avote of confidence in the CzechParliament, it hasn’t improvedhis sense of humour.’’

Mr Rudd also suggested thatthe disagreement which hasemerged between those G20nations favouring more stimu-lus and those favouring moreregulation was being exagger-ated. The US favours greaterstimulus while European coun-tries remain wary.

Mr Rudd said there wasalways a tendency to see theglass as part empty rather thanpart full. ‘‘What I sense acrossmy counterparts across the G20is a strong sense of emergingconsensus’’ on most of theissues. Mr Rudd invoked afavourite word of his, argy-bargy, to explain the situation.

‘‘There is always going to be,let me use an Australian techni-cal term for you, argy-bargy. It’sshort for argument. There wasalways going to be some argy-bargy at the margins,’’ he said ata question and answer session.

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MELBOURNE Partly cloudy. Isolated showers,clearing later in the day. Light winds tendingnorth-west before tending south-westerly up to35 km/h by the afternoon.

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Defencespies on itsministerFitzgibbon friendship under scrutiny

Mr Fitzgibbon isunderstood to be

furious at the unauthorisedintrusion into his personal affairs.

By RICHARD BAKER,PHILIP DORLINGand NICK McKENZIE

EXCLUSIVE

Continued PAGE 10

OFFICIALS in the DefenceDepartment have conducted acovert investigation into theirown minister, leaking personalinformation about Joel Fitz-gibbon’s relationship with awealthy Chinese-born womanwith past financial ties toBeijing.

Mr Fitzgibbon’s 16-yearfriendship with Sydney-basedbusinesswoman Helen Liu hasrecently been raised by officialswithin the Defence Depart-ment’s intelligence and securityareas as a possible security risk.

The dramatic developmentssuggest a serious deteriorationin the minister’s relationshipwith his department in the wakeof a bruising row over responsi-bility for bungled payments toSAS soldiers.

A source close to Mr Fitzgib-bon yesterday said it appearedthe minister was ‘‘at war’’ withhis department. Earlier thismonth, Mr Fitzgibbondescribed his department as‘‘incompetent’’ in its handling ofthe SAS pay row.

It is understood the secretDefence investigation into MrFitzgibbon’s friendship with MsLiu and other aspects of his per-sonal life began well before thepay row broke out.

As part of their investigation,officials from Defence’s security

and intelligence areas dis-covered Mr Fitzgibbon stays in aCanberra residence sublet fromMs Liu and her family. The min-ister’s office confirmed thisarrangement yesterday.

It is alleged the officialsinformed senior Defence figuresof this and their concern aboutthe possible security implica-tions of the minister’s relation-ship with Ms Liu.

In the course of their investi-gation, it is further alleged aDefence Signals Directorateofficer accessed Mr Fitzgibbon’soffice IT systems and is under-stood to have found Ms Liu’sbanking details.

It has been alleged thatofficials from Defence’s securityand intelligence areas passed ontheir concerns about MrFitzgibbon’s association with MsLiu to ‘‘top brass’’ withinDefence but the matter did notgo further.

In response to questionsabout whether any securityconcerns about Mr Fitzgibbon’srelationship with Ms Liu hadever been raised with him, a

spokesman for the ministersaid: ‘‘No. Unequivocal no.’’

Mr Fitzgibbon is understoodto be furious at the unauthor-ised intrusion into his personalaffairs and the subsequent leakof information about the covertinvestigation from within hisown department.

A spokesman for Mr Fitzgib-bon last night said he and hisfamily had known Ms Liu andher family since 1992-93 andregarded them as ‘‘personalfriends’’.

Mr Fitzgibbon’s office yester-day said the minister first metMs Liu when his father, formerLabor MP Eric Fitzgibbon,visited China to represent thenprime minister Paul Keating atthe commencement of a largeconstruction project.

In response to leaked allega-tions from Defence suggestingMr Fitzgibbon had receivedexpensive gifts from Ms Liu, hisspokesman said the familieshad exchanged small, personalgifts at birthdays and Christmas.

But he said Mr Fitzgibbonhad not accepted any gifts fromMs Liu that would requiredeclaration on Parliament’smembers’ interest register.

Ms Liu could not be reachedfor comment yesterday. HerSydney lawyer, Donald Junn, didnot return calls.

