The WA government is considering whether or not to sell the scandal-plagued Perth Mint.
Mines Minister Bill Johnston on Thursday announced the government would spend $1 million on external consultants, who would undertake an "options analysis".
The consultants would consider how the mint and its parent company, Gold Corporation, performs and how the state might be able to reduce the risks posed by its ownership of the 123-year-old institution.
"I want to stress that the government is not commencing a process to sell the Gold Corporation at this time," he said.
"We'll be guided by the independent analysis, what is in the best interests of the Gold Corporation, the many stakeholders that the Gold Corporation engages with — particularly the West Australian mining industry that gets great advantages out of the Gold Corporation — as well as the broader interests of the West Australian community.
"This is about making sure we've got the business in the best shape possible for the future."
Findings to be considered following AUSTRAC investigation
Mr Johnston said the findings of the analysis would be considered after an investigation by Australia's financial crimes watchdog AUSTRAC into whether the mint has adequate anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism funding safeguards in place, which he expected to be handed to the Gold Corporation in the second half of the year.
But he said the review had not been sparked by AUSTRAC's inquiry, or any other potential legal issues.
"This is the appropriate time for us to review the operations of the mint because we have to make sure that it's ready for the future," he said.
"I think that I do a reasonable job as a minister, but the one thing I can't do is change the past, so what I want to do is make sure we're ready for the future.
"It's clear that the Gold Corporation has not had any external focus in this way for some time, so this is not about the specific challenges to the Gold Corporation which I've already spoken about and which have already been dealt with or are being dealt with.
"But rather what does the future structure of the Gold Corporation look like, what is the best way forward, taking account of the various stakeholders' interests and those of the broader community."
Shadow Mines Minister Mia Davies said she did not buy the idea Thursday's announcement was unrelated to potential regulatory issues.
"This is a government that has denied there has been any issue at the Perth Mint for the last two years … and did that until it was absolutely obvious to everyone that there was an issue," she said.
The minister said the mint's low profit margins were part of what was being considered, as well as the "tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment" it supported in the state's gold mining industry.
"Whether that's done best through the current structure is a real question and we want to make sure, as we go forward, that we have the best structure necessary to provide that service," he said.
Options include sale, sharing ownership
The mint last year reported a turnover of $21.77 billion, but a profit before tax of just $40.28 million, of which only $25.61 million was returned to the state government.
The minister said options included selling the mint, sharing its ownership with the gold industry, or keeping it within government.
But Mr Johnston would not speculate on what the review might find.
Government accused of 'taking out the trash'
Ms Davies said Thursday's announcement fell well short of the royal commission the opposition had been calling for, which she believed was still needed.
"It's not the ownership of the Perth Mint that's caused the problems over the last six years," she said.
"This simply gives the minister and the premier another opportunity to avoid scrutiny and really delve into the issues that have potentially exposed West Australian taxpayers to huge financial risks and also reputational risks at the Perth Mint.
"There is clearly a need to understand the failings that have occurred over the last six years, the involvement of the ministers responsible, the management, how you can avoid it."
Ms Davies also said it was disappointing Mr Johnston announced the news on Thursday, in the shadow of a total solar eclipse that captured the state's attention.
"It's a well-known political tactic, it's called taking out the trash," she said.
The mint was the subject of a Four Corners investigation earlier this year, which uncovered concerns with its regulatory compliance defences and revealed it had sold gold to China between 2018 and 2021, which met broader industry purity standards for 99.99 per cent pure gold, but not specific requirements at the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
It was also revealed that the Perth Mint had potentially breached commodities laws in nearly two dozen US states but failed to publicly reveal the potentially multi-million-dollar scale of the issue over a quarter of a century.
The state government is spending $34 million on the mint to improve its compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism funding regulations.
Mr Johnston insisted though he was "not aware, and nobody's ever put to me, specific allegations of illegal conduct".
A comment Premier Mark McGowan made about the so-called "gold doping" issue in a private conversation with Deputy Premier Roger Cook was picked up by a microphone in parliament last month.
It led to Mr McGowan apologising for his language when he described the issue as a "storm in a f***ing teacup".
