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WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, the state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie Connell, Dallas Dempster, John Roberts, and Warren Anderson. These dealings resulted in a loss of public money, estimated at a minimum of $600 million and the insolvency of several large corporations. Bond and Connell were major contributors to the party in government, the Australian Labor Party and its remarkable fundraising structure, the John Curtin Foundation. A royal commission (the ''Royal Commission into Commercial Activities of Government and Other Matters'') was established in 1990 by Labor premier Carmen Lawrence to examine the dealings. Connell alleged (evidence to the Commission ) that Hawke dropped a proposed gold tax after Connell and various Perth high-flyers donated $250,000 each to Labor during an infamous lunch in Brian Burke's office in 1987—a claim the former PM vigorously denied. In 1991, political scientist Paddy O'Brien identified the members of the government most associated with WA Inc deals as premier Burke and his successor Peter Dowding, deputy premier David Parker, industrial development minister Julian Grill and attorney-general Joe Berinson.〔O'Brien P. ''The Origins and Development of WA's Executive State'', in ''The Executive State —WA Inc & The Constitution'', (Perth 1991).〕 == Corporate failures == As an outcome of questionable business practices, precipitated by the 1987 stock market crash, several major businesses based in Perth found themselves in difficulties and ultimately went into bankruptcy. These included: *Rothwells. Described as a merchant bank owned by Connell, but more accurately known in business circles as a 'lender of last resort', Rothwells had built up a stable of businesses it had acquired during the 1980s through aggressive takeovers. In October 1987, investors made a run on the bank and it had to close its doors. Burke, on behalf of the government, provided a $150 million government guarantee. Connell had previously been the adviser to the 1983 government purchase of Northern Mining from Bond Corporation for between $7 and $12 million over value but, as Burke knew at the time and concealed from parliament, Connell was also acting for Bond Corporation. *Bell Group, Robert Holmes à Court's flagship company, encountered a cash crisis and Bond Corporation and the government, through the state Government Employees Superannuation Board (GESB), acquired major stakes in the business, allowing Holmes à Court to walk away with $350 million. *Bond Corporation—see Alan Bond. *Parry Corporation—see Kevin Parry. A proposed petrochemical plant was to be built as a joint venture between Laurie Connell and Dallas Dempster, both being businessmen with close government connections. $100,000 was outlaid as a deposit on a block of land at Kwinana but otherwise the proposal did not proceed beyond designs and stood as a basis for fund-raising, loans, collateral transactions, development of proposed plant, management fees to Bond Corporation and, eventually, was sold for $400 million —$175 million being provided by a government agency, WA Government Holdings. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「WA Inc」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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