60 Minutes: questions over ASIC should probe Beirut deal

Scott Morrison expects the corporate watchdog will “do its job” and follow up any alleged wrongdoing by the 60 Minutes.

Australian TV journalist Tara Brown, left, and Sally Faulkner, right, the mother of the two Australian children, after their release from a Beirut jail.

Treasurer Scott Morrison expects the corporate watchdog will “do its job” and follow up any alleged wrongdoing by the Nine Network, which last night struck a multimillion-dollar deal to secure the release of its employees held in Lebanon.

Four imprisoned 60 Minutes crew are expected to arrive in Sydney this evening after abduction charges against them arising from the botched kidnapping operation on April 6 were dropped.

There was speculation last night that the children’s father, Ali Elamine, who had previously been accused of holding the parties to ransom by waiting for a significant financial settlement, may have received a payout in the “low single-digit millions”, but Mr Elamine said he “did not sign anything, did not get anything”. A Nine Network spokeswoman has declined to disclose a figure.

Mr Morrison, interviewed on the rival Seven Network, declined to speculate on whether the Australian Securities and Investments Commission should investigate “bribes” paid by the Nine Network.

Asked about parallels with the Australian Wheat Board bribery scandal, which ASIC did investigate, Mr Morrison said: “There were measures that were followed in relation to that, and where there are measures to be followed up (in this case) then I’m sure the watchdog will do its job.”

“I think I’ve made my position clear. I am pleased that (the children’s mother) Ms (Sally) Faulkner is coming home. And if you go overseas, you should obey the law.”

Former Labor opposition leader Mark Latham said the company’s shareholders deserved to know how much was paid and to whom.

“Ten years ago, we had a royal commission into the Australian Wheat Board paying bribes to public officials (in Iraq) and that was against the commonwealth criminal code. So, this is a very, very concerning development that so much money has been paid,” he told Seven.

Mr Latham feared the Nine Network’s money could ultimately be used to finance the political party, Hezbollah, which is part of Lebanon’s ruling coalition government.

Although the Australian government regards Hezbollah as a “pragmatic political organisation” its foreign arm, the External Security Organisation, is a listed terrorist organisation.