In the long and complicated timeline of issues at the Perth Mint, something very innocuous that happened in August 2019 took on much greater significance this week.
Gathered in a conference room in the last week of that month were the board of Gold Corporation, which runs the Mint, including chair Sam Walsh, then-CEO Richard Hayes, and the government’s representative on the board, Richard Wilson, alongside six other board members.
Together, they signed off on the Perth Mint starting to work with a company that would develop its now ill-fated cryptocurrency.
The group could hardly have known at the time, but their decisions have sparked even more interest in the mint, as the fate of the Perth Mint Gold Token (PMGT) kept questions about the taxpayer-owned refinery burning for another week, both in parliament and in the media.
Jumping into crypto
Two months after that meeting, the PMGT was launched by Singaporean tech company Trovio.
It bears the mint’s branding and is guaranteed by the gold stored in its vaults, but the mint has been trying to keep it at arm’s length this week by explaining that despite that, it was not its product.
At the time it was let out into the world, a media release quoted Mr Hayes as being “delighted” to work with Trovio to “promote gold as a mainstream asset”.
But despite the publicity of the good news at the time, nobody felt it important enough to bring to the attention of Premier Mark McGowan, who was then the minister responsible for the mint.
Fast forward three-and-a-bit years and the Premier is no longer responsible for the $22 billion behemoth of a refinery, having handed over ministerial oversight to Bill Johnston in 2021.
But despite looking after the mint up until then – including during more than a year of the cryptocurrency’s operation – the Premier said the first he knew about it was after the ABC revealed it was being shut down.
“I don’t have any recollection of any cryptocurrency,” he told reporters.
“When you’re the Premier of the state you have to be across numerous issues of public administration in all sorts of areas of economic, social, federal, environmental, infrastructure, personal, across government.”
But the opposition didn’t buy the idea that the Premier was too busy to know about the mint’s foray into cryptocurrency, and its associated GoldPass app.
“It’s not acceptable for a responsible minister not to understand the implications of such a move by the organisation,” Shane Love said on Tuesday.
It comes after the Premier was also unaware of issues with gold sold to China and potential non-compliance with commodities laws in some US states – both of which came to light after he had handed the portfolio to Mr Johnston.
‘We’re a refinery business’
To some, including the opposition, the fact that both the app and the cryptocurrency – which are seen by the mint’s current leadership to be such bad ideas they need to be shut down entirely – were able to be launched at all will seem a perfect symbol of what was happening at the mint in recent years.
It’s also another example of the Premier and his minister either not being aware of issues at the mint, or finding out some time after they came to the organisation’s attention.
The government, and particularly Mr Johnston as he’s been telling Parliament, insist that whatever happened in the past, they are committed to refreshing the organisation, ensuring its compliance with the law, and getting it to simplify its business.
Mr Johnston said that last part led to the mint deciding to shut down both the PMGT and the GoldPass app, but without telling anyone – including its customers – until Trovio issued a statement on March 1.
The statement wasn’t shared widely, and while it initially blamed investigations by AUSTRAC and US authorities for its exit, the Mint insists it had been working on shutting down the PMGT since early last year.
“It seemed to be a product that didn’t fit right,” Mr Waters speculated, speaking of the decision made by his predecessors.
“We’re a refinery business and a mint. We make world class coins that we sell around the world.
“For me, I was certainly very pleased to continue to support the decision that we [close] GoldPass and wind down.”
Mr Walsh expanded slightly, saying it was for “strategy and financial reasons” the app was being shut down.
Investigations continue
This latest chapter around the mint – covering both the GoldPass app and the Perth Mint Gold Token – has added yet another layer to the ongoing controversy.
It built on everything that’s already played out about issues with gold sold to China, concerns around regulatory compliance defences, and the mint self-reporting potential non-compliance with commodities laws in some US states, dating back to 1998.
For an organisation with nearly 125 years of history, these last three weeks have probably been one of the times it’s been most discussed – and not in the way it would want.
The government’s lack of answers on many fronts have helped extend the focus, giving the opposition plenty more fodder to work with.
And while there’s been seemingly little progress on their calls for an independent look at the Mint, probes by AUSTRAC and the London Bullion Market Association have been continuing in the background.
It means there’s still a long way to go before the mild-mannered mint can move out of the spotlight.
And while things might be a little quieter until those investigations are completed, there are still plenty more burning questions still waiting answers before that stubborn focus will shift for good.