ALP sources have confirmeda long-standing friendshipbetween the minister and MsLiu, with MPs privately reveal-ing Mr Fitzgibbon had invited

Frankston bypass in doubt as Canberra goes coolBy ROYCE MILLARand CLAY LUCAS

5KM0▲N

FRANKSTON BYPASSProposal under threat

FRANKSTON

MORNIN

GTON

PENIN

SULA

FWY

EAST

LINN

K

NEPEAN

HWY

EXCLUSIVE

THE future of the $750 millionFrankston Bypass, a key plank ofJohn Brumby’s transport planfor Melbourne, is in doubt, withfunding from the Federal Gov-ernment now unlikely.

The Age believes the25-kilometre link, from CarrumDowns to Mount Martha, willnot make the list of projects pro-posed for immediate funding bySir Rod Eddington’s Infrastruc-ture Australia advisory board.

Sir Rod’s board is set to final-ise its list of priority projectsunder the Building AustraliaFund tomorrow. But with theglobal economic crisis whittlingmoney for the fund from$20 billion to $12.6 billion,fewer projects than anticipatedwill get backing.

The Government has alreadyearmarked $4.7 billion for thenational broadband roll-out.

A well-placed source saidfederal bureaucrats arguedagainst support for the bypass,maintaining the Brumby Gov-ernment should fund it. AnotherGovernment source said the

bypass did not not tick the boxesnecessary to win support,including the capacity to help‘‘nation-build’’, expand Aus-tralia’s productive capacity, andreduce greenhouse emissions.

Likely to make the list, how-ever, is a $4 billion regional raillink from Southern Cross toWest Werribee — dubbed theTarneit line — to help speedregional trains to Geelong,Ballarat and Bendigo.

Two other schemes — the$4.5 billion first stage of the‘‘metro’’ rail tunnel beneathcentral Melbourne, and a$2.5 billion road tunnel linking

the Port of Melbourne to WestFootscray — are more likely tomake a secondary list of pro-jects for possible future backing.

In its submission for federalfunding last year, the state saidFrankston bypass was ‘‘subjectto a Commonwealth-state fund-ing agreement’’. A senior stateinsider last night said the bypasshad always been viewed as ajoint project.

Failure to win federal back-ing for the Frankston road mayadd to the mounting pressureon the State Government’salready stretched coffers.

Premier John Brumby has

ruled out tolls and, with privatefinance hard to find for public-private partnerships, it is diffi-cult to see alternatives otherthan state money or borrowings.

Yesterday the Governmentwould not be drawn on thefuture of the bypass withoutfederal backing. A spokesmanfor Mr Brumby declined torespond when asked if the roadwould begin this year.

Roads Ministers Tim Pallas— who said three months agohe hoped the bypass construc-tion would start in 2009 — lastnight would say only that theGovernment remained commit-

ted to the bypass as a joint pro-ject, without tolls. ‘‘We arelooking for works to commencelater this year,’’ spokesman BillKyriakopoulos said.

The Victorian EmployersChamber of Commerce andIndustry, which has been astrong supporter of federalfunding for the Frankston pro-ject, said it would be ‘‘mystified’’if it did not get money.

‘‘It is a good short-term, job-creating project that is neededto reduce bottlenecks and pro-mote tourism on the penin-sula,’’ said spokesman ChrisJames. PAGE 4

MEETING OF THEMINDS

The man who sold out the MCG

Ben Cousins trains with Richmond yesterday before tonight’s clash with Carlton. PICTURE: VINCE CALIGIURI

CAROLINEWILSON

Continued PAGE 2

BEN Cousins was in a state of highanxiety when Channel Ten’s crewarrived at Tigerland two days ago torecord an interview with Rich-mond’s most famous recruit andAustralia’s most famous recoveringdrug addict.

The man who has single-handedly rewritten the script for the2009 AFL season-opener, sold outthe MCG on a school night, buriedthe formula one grand prix andforced the Ten Network tonight toditch The Simpsons, was stressedand unhappy.

Cousins remains a superstar buthe is a fragile one, no longer wealthyand, on the eve of his long-awaitedcomeback, he looked drawn andnervous. The source of his dis-pleasure lay in some of the ques-tions put to him by Ten’scommentator and former WesternBulldogs captain Luke Darcy.Forced to conduct the interviewunder a new AFL media agreementwith its broadcasters, Cousins didnot appreciate being asked, forexample, how he felt when St Kildaabandoned him late last year. Thetension in the room was tangible.

