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Dark Money Doesn't Faze Minister


Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP

Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP  -  Wednesday, 4 May 2022

Tags: Huon Aquaculture, Big Business, Corruption, Primary Industries

The Attorney General Elise Archer MP has refused to refer JBS’ purchase of Huon Aquaculture to the Australian Federal Police, despite overwhelming evidence the proceeds of crime have been used to fund its corporate expansion into Australia’s protein market.
 
The corporate protein behemoth, JBS, owned by the two Batista butchers from Brazil, has been exposed internationally for a litany of scandals. 
 
Four Corners has documented the Batista brothers’ self-confessed bribery in Brazil was used to obtain cheap finance to purchase companies in the United States and Australia.
 
The US Department of Justice has uncovered numerous violations of fraud, bribery and other violations of US Federal Laws by JBS. The company pleaded guilty to US foreign bribery charges.  An FBI investigation found it paid millions of dollars to corrupt Brazilian officials to obtain financing to buy American companies.
 
It follows, that Australia should expect similar standards from this company.
  
The Brazilian butchers have been charged or convicted of price fixing, environmental vandalism, and illegal meat production through deforestation of the Amazon. They have an appalling record of workplace negligence around the world, including in Tasmania.
 
The use of the proceeds of crime to fund a venture is illegal. How can we have confidence in the Attorney-General, our first law officer in the state, when she isn’t interested in scrutinising the purchase of a major Tasmanian business by corporate criminal cowboys?