Ordinary Australians robbed of half a million dollars each: Henry
Before the federal government's productivity roundtable next month, Ken Henry, who headed a review into the tax system under the Rudd government and was pivotal to the introduction of the GST under the Howard government, said the nation's children were being short-changed by a current generation afraid to make hard decisions.
Henry, the chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, used an address to the National Press Club to argue the nation's poor productivity performance would become worse if environmental laws were not overhauled to both reduce red tape and protect nature.
As Treasury secretary, he oversaw the first intergenerational report, released by then-treasurer Peter Costello, in 2002. After a sharp lift in productivity through the 1990s, the report assumed it could continue to grow over the next 40 years at around 1.75 per cent annually.
Instead, productivity has slowed both here and around the world. In Australia, it has averaged less than 1 per cent since the turn of the century and has been negative over the past two years.
Henry said as wages usually grew in line with productivity, the drop in productivity over the past 23 years had resulted in smaller pay packets for ordinary workers.
'The average full-time Australian worker has been robbed of about $500,000 over the past 25 years because of our failure,' he said.
'When I hear people say, we cannot do this to enhance productivity, cannot do that because it will hurt somebody, I think – give me a break. Who are we talking about here?'
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The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Man who won $600m from Albanese government for PNG rugby league embroiled in corruption scandal
The chairman of the successful bid for Papua New Guinea's new rugby league franchise faces corruption concerns involving a Chinese company – after the Albanese government poured $600 million of taxpayers money into the scheme to ward off Beijing's influence in the Pacific. The claims involve a company owned by powerful PNG businessman Wapu Sonk, who led the Pacific Island nation's bid to join the National Rugby League and in June was appointed a director of the country's new franchise. But evidence unearthed by this masthead raises serious questions about whether Sonk sought to benefit personally from his power as the chief of PNG's national oil company. The evidence, which relates to his business dealings not the NRL bid, includes confidential documents and corporate records and links Sonk's company to suspect dealings with a massive Chinese government firm and a plot to funnel contracts to a company Sonk owns in Australia. Sonk, who has refused to answer questions about the issue, is also facing scrutiny over his use of a multimillion-dollar Brisbane property owned by an Australian businessman whose firm has been awarded lucrative contracts by the top oil company which Sonk heads. Sonk has been heralded as a central player in the NRL expansion deal announced in December by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese alongside his PNG counterpart, James Marape, that will see the team join the competition in 2028. Labor has committed $600 million in taxpayer funding to finance the deal, with the funds to be spent mostly in PNG with the guidance of Sonk and his fellow directors and oversight from the Australian Rugby League Commission. The Albanese government has backed the deal as a means of countering China's strategic, security and economic influence in PNG – a fact which raises further questions about Sonk's company's dealings with a Beijing-backed firm. Sonk's power and influence – and the reason he became a key player in the NRL deal – flow from his position as the head of PNG's biggest company, the state-owned national oil company, Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited. If Sonk sought to use Kumul Petroleum to cut deals with a Chinese government entity in order to personally profit, it would involve precisely the type of dealmaking the Albanese government was seeking to counter when it inked the deal it negotiated with Sonk to expand the NRL into Port Moresby. The multibillion-dollar company is responsible for boosting PNG's economic and social welfare via its mandated stake in key energy projects. Sonk has helmed Kumul Petroleum as managing director for 10 years, giving him huge political and business sway as well as influence over overseas companies chasing contracts in PNG. Kumul Petroleum's long-standing funding of rugby league in PNG has made Sonk into a kingmaker in the local sport landscape. The corruption concerns involve Kumul Petroleum's $30 million project to build new oil tank facilities at a key PNG international port, the Motukea Main Wharf. In 2024, the Sonk-led Kumul Petroleum awarded the contract to a Chinese Communist Party-controlled firm involved in mega projects around the world, the China Petroleum