LiSTNR‘s third series of the Secrets We Keep podcasts is an exploration of Australia’s largest corruption scandal when the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) funnelled millions of dollars to dictator Saddam Hussein in the lead-up to the Iraq War.
Secrets We Keep: Baghdad Nights sees journalist Richard Baker investigate this nation’s biggest international trade scandal, as told by the men on the inside. Listeners are taken into war zones, secret meetings, and the offices of the country’s most powerful people, whilst hearing what it is like to have the nation’s media bearing down.
The events unfolded in the early 2000s involving the United Nations’ oil-for-food program in Iraq. The AWB, who sold Australia’s wheat crop to the world, were implicated in a scheme to funnel $300 million to the regime of Saddam Hussein, which Australia and its allies ultimately declared war on.
Three implicated key players from AWB, including former AWB Chairman Trevor Flugge, have never spoken of this before until now.
Richard Baker said:
“Secrets We Keep: Baghdad Nights takes you behind the scenes of how Australia conducts itself on the world stage – in making money and making war. It’s about how our country deals with scandal, who is held to account and who gets away with it.
In telling this story I’m hoping it will cause people to think about how quickly we leap to judgement to declare someone as good or evil. This especially applies to people like me in the media. The truth is there’s always more to the story.
Stories like this matter. They matter because what Australian governments and companies get up to overseas, whatever’s done, it’s in all our names”.
LiSTNR Head of Factual Clair Weaver said:
“Once again, the LiSTNR Factual team has resurfaced an important Australian story that impacted the fabric of Australia. The far-reaching consequences of the AWB scandal extended beyond financial loss and reputational damage. It eroded public trust in corporate governance and highlighted the urgent need for robust anti-corruption measures.
Richard’s investigations and discoveries are a stark reminder of the importance of ethical conduct and transparency in business. It underscores the need for vigilant oversight and accountability to prevent such breaches of trust from recurring.”
The first two episodes of Secrets We Keep: Baghdad Nights are available now wherever you get your podcasts.