Treasurer Joe Hockey says corporate corruption is a cancer that must be hunted down.
Hockey’s comment came as Labor proposed a new Senate inquiry into allegations of foreign bribery involving some of the country’s biggest corporations and executives.
Labor senator Sam Dastyari told parliament he had documents from whistleblowers setting out allegations of foreign bribery against Leighton Holdings, Leighton Offshore and Thiess.
He also named BHP Billiton as a target.
It’s been alleged BHP bribed Chinese officials in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Asked about the inquiry on Friday, Hockey said he was not aware of the specific details but believed bribery should never be tolerated.
“If there’s any bribery anywhere, my God, we’ve got to go after it,” he told Fairfax Radio.
“Corruption is a cancer on society and wherever it lurks we need to hunt it down immediately.”
The Greens and crossbenchers are expected to endorse the inquiry, but it won’t get underway until at least mid-June when another inquiry into tax evasion is completed by the Senate economics committee.
Dastyari told parliament it was not a witch-hunt against particular companies.
“This will be a broader look at the larger issue of foreign corrupt practices and the failure of Australian law,” he said.
He believes Australian law enforcement is not equipped to deal with these types of bribery allegations and has a poor record of successful prosecutions.
“Australia urgently needs to reform both its legislative framework and its approach to enforcement,” he said.
A BHP spokeswoman told AAP on Friday the company had received requests for information from the US Securities and Exchange Commission in August 2009.
The company then held an internal investigation and handed over to authorities evidence relating to possible violations of anti-corruption laws involving interactions with government officials.
The issues mainly related to “previously terminated exploration and development efforts, as well as hospitality provided as part of the company’s sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics”.
BHP is also co-operating with an Australian Federal Police investigation.
Comment was being sought from Leightons.
But group company secretary Vanessa Rees previously has said in a statement to the ASX the company is confident it has met all of its financial reporting and continuous disclosure obligations.
– AAP
