In Reply to: Feelings about corruption posted by Hillary on Tuesday, 17. January 2006 at 08:17 Bali Time:
Last night on Perth TV there was a section on the Australian Wheat Board's dealings with Iraq when Saddam Hussein was still in power. There are allegations being openly made that the AWB, who was keen to maintain its position as the biggest supplier of wheat to Iraq, made corrupt payments running into hundreds of millions of Aussie dollars which finished up in the hands of Saddam Hussein.
During the time of WA Inc, I was the president of a very active, and at times militant, community association in the Fremantle area. A local developer tried to buy my goodwill. No voice in council or govt, no influence as an adviser, just well informed on building matters [I owned a sub-contracting business] and outspoken. So I was worth money [which naturally I refused to take].
A friend was middle management [technical] with a regulatory WA govt dept. He told me that he would have been rich if he had been prepared to take money and I believe him.
And Brian Burke's mate David Parker [they both went to jail], who was then the state member for Fremantle had the impertinence to try and talk down to me when I was in his office as part of a deputation.
I could say more, but I probably wouldn't be believed and could get sued.
In regard to Bali. If I was going through customs with too much wine and was able to negotiate a "good for you, good for me" deal with the customs officer, rather than lose my wine, then I would go for it. And if I was pulled over by a traffic cop for not wearing a motor bike helmet, then I would rather give him 20,000 Rupia and be on my way than get a ticket and have to go to court. Compared to serious corruption, or a blind eye being shown to serious criminal or environmental matters, to me this is the difference between robbing a bank and buying an apple off a poor man's tree in the knowledge that he was not going to put the sale through his books and pay tax on it.