Australians Charged Over Securency International

At the very worst, Australian criticisms of the approaches to corruption by some countries bear the hallmark of sanctimonious jingoism. It is time we got our house in order.
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the more recent and even tougher UK Bribery Act have extra-jurisdictional provisions that have impacted globally. In Australia, the Criminal Code Act now has tougher penalties for bribery of foreigners - up to 10 years' jail and/or $11 million in fines. But there have been no significant convictions under those provisions and the imminent Securency court hearings will be a test of the provisions of the act and judicial interpretations.
Incidentally, while the ''new'' Australian penalties sound exemplary, there are still contradictions in the legislation concerning the definition of "bribes" and "facilitation payments". Surprised? Well, keep in mind that until 1999 bribes were valid corporate tax deductions under the Income Tax Assessment Act, and the act still allows "facilitation payments" to be claimed as corporate tax deductions.

via smh.com.au

Corruption is everywhere and always has been