He took his displeasure out onTiger officials. His manager RickyNixon took it out on the AFLPlayers’ Association and AFL execu-tive Gillon McLachlan told The Agethe interview, which will air at half-time during tonight’s Richmond-Carlton game, would be edited.

Most parties felt Cousins wasover-reacting. That his responsewas one of a fragile 30-year-oldchampion who has not played aproper AFL game for more than18 months and whose reputationand livelihood depend on a suc-cessful comeback. Clearly, he is nolonger as financially secure as heonce was and he has heavily inves-ted in a documentary he needs tosell. The anticipation surroundinghis performance tonight, as hetakes on a rejuvenated Carlton ledby his 2006 premiership teammateChris Judd, at least across Victoriaand South and Western Australia,could be compared to Cathy Free-man’s Olympic quest back in 2000.

His impact on the once mightyRichmond Football Club, the com-petition’s worst-performed teamover more than a quarter of a cen-tury, has been spectacular in finan-cial terms. The club has more

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Dead bikie linkedto police stabbingBy MARGARET SCHEIKOWSKI

Supporters of the four men accused of murdering Anthony Zervas in a bikie fight at Sydney Airport on Sunday leave a Sydney court yesterday. PICTURES: KATE GERAGHTY

KEY POINTS■ Anthony Zervas, killed in a

brawl on Sunday, allegedlyknifed an off-duty police offi-cer a few days before.

■ Four men charged over thebrawl have been denied bail.

COMMENT & DEBATEThe wild ones PAGE 21

TWO days before AnthonyZervas was bludgeoned todeath at Sydney Airport, heknifed an off-duty policemanand threatened to kill him, acourt heard.

Four men charged after thebikie brawl at the airport onSunday have been refused bailin a Sydney court.

Zervas, 29, the brother of asenior Hells Angel, allegedlyargued with the officer whohad complained about hisrepeatedly buzzing the inter-com at a block of Sydney flats.After the stabbed officermanaged to shut the frontdoor, Zervas allegedly kickedin the glass and tried to climbin.

Zervas had allegedly beenringing the buzzer withMichael Xippas, who appearedin Sydney’s Central Local Courtyesterday. Xippas, 40, ischarged with concealing aserious crime by not reportingthe alleged malicious wound-ing to authorities.

According to a statement offacts tendered to MagistrateAllan Moore, Zervas andXippas went to the flats, atBrighton-Le-Sands in Sydney’ssouthern suburbs, on Fridayand began calling out for‘‘Spiros’’, repeatedly pressingthe intercom buzzers for all sixflats for 20 minutes, the state-ment said.

The noise awoke the police

officer, Sergeant MatthewFotopoulos. He told the menSpiros was obviously nothome, which resulted in anargument about the constantuse of the buzzer.

It is alleged that SergeantFotopoulos told the men to‘‘piss off ’’ before Zervasreplied: ‘‘Watch yourself or Iwill kill you.’’

The argument continueduntil Zervas allegedly rantowards the door with a knifewhich he aimed at SergeantFotopoulos’ head. But, thestatement said, the officerdodged and was stabbed twicein the arm before managing topush Zervas out and slam thedoor.

After Zervas shattered thedoor and tried to climbthrough, he and Xippas ranaway down the road.

Sergeant Fotopoulosreceived 11 stitches for hiswounds.

The statement said CCTVfootage showed Zervas andXippas, fitting the descriptiongiven by Sergeant Fotopoulos.

‘‘At the time Zervas was kil-led on Sunday, he was wearing

the pair of black denim shortsand the white Nike joggerswhich matched the clothing hewas wearing at the time of theoffences,’’ the statement said.

When arrested on Tuesday,Xippas allegedly admittedbeing with Zervas at the flats,but said he had no knowledgeof Zervas having a knife or ofthe man they encounteredbeing an off-duty policeman.

His lawyer unsuccessfullyapplied for bail and Mr Mooreadjourned the case to the samecourt on April 22.

Meanwhile, John Korn, thebarrister for the four mencharged after the airport bikiebrawl, said they should notremain locked up while policeprepared their evidence, whichcould take more than sixmonths.

Ismail Erden, 26, of King-sford, Maher Aouli, 28, ofCasula, Pomare Pirini, 21, ofGeorges Hall, and ZoranKisacanin, 22, of Ingleburn,were each charged with affrayover the fight on Sunday, alleg-edly involving up to 20 men,including Hells Angels andComancheros bikies.

