John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, promised yesterday to reveal proposals next week on overhauling the monopoly held by the world’s second-largest wheat exporter.

Meanwhile, 11 former AWB executives, including Trevor Flugge, the ex-chairman, and Murray Rogers, the ex-chief executive, could face criminal charges after the 11-month inquiry by Terence Cole, a retired judge.

Brendan Stewart, AWB’s present chairman, said yesterday that the exporter deeply regretted the way in which its wheat trade with Iraq had been conducted.

This week BHP Billiton, the mining giant, will release the results of its own investigation into the scandal, in which it is also implicated.

In his report, Mr Cole described Norman Davidson Kelly, the founder of Tigris Petroleum, BHP’s joint venture partner, as a “thoroughly disreputable man with no commercial morality”.

Five former and current BHP executives testified at the inquiry.

In the most exhaustive report made into corruption under the United Nations’ oil-for-food programme in Iraq, Mr Cole found that Australian government officials did not know about the bribes.

AWB, formerly the Australian Wheat Board, controls the export of the country’s entire wheat crop. This is supposed to help its farmers to compete with producers from countries offering large export subsidies.

The prospect of AWB being stripped of power will be welcomed by global grain trading giants, who have campaigned against its control of Australian exports. European Union commissioners and senators in the United States have also criticised the monopoly for distorting trade.

Since the Iraq scandal emerged in January, AWB’s shares have lost more than 60 per cent of their value. About 70 per cent of growers in Western Australia have refused to deliver their existing harvests into the national pool because they want to use rival exporters.

It emerged in January that, between 1999 and 2003, AWB had paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime in return for securing Iraqi wheat contracts worth US$2.3 billion.

Under the United Nations’ oil-for-food programme, Iraq was permitted to use money from oil exports to buy food and medicine for civilians, to ease the hardship caused by international sanctions against Saddam’s Government.

The money was channelled from AWB to the regime through a Jordanian company called Alia, disguised as transport fees. Mr Cole found that AWB knew the payments were contrary to UN sanctions and Australian government policy and that the exporter went to “extraordinary lengths” to hide its activities.

Oil for food

14%
of the world’s grain trade is done by Australia

4%
of Australia’s exports is wheat

A$4bn
The value of Australia’s annual wheat exports

A$4.9bn
Value of Australia’s annual beef exports

A$2.7bn
Value of Australia’s annual wine exports

A$2.2bn
Value of Australia’s annual dairy exports

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