Major Australian coal exporters have been accused of falsifying data to claim their coal is cleaner than it really is in a bid to boost their profits.
In a speech to parliament on Monday, independent MP Andrew Wilkie said a whistleblower leaked thousands of documents saying companies had been lying about coal quality for years.
"This fraud is environmental vandalism and makes all the talk of net-zero emissions by 2050 a fiction," the Tasmanian MP said.
"It could also be criminal, trashing corporate reputations as well as our national reputation.
"Coal companies operating in Australia are using fraudulent quality reports for their exports and paying bribes to representatives of their overseas customers to keep the whole scam secret."
Mr Wilkie said the alleged scam had allowed companies to claim for years that Australian coal was cleaner than it was in reality "in order to boost profits and to prevent rejection of shipments at their destinations".
Among the countries that received the coal that had allegedly falsified data included Japan, South Korea, China and India.
Mr Wilkie told parliament the whistleblower said the conduct included involvement from major companies such as TerraCom, Anglo American, Glencore, Peabody, ALS and Macquarie Bank.
The independent MP has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the issue, saying previous investigations failed to lead to action.
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