Forms of Corruption in Australia: Political and Corporate Corruption
Corruption is one of the common unethical behaviours in countries across the world. Describe the different forms of corruption in your home country and describe the strategies that can be implemented by your government to minimise corruption.
The current scenario is very much affected by different issues and challenges. Some of these challenges are having higher implications while some of them can be mitigated locally and without much adverse impacts. One of the major ethical challenges that are being emerged in the current time and is having holistic implications on different social, economical and political aspects is corruption. It is evident in every single process in the current global scenario. The major threat of corruption is that it covers not only a single entity but the entire political economy of a country can be engulfed by the means of corruption (Dreher and Gassebner 2013). However, it is also to be noted that corruption is having different means based on different situations. The basic meaning of corruption is inclination of the society towards favoritism and nepotism.
In the current time, all the major countries and economies are being affected by the means of corruption. Australia is one such country that is having relatively favorable position in terms of the corruption ranking. However in the recent years, they are slipping indicating that Australia is slowly becoming more corrupted (Gartrell 2018). This is also indicating the urgent need of initiating preventive measures to counter the impact of growing concerns of corruption. This essay will discuss about the different forms of corruption currently originated in Australia and the probable preventive measures that should be initiated by the government to check the intensity of corruption.
One of the major forms of corruption originated in Australia is political corruption. This refers to the presence of corruption in the political scenario of the country. It is reported that in the recent time, Australia scored 77 from 79 in global corruption index. This is mainly due to the reason that unholy relationships are growing between the politicians and the industrialists. It is also reported that in the recent time, there are number of instances being emerged in the Australian scenario such as suspicious donations for the political campaigns and inappropriate lobbying by the industrialists in the governmental affairs (www.governmentnews.com.au 2018). One of the major political corruptions emerged in the political scenario of Australia is the revelation of the Australian public service corruption. It is reported that that in the Australian public service, nepotism and cronyism are well evident. A survey was done in regards to the presence of corruption in the political scenario of Australia and it is found that 64 percent of the total respondents reported that cronyism is present in the Australian public service along with having the presence of nepotism in the process. Thus, it can be concluded that political corruption is one of the major forms of corruption present in the Australian scenario.
Implications of Corruption in the Australian Scenario
Another major form of corruption that is also well evident in the Australian business scenario is the corporate corruption. This refers to the presence of corruption in the corporate and business scenario of the country. It is reported that in the recent time, there are number of instances of corruption is being emerged specifically in the Australian mining sector. It is reported that connections between the mining companies and the different government levels I Australia. One of the major instances being reported is the permission of mining activities in Queensland and Western Australia to the Indian conglomerate Adani group (Hutchens 2018). Granting of the permission to Adani group poses questions regarding corruption due to the reason that Adani is having negative operational background along with having the history of initiating unethical business practices. Thus, it is reported that granting of permission to Adani group is denoting that relationship between the conglomerates and the government levels causing favoritism in the government policies. On the other hand, it is also being reported that in the last 10 years till 2016, the political grants stand at $16.6 million to the different political parties. Therefore, this is also contributing in slipping of the positions of Australia in the global corruption index.
Another major incident regarding the corporate or industrial level corruption in Australia is the accusations of the two leading Australia firms of bribing the government officials of Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka (Baker and McKenzie 2018). It is reported that both these organizations have bribed the government officials to acquire the projects in the respective counties. Though these incidents are not directly related to the Australian business scenario, but this caused negative impression about the Australian corruption environment. Moreover, it is also reflecting the ineffectiveness of the anti-corruption body of Australia.
The above sections have discussed about the different forms of corruption present in the Australian scenario. Thus, it is of urgent need to initiate measures in order to mitigate the challenges posed by corruption. Though it is important for all the associated stakeholders to initiate measures in preventing the intensity of corruption, but the major responsibility stays with the government in preventing the rate and probability of corruption in the country (Wouters, Ryngaert and Cloots 2013). The following sections will discuss about the probable steps that can be initiated by the government in preventing corruption.
