Vanuatu finance body criticises tax probe support
Updated
Vanuatu's finance industry has again criticised the government's decision to support a major Australian investigation into tax evasion.
Our Pacific Correspondent Campbell Cooney reports last week Vanuatu's Court of Appeal rejected an application stopping the Australian Federal Police sending any evidence to Australia that its officers gathered in raids on financial institutions in Port Villa in April.
The raids were part of Australia's investigations into tax evasion, in particular the activities of Robert Agius, who had been arrested in Perth.
But chairman of Vanuatu's Finance Centre Association Mark Stafford says the court decision doesn't mean the AFP will get everything it wants.
"The question as to whether any information is now released to anybody lies with the attorney general of Vanuatu, and he'll make that decision in due course."
The Finance Industry in Vanuatu's has continually raised concerns about Vanuatu's decision to allow Australian taxation investigators into the country, as avoiding tax is not a crime there, and Australian law should not have jurisdiction.