Only Kisacanin appeared inthe dock of Sydney’s CentralLocal Court.

However, Mr Moore refusedthe application for bail for allfour accused. The matter wasadjourned until May 5. AAP

10 THE AGETHURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2009

NEWSALL CHANGE: Mohammad Khatami, one-time president of Iran, shares

a trait with US President Barack Obama. Both like to talk about change.DANIEL FLITTON FOCUS PAGE 19

Man charged overCanberra killingsBy TOM ARUPCANBERRA

Richard ‘‘Rebel Rick’’ Roberts.

RUSSELL Field is 20, has beencharged with a double murder,including a bikie gang member,and fears for his life.

Field was formally chargedyesterday with the murder ofRichard John Roberts, 58, andGreg Carrigan, 47, after policefound two bodies in the SouthCanberra suburb of Chisholmon Tuesday night.

Mr Roberts, also known as‘‘Rebel Rick’’, was the formerhead of the West Australian

chapter of the Rebels motor-cycle club and a convicted drugdealer.

Field was scheduled toappear in the ACT MagistratesCourt yesterday for a bail appli-cation.

In preparation for his courtappearance, ACT police broughtin the bomb squad and amarked police car sat on a trafficisland out the front of the courtfor most of the morning.

But Field did not appear.Instead, his lawyer asked for anadjournment for a bail appli-cation until April 15, which wasgranted by magistrate JohnBurn.

After the brief hearing, Field’slawyer, Ben Aulich, told repor-ters he held fears for his client’ssafety.

‘‘I have asked him to saynothing, to be careful and to putin (an application for protectivecustody) to protect himself,’’ MrAulich said.

‘‘There are serious allega-tions against certain people andthere is some fear for his safety.’’

Mr Aulich said his clientwould be pleading not guilty.

Teachers make science pleaBy DAN HARRISONCANBERRA

SCIENCE teachers aredemanding that the nationalcurriculum mandate a mini-mum weekly teaching time forthe subject because they fear itwill be crowded out by otherdisciplines.

In a submission to the Nat-ional Curriculum Board, theAustralian Science TeachersAssociation said at least11⁄2 hours a week should bedevoted to science in the firstfour years of school. It sug-gested at least two hours aweek in grades 3 to 6, and atleast 31⁄2 hours in lowersecondary school.

The association said sci-ence tended to be given littletime in primary schoolsbecause many teachers lacked

confidence and knowledge ofthe subject.

A survey by the AustralianPrimary Principals Associationfound schools allocated anaverage of 3 per cent of teach-ing time to science, less thanthey devoted to religion.

It said there was a trend ofreducing the amount of sci-ence at the secondary level,with some schools offering itas an elective subject or for asemester rather than the year.

The association said: ‘‘Thishas been occurring in a con-text . . . where the greatmajority of future employmentopportunities will be scienceand technology-based.

‘‘It is imperative that suf-ficient time is mandated, notrecommended, for coveringthe curriculum in classrooms.’’

Association president Peter

Turnbull said lifting the level ofscience teaching wouldrequire substantial spendingon professional development.

‘‘We have a very largecohort of primary teachersthat are not confident orexperienced in science . . .those people without a con-siderable investment inprofessional learning and sup-port are not going to immedi-ately move to 120 minutes aweek, but with the right struc-tures in place, I believe thatthey can.’’

Last year’s Trends in Inter-national Mathematics and Sci-ence study showed students’performance in science hadslipped significantly at year 8.

The national curriculum forthe sciences, maths, Englishand history is scheduled to beintroduced in 2011.

Defence spies on its ministerFrom PAGE 1

them to dine with or meet the48-year-old businesswoman.

Business associates of MsLiu, who travels regularlybetween Sydney and China,also acknowledged there was astrong friendship between herand Mr Fitzgibbon.

Ms Liu has been a generousfinancial supporter of the NewSouth Wales ALP over the pastdecade, with two of her formerproperty development com-panies contributing about$90,000.

Australian Securities andInvestment Commission

documents show several of herderegistered Australian com-panies had Chinese Gov-ernment-owned enterprises asshareholders.

The Chinese state-ownedenterprises that held shares insome of Ms Liu’s former com-panies include the ShandongGroup Fisheries Corporation,the Industrial & CommercialBank of China and the JinanSteel and Iron Works.