and Pipeline Engineering Corporation. In December, Sonk told the PNG press that Kumul Petroleum was spending 'significant' funds on the project to 'put in place critical infrastructure ... which is so important for our economy and development as a country'. But a leaked Kumul Petroleum letter suggests Sonk may have also been seeking to benefit himself. The letter, obtained by this masthead, details a demand from Kumul Petroleum – on its official letterhead – to the China Petroleum and Pipeline Engineering Corporation. The March 12 letter tells the Chinese-government firm that Kumul expected it to hire two 'designated' Australian companies in order to carry out the port project and that this is in keeping with a 'prior agreement' extracted by Kumul Petroleum during its negotiations with the Beijing company. 'We would like to formally confirm that, as previously discussed and agreed upon, the renovation and upgrade work at Motukea Main Wharf of PNG Motukea Fuel Facility Project shall be carried out by the designated companies,' the Kumul Petroleum letter states. The request from Kumul Petroleum to the Chinese government contractor contains a veiled commercial threat that if it did not hire the 'designated' Australian companies, it might jeopardise its relationship with PNG's national oil company. 'We kindly request your cooperation in ensuring that the execution of these works aligns with our prior agreements. Any deviation from the agreed-upon plan could potentially impact the project's overall success and our collaborative efforts,' the letter states. Missing from the letter is a key detail: one of the two 'designated' companies put forward in Kumul Petroleum's letter of demand, PNG Developments Pty Ltd, is privately owned in Australia by Wapu Sonk. 'Specifically, the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) work shall be executed by PNG Developments PTY LTD,' the Kumul Petroleum letter states without disclosing that the Australian firm's sole shareholder is Sonk. The second designated firm is FSB Consulting, which this masthead has confirmed is owned by one of Sonk's senior employees at Kumul Petroleum, Australian-born Jason Pollock. 'The Project Management Consultancy (PMC) work shall be handled by FSB Consulting Pty Ltd,' states the March 2025 letter, which is signed by Pollock is his capacity as 'Projects Director: Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited'. As is the case with Sonk's private firm, there is no mention in the Kumul Petroleum letter that Pollock owns FSB. Called this week, Pollock denied knowing his boss, Sonk, was the owner of PNG Developments Pty Ltd. 'I would find it hard to believe that Sonk owns that company,' Pollock said. 'That would surprise me … I'm quite taken back (sic) by that suggestion.' When later sent a shareholding document by this masthead that proved Sonk's ownership of the firm, Pollock responded with an emoji of an angry red face swearing. When Pollock was pressed as to why he wrote to the Chinese in March instructing them to use PNG Developments Pty Ltd if he did not know who owned it, he said: 'I can't remember.' He also said he could 'not remember' who directed him to nominate PNG Developments Pty Ltd as one of the two firms the Chinese government company was expected to use, but suggested it may have been a senior engineer working for the Chinese Communist Party-controlled corporation. Pressed about the seeming promotion of his privately owned firm, Pollock said it 'looks stinky' and was a 'conflict of interest'. Pollock claimed he had 'retracted' the Kumul Petroleum letter of demand after: 'I saw the error of my ways.' Pollock also claimed he had personally discussed the letter with Sonk and that Sonk had warned him about conflicts of interest, albeit while never revealing his ownership of PNG Developments Pty Ltd. Pollock insisted he was not a friend of Sonk, who Pollock called 'the big fella'. But he said he had travelled to a Chinese energy conference in Beijing with Sonk in May as part of a delegation including senior PNG politicians. Pollock had also travelled to Shanghai with Sonk on a separate trip, he said. Pollock said during an interview that he was 'happy' for any allegations of wrongdoing linked to the port deal 'to be investigated'. Sonk was sent detailed questions on Tuesday, including whether he had any knowledge of, or involvement in, sending the letter, but declined to answer them. 'These are serious questions and I prefer a lawyer to speak to you on my behalf,' Sonk said in a message on Tuesday. He did not respond further, although his lawyers on Wednesday wrote to this masthead saying: 'Our client denies any and all allegations of improper or unlawful conduct that you assert.' There is no suggestion by this masthead that Sonk directed Pollock to send the letter to the Chinese firm, only that the circumstances of the letter warrant further scrutiny because of Sonk's ownership of PNG Developments. There is no evidence that the two firms privately owned by Sonk or Pollock ever actually received any funds or contracts from the Chinese company. An Australian government spokesman said it had zero tolerance for corruption and any allegations of corrupt behaviour should be referred to appropriate authorities. The spokesman, in a statement, said the agreements between the government, the ARL Commission and PNG's NRL franchise had 'strong anti-fraud and corruption protections'. ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys said he had not previously heard any adverse allegations about Sonk and that the league would be guided by 'any court case which tests these allegations'. Sonk also declined to answer questions about his use of a multimillion-dollar Brisbane home owned by an Australian businessman whose company has won contracts from Kumul Petroleum. Corporate records reveal that Hamid Ronagh is the part owner – via a company – of the Indooroopilly property used by Sonk and one of his close associates, a PNG woman, to register companies and also to live in. Ronagh's Australian firm, Neobuild, has won contracts in PNG awarded by Kumul Petroleum. Pollock told this masthead that Neobuild had won a large contract on the Motukea wharf project. Ronagh confirmed to this masthead that Sonk was renting his Brisbane property. But Ronagh did not respond to a request to provide evidence that Sonk had paid to use the property and did not respond to questions about whether the arrangement was appropriate given Neobuild's commercial dealings with Kumul Petroleum. Sonk also did not respond to questions about why he was using the Brisbane property and the extent, if any, of his private dealings with Ronagh. This masthead is not suggesting that Ronagh has provided inducements to Sonk, or that Sonk has sought them. Rather, the apparent private commercial relationship between the pair raises questions about conflicts of interest that remain unanswered given the pair's failure to answer questions. While Sonk's involvement in suspect dealings in his capacity as national oil company chief do not extend to his role leading PNG's rugby league bid, they do raise questions about his ongoing role as director of PNG's new NRL franchise. Sonk was a VIP guest of the NRL in Australia when the new team was announced and gave interviews to Australian reporters claiming the new franchise would sign up one million members, or more than the rest of the competition teams combined. One league reporter wrote that the PNG NRL deal had transformed Sonk into 'one of the game's most powerful figures'. Sonk is one of seven directors variously nominated by the ARL commission and PNG government to the board that will oversee the addition of a new team to the NRL competition in 2028. V'landys said Sonk was among the selections of the PNG government, while the commission's nominations included chairman and Canterbury Bulldogs powerbroker Ray Dib. He said the commission conducted background checks on nominated directors. The NRL agreed to the historic expansion into PNG at the behest of Albanese, who was eager to deliver it as a boost to Marape to shore up security ties with Australia's closest neighbour and ward off China's efforts to further its influence in the Pacific. Of the $600 million committed by the Albanese government over 10 years, $290 million will go towards the establishment and operation of the PNG team, with $250 million channelled into the development of rugby league in the Pacific and $60 million to be divided between existing NRL clubs as a licence fee. As an added layer of oversight, the commission will be responsible overseeing the distribution of the $600 million of taxpayer funds. However, there have been concerns that the PNG deal would inevitably be exposed to governance risks given that corruption is endemic in the Pacific. 'It's in this type of corrupted environment that you're going to be exposed to these kind of situations,' one observer said. A second source with deep connections into the federal government and the NRL said the NRL-PNG deal was always a bad idea given the potential for it to fuel corruption. A third source, a senior official in PNG, said the Australian government funds were 'better spent on health and education'. Sonk's lawyers said their client's role as a director of the new PNG-NRL franchise was appropriate. 'Our client is one member of a board of directors of the proposed franchisee. That board comprises a group of highly experienced and well-regarded individuals (including retired professional NRL players) that collectively bring significant expertise to their oversight responsibilities, and decisions are made through proper and robust governance processes,' they said. The Australian government's bankrolling of rugby league in the Pacific has alarmed rugby union chiefs in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, who have formed new links with China amid concerns that their national game could be cannibalised by a foreign taxpayer-backed rival code.
