Newly released Epstein files suggest UK Labour peer Peter Mandelson kept convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein informed about Kevin Rudd's mining super profits tax in 2010, the ABC reports.
Mate, this is absolutely wild. Mandelson is now the UK ambassador to Washington, and these files show he was chatting with Epstein about Australian mining policy. The revelations raise disturbing questions about who had access to policy information and why a paedophile was being briefed.
The context matters. Rudd's Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT) in 2010 triggered one of the most aggressive corporate campaigns in Australian history. Mining companies spent tens of millions fighting the tax, ultimately helping to bring down Rudd's government.
Now we learn that Epstein - a convicted sex offender with extensive business connections - was apparently being kept in the loop about Australia's domestic tax policy. Why? By whom? And what networks were at play?
Mandelson was a senior UK political figure with deep business connections. Epstein moved in elite circles and had relationships with billionaires, politicians, and corporate titans. The mining industry had enormous financial interests in killing the RSPT.
The files raise questions about Australian sovereignty over our own resources. If international networks were sharing information about Australian tax policy with people like Epstein, what does that say about who really had influence over the debate?
The mining industry's campaign against the RSPT was remarkably effective. They ran television ads, lobbied politicians relentlessly, and helped create the political conditions that led to Rudd's removal as Prime Minister.
Was Epstein involved in coordinating opposition to the tax? Were his business networks part of the campaign? The files don't provide definitive answers, but they show he was being briefed.
Mandelson is now representing the UK government in Washington. The British Foreign Office will need to answer questions about whether this is appropriate, given what these files reveal about his judgment and associations.
Mate, there's a whole continent and a thousand islands down here with resources that belong to Australians. Finding out that Epstein was getting briefings about our tax policy is genuinely disturbing.