The Shandong fishingenterprise and the Jinan steel-works are run by senior Com-munist Party officials.

Federal Court records showthat in the 1990s Ms Liu’s com-

panies bought propertiesaround Sydney worth tens ofmillions of dollars, includingshopping plazas in Dee Whyand Blacktown, through hercompanies Diamond HillInternational Pty Ltd, WincopyPty Ltd and the British VirginIslands-incorporated VisionWise Holdings. The courtdocuments reveal she had afalling-out with her businesspartner Humphrey Xu.

In a 1998 NSW SupremeCourt document, Justice PeterYoung referred to Ms Liu owing$1.5 million on her credit cardsbut still having ample funds tomeet other commitments.

NATAGE A009

FOCUS

9THE AGEMONDAY, MAY 25, 2009

A company half-owned by Australia’sReserve Bank has engaged in questionabledealings in its pursuit of the ‘‘licence’’ toprint money. Nick McKenzie andRichard Baker report.

THE MONEY MAKERS

THE din of scooters in Hanoi’sold district could barely beheard inside Vietnam’s Ministryof Culture and Information.It was 2006 and neatly dressedgovernment officials were look-ing for newspaper stories critical

of the controversial role of the VietnamCentral Bank governor in a deal to replacethe country’s paper banknotes. When thedeal was first announced, it appeared to bemuch like the new plastic banknotes: clean,neat and shiny.

Indeed, the formula for the special poly-mer material used to make the new noteswas owned by a company with a reputationfor integrity. Based in Craigieburn,Securency Pty Ltd was half-owned by theReserve Bank of Australia, the guardian ofthe nation’s financial system.

This, however, had not stopped questionsbeing asked in the Vietnamese press aboutthe integrity of the currency deal — particu-larly as the bank governor’s son wasinvolved with a company Securency hadengaged as its local agent. In 2007, an offic-ial Vietnamese government inquiry foundthat irregularities in ‘‘the objectivity andtransparency of the (banknote) project’’ haddamaged the bank governor’s reputation.

This finding meant little for the localjournalists who had, a year earlier, posedquestions about the deal. According to a USGovernment report into human rightsabuses in Vietnam, the Ministry of Cultureand Information had ‘‘reportedly threatened(the journalists) with sanctions for theirpublication of criticisms of the Government,including revelations of alleged official cor-ruption’’. Two editors were stood down andseven newspapers cautioned by governmentofficials. As a result, fewer and fewer ques-tions were asked.

Only now — after revelations in The Ageon Saturday — are fresh inquiries beingmade. But this time they are focused onSecurency and how it excels at doing busi-ness not only in Vietnam but in some of themost corruption-prone countries in theworld. Chief among them is why the ReserveBank and a host of Australian politiciansand government officials have given theirbacking to a company paying largecommissions to several disreputableoverseas middlemen, as well as doing someof its business in offshore tax havens knownfor their secrecy provisions?

They are questions familiar to PrimeMinister Kevin Rudd, who made his mark asopposition foreign affairs spokesmanprobing the Iraq kickbacks scandal involvingthe Australian Wheat Board. Now, a differentcompany with impeccable Australian gov-ernment connections is under the spotlight.And the PM is being asked some of thesame questions he was once so adept atposing.

A SHADY BUSINESSTHE world’s money makers have longfavoured secrecy over scrutiny. Americanjournalist Murray Bloom discovered this in1983, when he published The Brotherhood ofMoney.

According to Klaus Bender, a Germanauthor who also attempted to chronicle thework of currency companies, banknote firmsbanded together to bulk-buy Bloom’s book,only to have it pulped. The few who havemanaged to thumb its pages are treated toa historical expose of the tricks of themoney makers’ trade, including the use ofdubious agents to win deals and the corrup-ting of foreign central bank officials, whodecide which company should win a con-tract to make a new note or coin.

Bloom’s book revealed the close tiesbetween the British, European and Ameri-can currency printing companies and theirrespective national governments and intelli-gence agencies. He also exposed thewillingness of some within the industry tolie, intimidate and bribe in order to securethe extraordinarily lucrative right to print acountry’s currency.