West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Kevin Hogan says Anthony Albanese's lack of action to meet with Trump a ‘real shame' amid PM's trip to China
It is a 'real shame' Anthony Albanese does not have the 'same exuberance' about meeting with Donald Trump as he does Xi Jinping, the shadow Trade Minister says, describing the Prime Minister's mission to China as a 'working holiday'. Kevin Hogan made the comments as Mr Albanese prepared to arrive back on home soil after a six-day charm offensive in China where he focused on stabilising Australia's relationship with its key trading partner. During the tour Mr Albanese met with Mr Xi, his fourth meeting with the Chinese President, as well as Premier Li Qiang and National People's Congress chairman Zhao Leji, in a bid to strengthen the country's economic ties. Mr Hogan said it was important Mr Albanese made the visit, but added: 'I think it's a shame he doesn't have the same exuberance, if you like, to meet with the US President and go to the US, but that's something we need to work on'. He acknowledged Mr Albanese was working to secure a meeting with Mr Trump and said it was 'important we continue to reach out'. 'I think it's good the Prime Minister went to China, I think it's good that he did the panda thing and re-enacted Gough Whitlam's Great Wall of China visit. I don't have a criticism of that,' he said on Friday. 'They are an important trading partner, I'm glad the Prime Minister has visited there and been there for that reason. I'm just adding it's a real shame he doesn't have the same exuberance about doing that with the US President.' Opposition Finance Minister James Paterson on Thursday slammed the trip, saying though the Coalition had provided bipartisan support for the Government's trade mission, the visit had started to look 'a little bit indulgent'. Senator Paterson argued the appropriate time to do a 'nostalgic history tour of Labor Party mythology' was in retirement, not after failing to meet the US President since his election. Mr Albanese has come under intense pressure to lock in a meeting with Mr Trump after the Pentagon called a snap review into the future of the AUKUS pact. Mr Trump's trade tariffs have also been a sore point. 'We have profoundly serious issues at stake in that bilateral relationship as well, including potentially tariffs on one of our largest export industries to the United States, pharmaceuticals,' Senator Paterson said. Asked if Mr Albanese got the 'tone and balance right' with his trip, shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor said he was 'still trying to work out what he's coming home with'. 'He went down memory lane, listened to some Midnight Oil and went in the footsteps of Gough Whitlam, but we need more than that,' he said. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek on Friday said stabilising Australia's relationship with China 'has been important particularly for our farmers, our grain growers, our wine makers, our lobster fishermen'. 'The fact that the Prime Minister is in China at the moment shows the Australian Government's commitment to making sure that it continues to be a strong economic relationship,' she told the ABC. 'The Prime Minister's had a roundtable about our iron ore exports to China. 'The iron ore that Australia exports is the largest source of foreign iron ore in China. We know how important steelmaking is for the modern economy. 'The Prime Minister's visited a tourism business. Chinese tourism to Australia is the largest source of tourism by value, it's worth more than $9 billion a year already. 'And so, people should see the potential benefits of increasing China's tourism to Australia. The hundreds of millions or billions of dollars of extra spending it will feed into the Australian economy as we see Chinese tourism increase.'
Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australian tanks arrive in Ukraine after nine-month wait
Around 40 Australian army tanks have arrived in Ukraine to help defend the country against Vladimir Putin's invading Russian forces, ending a frustrating nine-month wait for the shipment to arrive. The Albanese government announced it would provide Ukraine with 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks last October, but their delivery was held up by bureaucratic delays in the United States Congress, which needed to approve the transfer. Defence Minister Richard Marles said the tanks 'will make a significant contribution to Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russia's illegal and immoral invasion'. 'I was pleased to meet the Australian Army personnel who helped facilitate the delivery of these tanks from Australia to Ukraine,' Marles said. 'Australia remains steadfast in our support for Ukraine and seeing a just and lasting peace.' Loading The majority of the tanks have now been delivered to the Ukrainian armed forces, with a final tranche to arrive in coming months. The government declined to provide the exact number of tanks that have been provided so far, but sources not authorised to speak publicly said it was around 40. The tank support package is valued at $245 million, bringing the value of Australia's total contribution to Ukraine since the war began to $1.5 billion.
