ACTU’s radio ad asking Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick to explain his deal with the COALition to pass the Union Busting Bill.
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Interestingly, today it was revealed that AUSTRAC, the Commonwealth financial intelligence agency, applied to the Federal Court to impose civil penalties on Westpac (one of Australia’s 4 largest commercial banks) over Westpac’s breaches of its anti-money laundering and terrorism financing obligations.
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AUSTRAC alleges Westpac committed 23,000,000 infractions (yes, that’s correct: twenty three million). If each contravention carried the least penalty of $17 million, in theory the total fine could amount to $391 trillion (I repeat: trillion). To give readers an idea of the magnitude of those figures: Australia’s 2018 GDP was 1,432.2 trillion.
In an otherwise similar, albeit smaller, earlier case, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (another member of the Big 4 Club) was fined $700 million, for some 54 thousand infractions (out of about a million). By settling with AUSTRAC, it is expected that only some of those 23 million infractions Westpac committed will actually be penalised.
Nobody will be prosecuted, no bank will be de-registered. In the far from certain eventuality Westpac big wigs lost their jobs, they will receive generous severance packages; nothing will stop them from moving on to another similar position elsewhere.
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As that happens, Attorney General and federal Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter does the whole song and dance about the CFMEU's “off the chart” unlawfulness, because (believe it or not) for him a union stopping a scab breaking a picket line during a strike is worse than what the banks do.
He will destroy all unions in Australia, with the transparently mendacious pretext of punishing the “unlawful” CFMEU .
You have to give Porter credit for his unflappable gall. As our land burns, our rivers die, and we head to chaos and collapse; as the rich do what they feel like, knowing that at worst they will be fined, that despicable maggot remains hell bent on hurting workers.
Senator Patrick, don’t soil your reputation by joining the likes of Porter.
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