Henry Keith, a former legendary salesexecutive for American Bank Note Companyin Latin America between the 1930s and’50s, told Bloom that bribery was common.‘‘When a competitor gets his first hook intoyour account . . . you know damned well he’sgoing to move heaven and earth — andbribe God knows who — to get more busi-ness to entrench himself,’’ Keith said. Healso spoke of the ‘‘necessary and contro-versial’’ role of middlemen in foreigncountries who were able to help securedeals for currency companies. According toKeith, the best agents were from ‘‘wellconnected, prominent local families’’.

Bloom discovered that some of theworld’s biggest banknote companies hadengaged senior politicians and central bankfigures as agents who would receive comm-issions on the completion of successfuldeals. Said Keith: ‘‘In one case (our agent)was an ex-minister of foreign affairs. InEcuador, it was an ex-general named Cobo,Comandante Cobo, who made a fortunefrom his 5 per cent commission.’’

Since Bloom penned his book, currencycompanies have continued to run intotrouble; British banknote printer De La Rueis under investigation by London’s Serious

Fraud Officeover claims of corrup-tion in Africa. Germany’s Giesecke andDevrient stopped supplying money toRobert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe after arequest from the German Government. TheAmerican Bank Note Holigraphics Companywas fined a few years ago after it wasaccused of breaching the US corruptionlaws in connection to a payment to a Swissbank account that was aimed at influencingSaudi Government officials.

Over the past two decades, there havealso been some major changes in theindustry, including the introduction of newinternational business standards promptingsome companies, including Giesecke andDevrient, to ban the payment of money intoaccounts in offshore tax havens. Anotherchange involved the entry of a new competi-tor in the market. It had governmentbacking, swish new technology and a fiercedesire to win contracts.

THE NEW PLAYERALONG with the Hills hoist and the lawnmower, the development of polymerbanknotes rates as one of Australia’s mostinnovative offerings to the world.

After a large-scale counterfeiting attemptin 1967, the RBA decided Australia’s currencyneeded greater protection. It eventuallyturned to the CSIRO. Australia’s premierscientific research organisation and thebank’s fully owned subsidiary, Note PrintingAustralia, began work on the project in the1980s. The team’s focus ‘‘soon moved to aplastic polymer material’’.

Australia began the switch to the durableand more secure plastic notes in 1988. Eightyears later, the RBA and Belgian plastics firmUCB became joint venture partners in acompany called Securency.

Over the next decade, nearly 30 coun-tries, including Romania, Nigeria andGuatemala, switched to or tested thepolymer notes.

While the company’s operations, as wellas its partnership with the Reserve Bank, isrelatively unknown in Australia, Securency’ssuccess has been increasingly noted in theboardrooms of its overseas-based com-petitors. An executive from a competing firmsays one question that is regularly ponderedis: ‘‘How can a company that is owned50 per cent by the Reserve Bank be sosuccessful in some of the most corruptcountries in the world?’’

Securency’s employees mostly respond tothat question by describing the superiorityof polymer notes when compared to thepaper products produced by many of itsrivals. But Securency’s network of overseas

agents have also been making a difference.Stane Strauss, a Frankfurt-based bank-

note expert and former marketingconsultant to Securency’s sister companyNote Printing Australia, says agents still playa critical role in the industry.

‘‘There is more to getting a printing orderthan merely having the best possibleproduct or the lowest price for a givenstandardised product,’’ Strauss says. ‘‘Long-term relationships, trust, political influence,international relations all play role in thishighly complex business. Secrecy is impera-tive for both printers and the central banks.’’

In Mexico in 2004, Securency employedthe country’s former central bank chiefcashier, Raul Sierra. Sierra’s replacement aschief cashier at the Banco de Mexico, JaimePacreu, who was in charge of introducingpolymer notes, became Securency’s Mexicanmanager in October 2007. Pacreu’s integrityhas never been questioned. His hiring bySecurency raises questions about thepractice of government officials jumpingship to a private company able to profitfrom their past connections (a practice thathappens the world over, including in Aus-tralia). But nothing about it was illegal.

For Securency and the Mexican Govern-ment, Pacreu’s involvement made sense; lastyear, Securency unveiled its new printingplant in Mexico, owned 20 per cent by theBanco de Mexico. In doing so, it signalled itsintentions to conquer the region’s currencymarket.

But if the Mexican operations were aboveboard, what about Securency’s activities inother more corruption-prone countries?

TRICKS OF THE TRADEAS A a cluster of islands surrounded by thedeep blue waters of Indian ocean, Seychellesis a dream location for honeymooners. Lying1500 kilometres off the east coast of Africa,the country is also a sought-after tax haven.

