John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

While I am on my feet, I will take the opportunity to say something to the House by way of context not only to the questions that have been asked by the opposition but also to questions that will undoubtedly be asked over coming days. Let me just inform the Leader of the Opposition that all of the documents relevant to the matters now being inquired into by the Cole inquiry that are held by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are in the possession of the Cole inquiry. Shortly after it was established, the Cole inquiry sent a group of people to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. They were allowed to inspect all of the department’s documents, and they took away copies of the documents that they wanted.

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