❓ Question regarding Gold Corporation legislation, oversight, and financial guarantees. The Premier's answer addresses compliance issues, remediation programs, and the importance of Gold Corp to the mining industry.
AnsweredQoN 454Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GOLD CORPORATION — LEGISLATION
454. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to today's
announcement that legislation will soon be introduced to bring Gold Corporation
in line with other government trading entities.
(1) Is this an
admission by this government that the activities of Gold Corporation require
further oversight in light of compliance issues plaguing the organisation, the sale
of gold to notorious bikies and the investigation by Australia's
financial crime agency, AUSTRAC?
(2) Will Western Australian
taxpayers continue to guarantee the activities of the Perth Mint?
(3) Why did the
government fail to include Gold Corp in the Government Trading Enterprises Act
when it was originally passed?
454. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to today's
announcement that legislation will soon be introduced to bring Gold Corporation
in line with other government trading entities.
(1) Is this an
admission by this government that the activities of Gold Corporation require
further oversight in light of compliance issues plaguing the organisation, the sale
of gold to notorious bikies and the investigation by Australia's
financial crime agency, AUSTRAC?
(2) Will Western Australian
taxpayers continue to guarantee the activities of the Perth Mint?
(3) Why did the
government fail to include Gold Corp in the Government Trading Enterprises Act
when it was originally passed?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) I
thank the member for the question and welcome everyone back to Parliament. It
is great to see that the member for Mount
Lawley has grown a bit of facial hair. Strangely enough, Madam Speaker, my suit
has shrunk! I appreciate the question from the member. It is a very
important one, because we know that Gold Corp plays an important role in our
industry and, indeed, our economy. As the member would be aware, and as he
alluded to, in November 2023, the Perth Mint voluntarily entered into an
enforceable undertaking with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis
Centre, or AUSTRAC. AUSTRAC identified the enforceable undertaking as the most
appropriate regulatory response after an independent external audit identified some compliance issues within the Perth Mint.
No fine was imposed by AUSTRAC ; no negative findings were made. Under
the enforceable undertaking, the Perth Mint will complete an anti–money
laundering remediation program by April 2025. The implementation of the AML
remediation program is subject to assessment and reporting by an independent
external auditor and oversight by AUSTRAC. The Perth Mint's AML
remediation program remains on track and on budget, and this government has
invested $34 million in the AML remediation program to make sure that the
people of Western Australia can have confidence in the work that Gold Corp
does.
I was not one of the key ministers at
the time that the decision was made and a lot of this stuff was going on around
Gold Corp, but I do recall at the time being approached by a number of members
of the gold mining industry who said that they wanted Gold Corp to continue in
the refining work that it is doing, and the appropriate underpinning of its
commerciality, which has played a really important role in the sustainability
of our gold mining industry.
As the member would be aware, we have
been through a range of opportunities to look at how we can best integrate Gold
Corp into our GTE framework and, as the member noted, the Minister for Mines
and Petroleum made a brief ministerial statement on this point earlier today to
clarify those issues and offer people insights into the way forward.
thank the member for the question and welcome everyone back to Parliament. It
is great to see that the member for Mount
Lawley has grown a bit of facial hair. Strangely enough, Madam Speaker, my suit
has shrunk! I appreciate the question from the member. It is a very
important one, because we know that Gold Corp plays an important role in our
industry and, indeed, our economy. As the member would be aware, and as he
alluded to, in November 2023, the Perth Mint voluntarily entered into an
enforceable undertaking with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis
Centre, or AUSTRAC. AUSTRAC identified the enforceable undertaking as the most
appropriate regulatory response after an independent external audit identified some compliance issues within the Perth Mint.
No fine was imposed by AUSTRAC ; no negative findings were made. Under
the enforceable undertaking, the Perth Mint will complete an anti–money
laundering remediation program by April 2025. The implementation of the AML
remediation program is subject to assessment and reporting by an independent
external auditor and oversight by AUSTRAC. The Perth Mint's AML
remediation program remains on track and on budget, and this government has
invested $34 million in the AML remediation program to make sure that the
people of Western Australia can have confidence in the work that Gold Corp
does.
I was not one of the key ministers at
the time that the decision was made and a lot of this stuff was going on around
Gold Corp, but I do recall at the time being approached by a number of members
of the gold mining industry who said that they wanted Gold Corp to continue in
the refining work that it is doing, and the appropriate underpinning of its
commerciality, which has played a really important role in the sustainability
of our gold mining industry.
As the member would be aware, we have
been through a range of opportunities to look at how we can best integrate Gold
Corp into our GTE framework and, as the member noted, the Minister for Mines
and Petroleum made a brief ministerial statement on this point earlier today to
clarify those issues and offer people insights into the way forward.
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