Hon James Hayward questions Gold Corporation about gold content discrepancies and access to board minutes. The Minister denies gold giveaway and cites governance reasons for withholding minutes.

AnsweredQoN 316Legislative Council
Asked
23 March 2023
Portfolio
Mines and Petroleum

QuestionView source ↗

GOLD CORPORATION —
GOLD BAR CONTENT
316. Hon JAMES HAYWARD to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to Gold Corporation.
(1) Is the
decision to produce gold with a 0.006 per cent higher gold content than required
by customers a commercial decision of Gold
Corporation; and, if yes, what is the rationale for this commercial decision?
(2) Is it correct
to say that Gold Corporation is giving away 0.006 per cent of the gold it
delivers to customers; and what is the approximate cost of this giveaway per
annum?
(3) Noting that
section 6(7) of the Gold Corporation Act 1987 states that the minister can
request any information from the organisation and its subsidiaries, can the
minister advise which act of Parliament prevents him from being provided with
the Gold Corporation's board minutes?

AnswerView source ↗

I
thank the member for some notice of the question. On behalf of the
parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Mines and
Petroleum, the following response has been provided by the Minister for Mines
and Petroleum.
(1)–(2) No.
(3) Board minutes
are confidential except when required by law. For example, board minutes are
available to the Auditor General as and if required. Minutes of government
trading enterprises are not shared with the minister because this would
undermine the governance oversight role of each board.

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