As Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg presided over a mammoth, unprecedented sale of Australian assets to foreign corporations. This week, he was declared chairman of Goldman Sachs Australia. What’s the scam?
The scam is Goldman is probably the biggest winner, in terms of investment banking fees, from the sell-off.
As ultimate sign-off at Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), Frydenberg was the gatekeeper for bankers executing transactions for foreign buyers, and defending them too.
In 2020 and 2021 alone, FIRB made decisions on 6,651 proposals. According to the board’s annual report “6,650 were approved with a value of $233 billion, and one was rejected”.
Mind you, it is worth keeping in mind that, as Scott Morrison had secretly appointed himself treasurer, he may well be ultimately responsible. Scomo must be thinking, “Bloody Josh took my job”.
Josh and Scott deliver Goldman Sachs the giant vampire squid a giant quid
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.