Australia news LIVE: Ministers’ mixed messages as ATO prepares credit card ban; US carries out first execution since Christa Pike

Joe Hockey, Australia’s former US ambassador, has said there was “no doubt” that corruption had been allowed to “flourish” in Washington DC. “It’s a very grey line here in Washington DC between proper government processes and corruption,” Hockey told 7:30 last night. He said corruption had become more apparent over recent years. “It’s well known that the various parts of the US government are very forward-leaning in their partnerships with the private sector, and as long as that’s transparent, it’s fine.

“But there seems to be a lot of activity that goes beyond that.” Hockey said his own experience of two decades in Australian politics had taught him Australia has “essentially a corruption-free government, and thank God for that”. “In the United States, there is a high degree of grayness between government and personal enrichment … there’s just too much of a blurred line between the financial interests of various administrators.”