Allegations of foreign bribery involving some of Australia's biggest corporations and executives look likely to become the subject of a Senate inquiry.

Last night Labor senator Sam Dastyari told the Senate he had evidence that executives from some of Australia's biggest companies engaged in corrupt behaviour.

He told the Senate he had documents from whistleblowers detailing allegations of foreign bribery against Leighton Holdings, Leighton Offshore and Thiess.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 2 minutes 25 seconds 2 m 25 s Senate expected to hold inquiry into foreign bribery Download 4.4 MB

He also flagged that any inquiry would look at BHP Billiton "including the allegations BHP attempted to bribe Chinese officials".

Senator Dastyari used parliamentary privilege to name several former Leighton executives who he said were associated with Leighton Holdings, Leighton Offshore and mining contractor Thiess.

"David Savage was the former senior executive who allegedly approved the bribe payments. Former CEO David Stewart was allegedly told of the bribery but did not act. Wal King was CEO and board member of Leighton Offshore, the relevant entity during the Iraq project negotiations," he said.

"I am not proposing an enquiry simply into Leightons, but [that] Leightons serve as a powerful case study for foreign corrupt practices and how the powerful can exploit the system."

BHP Billiton has released a statement in response to Senator Dastyari's comments, confirming the company became aware of issues when contacted by US authorities in 2009.

"Following that request, the group commenced an internal investigation and disclosed to relevant authorities evidence that it has uncovered regarding possible violations of applicable anti-corruption laws involving interactions with government officials.

"The issues relate primarily to matters in connection with previously terminated exploration and development efforts, as well as hospitality provided as part of the company's sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The group is currently discussing a potential resolution of the matter.

"As has been publicly reported, the Australian Federal Police has indicated that it has commenced an investigation and the group continues to fully cooperate with the relevant authorities."

Crossbench support for inquiry

Speaking to AM this morning, Senator Dastyari declined to go into specifics about what companies he wanted to be the targets of the Senate inquiry.

Senator Dastyari told the Senate he had the support of the Greens and other crossbenchers to conduct the investigations.

And he said he had obtained internal memos that he alleged showed examples of corrupt practices, including kickbacks for contracts.

"As part of the future enquiry that I will propose, I will invite those named to present their side of the story," he said.

"But I hasten to add, after the consultation with law enforcement agencies, I intend to use whatever power available to me through the Australian Senate to ensure the allegations of corrupt behaviour are properly aired."

Senator Dastyari said the inquiry was needed because Australia had a poor track record of prosecuting such cases.

"For too long, going right back to the Australian Wheat Board scandal, Australia has not take the necessary steps to tackle [the] growing issue of foreign corrupt practices," he said.

And he urged the Government to look at adopting stronger anti-corruption measures.

"You look at the American system, you look at the UK system, you look at the strengths of the laws that are there across the world and you ask yourself this: why is it in the past 13 years there has only been one prosecution [in Australia] for foreign corruption?"