Australian coal exporters have been falsifying data to suggest their coal is cleaner than it is in order to increase its export price in a scam involving two testing laboratories, major accountancy firms and an investment bank, federal MP Andrew Wilkie is expected to tell parliament on Monday.
Nick O'Malley, November 21, 2022 — 5.02am, SMH
Wilkie says he has been provided with thousands of pages of documents by an industry whistleblower and will call for a parliamentary inquiry into the allegations, days after the corporate watchdog decided against taking action against one of the laboratory companies.
“The fraud is environmental vandalism and makes all the talk of net zero emissions by 2050 a fiction,” says a draft of the speech, seen by this masthead.
“It could also be criminal, trashing corporate reputations as well as our national reputation.”
According to the whistleblower and the documents he has provided, coal testing laboratories that certify the quality of coal shipments leaving Australia have been falsifying data to suggest the coal is of higher quality than their tests show.