In order to counter the challenge of corruption, the most basic measure that should be initiated is stringent and effective framework. This is due to the fact that there are number of instances where stakeholders accused for corruption and unethical practices got cleared by the authority and the accusations are also not being proved. Thus, it is the responsibility of the Australian government to amend and design the legal framework that will cover all the related and associated stakeholders and will hold them accountable regardless of higher or lower power level (www.transparency.org 2018). In addition, the legal framework should have the provision for stringent punishment for the involved ones. The more stringent punishment can be applied for the involved stakeholders, the more effectively it will set example for others and will help in preventing the further emergence of corruption.
Preventive Measures for Curbing Corruption in Australia
As discussed in the earlier sections, one of the sources of emergence of corruption in Australia is their public organizations and public administrations. Thus, it is recommended that Australian government should initiate the reform process for their public administrations in order to identify the gap areas and initiate measures accordingly. It is recommended that efficiency of the auditing agencies should be enhanced and every financial transaction should be covered under them. Therefore, if the efficiency of the auditing firms can be enhanced then the probability of financial frauds cannot be mitigated. This will in turn help in curbing the probability of emergence of financial corruption.
Freedom of speech and whistle blowing are having direct connections with the probability of corruption in the country. This is due to the reason that if the whistle blowers can be protected of their interests by law then the chance of revealing the unethical business practices will become more along with reduction in the initiation of such practices. Thus it is recommended that it is responsibility of the Australian government to have proper legal protection for the whistle blowers, which will help to check the emergence of the unethical business practices. On the other hand, freedom of speech especially with the press is important for countering corruption due to the reason that the more freedom will be given to the media, the more extensively they can report the wrongdoings in the economy. This will also help in keep the intensity of corruption in check.
Social empowerment is important in initiation the anti corruption drive. This is due to the reason that average population of the country especially the poorest people is the biggest victim of corruption. They are deprived of their basic and fundamental rights due to the emergence of corruption in the country (Brinkerhoff and Wetterberg 2016). Thus, it is recommended that government of Australia should empower the common people of the country in order to equip them in fighting corruption. It is recommended that the common people of the country should be given favorable legal support and public service in order to provide them the opportunity to fight the corruption.
Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that corruption is one of the major challenges being emerged in the current time. This report also discussed about the diverse areas that are affected by the emergence of corruption. This report discussed the impacts of corruption from the Australian perspectives and indentified some major corruption instances in the country in recent time. It is identified that the political and industrial corruption are the major sources of initiation of corruption in the country with having the deep relationship between the business sectors and the government levels. In accordance to the identified instances of corruption in Australia, there are number of recommended steps being identified and discussed. These steps are discussed from the perspective of the government and these are basic roles for them in order to counter the increasing trend of corruption in the country
References
Baker, R. and McKenzie, N. (2018). Australian companies linked to bribe scandals in Sri Lanka and Congo. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/australian-companies-linked-to-bribe-scandals-in-sri-lanka-and-congo-20160823-gqyzlp.html [Accessed 23 May 2018].
Brinkerhoff, D.W. and Wetterberg, A., 2016. Gauging the effects of social accountability on services, governance, and citizen empowerment. Public Administration Review, 76(2), pp.274-286.
Dreher, A. and Gassebner, M., 2013. Greasing the wheels? The impact of regulations and corruption on firm entry. Public Choice, 155(3-4), pp.413-432.
Gartrell, A. (2018). Australia slides further in global corruption index in wake of scandals. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-slides-further-in-global-corruption-index-in-wake-of-scandals-20180221-p4z12o.html [Accessed 23 May 2018].
Hutchens, G. (2018). Mining companies’ links with politicians ‘susceptible to corruption’ – report. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/04/mining-companies-links-with-politicians-susceptible-to-corruption-report [Accessed 23 May 2018].
Wouters, J., Ryngaert, C. and Cloots, A.S., 2013. The international legal framework against corruption: Achievements and challenges. Melb. J. Int’l L., 14, p.205.
www.governmentnews.com.au (2018). Significant corruption revealed in Australian Public Service. [online] Government News. Available at: https://www.governmentnews.com.au/2018/01/significant-corruption-revealed-australian-public-service/ [Accessed 23 May 2018].
www.transparency.org (2018). How to stop corruption: 5 key ingredients. [online] www.transparency.org. Available at: https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/how_to_stop_corruption_5_key_ingredients [Accessed 23 May 2018].
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