Company insiders say that Securency hasmade large payments, including ‘‘commis-sions’’, to accounts in a number of countriesregarded as tax havens by Australian auth-orities, including the Seychelles. The reasonfor doing this remains unclear, partly due tothe haven’s strict secrecy provisions, whichmake it difficult to unravel those behind theoffshore accounts. Asked whether it makespayments to tax havens, Securency told TheAge that ‘‘it does not make payments to anytax havens or jurisdictions which have notcommitted to the internationally agreed taxstandard developed by the OECD’’.

According to the OECD, scores of taxhavens and financial centres have pledgedto reform their standards, but are yet to doso. Twenty-two countries — including 18considered tax havens — have ‘‘committed’’to making changes, but have ‘‘not yet sub-stantially’’ done so, says the OECD.Securency has done business in at least afew of them.

Paying monies into offshore accountsappears to sit uneasily with the OECD’s anti-corruption guidelines, which instruct com-panies to ‘‘adopt financial and taxaccounting and auditing practices thatprevent the establishment of ‘off the books’or secret accounts’’.

If suspicion is aroused by the dealingswith offshore accounts, some of the

business-men whom

Securency hasengaged across the

globe also do notinspire confidence.One company active across

Africa, Contec Global, which isowned by an Indian businessman and

honorary consul to Burundi, Benoy Berry,has reaped lucrative payments fromSecurency as their agent. .

In 2006, the Ugandan Governmentinspectorate investigated a contract processinvolving Contec Global and found that aGovernment minister appeared to beimproperly lobbying for the company. Whileit could not confirm an allegation raised ina report by Uganda’s intelligence servicesthat the minister had received a hefty bribe,it did find that he had abused his office,‘‘had a personal interest in the outcome ofthe procurement process (and) . . . wasfronting and or lobbying for Contec Global’’.

In South Africa, Securency has had deal-ings with at least two very colourfulbusinessman. For a period, it was dealingwith casino magnate Vivian Reddy, who hasbeen embroiled in a corruption scandalinvolving his close friend and now president,Jacob Zuma. Another Securency connectionin South African, Donald McArthur, wascharged with corruption by authorities in2005 in connection to the nation’s biggestcorporate collapse in 1999. Last year,McArthur struck a deal with South Africanauthorities and pleaded guilty to a charge offraud.

In India, a company insider believesSecurency made a political donation of$100,000 but listed it on the books as a‘‘marketing expenses’’. Securency has deniedmaking payments to any political entity.

A company source also alleged thatSecurency was paying its agents commis-sions of 10 per cent or more, which are wellabove those paid by at least two other majorcurrency companies, who told The Age theircommissions are between 2 and 6 per cent.Securency says it pays commissions after‘‘taking into account advice from otherorganisations (including Austrade) on theappropriate commission levels for eachcountry’’.

The risk inherent in using agents incorruption-prone countries has not escapedSecurency’s attention — indeed, it has beena topic at company meetings and ethicsworkshops. The company says its agentsmust sign a code of conduct that prohibitsbribery. It also says it has, ‘‘on a number ofoccasions, terminated or not renewed’’agents’ contracts due to poor performance.

Securency’s sister firm in Melbourne,Note Printing Australia, has taken a differentapproach. NPA’s business developmentmanager, Daniel Reid, told The Age that hisfirm believes that, rather than using agents,‘‘it is a more responsible approach to dealdirectly with central banks’’.

Londoner John Burbidge-King, a formerexecutive at British banknote firm De LaRue who now runs an anti-corruptionconsultancy, also says that caution mustbe taken when dealing with agents incorruption-prone countries. ‘‘Companiesneed to ensure that they have selected an

agent with care and independent duediligence. If a country is below 50 on theTransparency International index we advisecompanies to dig a little deeper beforeappointing their agent,’’ he says. (Trans-parency International is an NGO that ratesthe corruption levels in countries.)

Securency says it applies ‘‘due diligence’’when hiring all of its agents. Some of its staffare also careful when communicating withthem. An email sent by one of the firm’sformer senior sales chiefs to colleaguesadvised them to use an instant messagingservice that leaves no records.

