Scandals & Reckonings
Cartels, frauds and the Royal Commissions that followed — the business misconduct that made it into the public record.
Price-fixing, wage theft, money-laundering inquiries, oil-for-wheat: some of Australia’s biggest companies have had their day of reckoning. We cover these strictly from the public record — court findings, regulator actions and Royal Commissions — and attribute every claim.
Latest in on the record
- Freedom Foods to Noumi: inside the write-down that gutted a food stock
How Freedom Foods went from ASX darling to a $590m write-down and a rebrand as Noumi, and what the regulators found along the way.
By Colin Ashworth - The Plutus Payroll fraud: how a payroll company became a $105m tax scheme
Inside the Plutus Payroll fraud: the second-tier company structure that siphoned PAYG withholding tax, the arrests, and what the courts found.
By Colin Ashworth - Qantas and the sacked ground crew: what the High Court actually found
The High Court found Qantas broke the law by outsourcing 1,700 ground handling jobs. Here's what the courts found, and what it didn't decide.
By Colin Ashworth - Star Entertainment: what the inquiries found, and what the licence cost
The Bell review and state inquiries into Star Entertainment exposed years of money-laundering failures. Here's what was found, and what it cost the casino group.
By Colin Ashworth - The PwC tax leak: how confidential Treasury advice ended up helping clients dodge new laws
How confidential government tax-policy consultations at PwC were allegedly used to help clients sidestep new anti-avoidance laws, and what the Senate inquiry and fallout revealed.
By Colin Ashworth - Rio Tinto and Juukan Gorge: how one blast ended three careers
Rio Tinto destroyed a 46,000-year-old rock shelter to expand an iron ore mine. A parliamentary inquiry, and the fallout, followed.
By Colin Ashworth - Firepower: the fuel pill scheme that burned through millions before it collapsed
Firepower promised a pill that would slash fuel bills and sponsored Australian sport. It collapsed owing hundreds of millions, and ASIC pursued its director for years.
By Colin Ashworth - James Hardie and asbestos: the compensation scandal that changed Australian corporate law
The James Hardie asbestos compensation controversy produced one of Australia's most significant corporate governance inquiries. A report from the public record.
By Colin Ashworth - Crown Resorts: what the inquiries found, and what it cost
Three separate public inquiries found Crown Resorts unsuitable to hold casino licences. This is what the Bergin Inquiry and its successors established, and how the findings reshaped Australian gambling.
By Colin Ashworth - The Hayne Royal Commission: what it found, and what changed
The 2018 Banking Royal Commission exposed systemic misconduct across Australia's financial sector. Here's what Commissioner Hayne actually found, and what the law required afterwards.
By Colin Ashworth - AWB and the oil-for-wheat scandal: how Australia's wheat exporter paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein
The Cole Inquiry found AWB Limited paid more than $290 million in illegal kickbacks to the Iraqi regime, breaching UN sanctions. Here's how it unravelled.
By Colin Ashworth - CBA and AUSTRAC: how 53,750 breaches led to Australia's largest-ever civil penalty
In 2018, Commonwealth Bank settled with AUSTRAC for $700 million over systematic anti-money-laundering failures. Here's what the record penalty revealed about compliance culture.
By Colin Ashworth