But the company’s dealings incorruption-prone regions has not alwaysgone without notice. In 2002, Vietnam’scentral bank governor was overseeing thecountry’s project to switch to polymer notes.Securency stood to make millions out of thedeal and engaged as its Vietnamese agent afirm called the Company For Developmentand Technology or CFTD. CFTD’s offices areclose to the Ministry of Culture and Infor-mation, whose officials in 2006 targetedlocal journalists who had queried the centralbank governor’s handling of the deal.

One of the issues revealed by journalistsconcerned the identity of a director of a

CFTD company involved in the currencydeal. He was the central bank governor’s

son. According to newspaper reports inVietnam, the state’s corruption watch-

dog found in 2007 that theinvolvement of the bank governor’sson in the deal in 2002, howeverbrief, was ‘‘irregular in terms of theobjectivity and transparency of theproject and has an impact on thestate bank governor’s reputation’’.

What was never uncovered by theinspectorate’s investigation were any

details about the commission paymentsmade to CFTD from Securency. A companysource told The Age they run into themillions. While this may tally with anypercentage deal agreed to betweenSecurency and CFTD, the destination ofsome of the commission payments appearsunusual. A source close to the company saysat least some of the payments were directedinto an account in Switzerland. The countryis one of the financial centres that the OECDsaid last month had ‘‘not substantiallyimplemented’’ appropriate tax and secrecystandards, despite committing to do so.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDSLAST December, outside Securency’s newplant in central Mexico, a notable cast gath-ered. Mingling with the governor of Mexico’scentral bank was the assistant governor ofthe Reserve Bank of Australia, Dr RobertRankin, and Katrina Cooper, Australia’sambassador to Mexico. They were there tocut the ribbon to launch the new plant and,in doing so, send the message that Aus-tralia’s Government and central bank werefirm backers of Securency’s work.

In 2004, during a presentation in Can-berra, Securency CEO Myles Curtis extolledthe virtues of this support: ‘‘One should notunderestimate the extremely high level oftrust and integrity that must be establishedbefore a (currency) project . . . can even beconsidered. As in all the countries we areworking in, the support we received fromthe embassy and the Department of ForeignAffairs and Trade has been extremelyhelpful.’’

Just how much the RBA knows about thecompany it half-owns, regularly audits andon whose board sits several Reserve Bankofficials is unclear, although the bank’sdeputy governor, Ric Battellino, reacted withsurprise when told about the allegations lastweek and said he would demand animmediate explanation.

What is known by Department of ForeignAffairs and Trade, and Austrade, aboutSecurency’s activities is also unclear.(According to one source, an Austrade-recommended consultant in South-East Asiaactually advised Securency managers thatthey would need ‘‘someone to hand out thewhite paper envelopes’’ if they wanted to dobusiness in a certain country.)

Securency says it advises the ReserveBank about all agent ‘‘appointments andterminations’’ and that it also takes advicefrom Austrade about making commissionpayments.

The issues that arise from Securency’soverseas operations, including the supportfrom the Australian Government, are similarto those raised persistently by Kevin Rudd inopposition when he probed into govern-ment knowledge of the commissionpayments being made by the AustralianWheat Board to the regime of SaddamHussein. Rudd campaigned tirelessly for aninquiry into government negligencesurrounding the wheat board scandal. Howhard the Government will push for answersabout Securency’s behaviour — and whatthe Reserve Bank and government officialsknow or should have known — remainsunclear. But the spotlight is now onSecurency’s activities. And the moneymakers hate that.

Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker are with The Age’sinvestigative unit.

NOTEWORTHY SUCCESS■ Securency Pty Ltd was formed in 1996 as a

joint venture between the Reserve Bank ofAustralia and Belgian multinational UCB. InSeptember 2004, Innovia Films, owned by aconsortium led by Candover PLC, acquiredUCB’s share. In its first 10 years, Securencysales rose to $60 million.

■ Securency manufactures special polymer cur-rencies for more than 20 countries includingBangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, China,Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kuwait,Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nepal,Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Papua New Guinea,Romania, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri

Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, WesternSamoa and Zambia.

■ Securency’s profit for the past two years isabout $26 million.

■ Note Printing Australia Limited is a whollyowned subsidiary of the RBA. It producesAustralian banknotes and passports andsupplies banknotes to several countries in theAsia-Pacific.

■ In 2007/08, NPA produced 470 millionbanknotes, of which 288 million wereAustralian.

■ NPA’s total profit over the past two financialyears is $11.5 million.