Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously, this happened six years ago, but I have had the opportunity during the last few weeks to examine all of this material again very carefully, which is why I know so much about it today, 28 February 2006. These are cables from early 2000, but I do know a lot about them and I have examined this material very carefully. I have done more than that: I have had to satisfy myself that my department responded appropriately to these allegations. I have done that myself. Of course, the Leader of the Opposition reads out the parts of the cable that suit him, but he does not read out the part of that cable where the UN Office of the Iraq Program noted it had no way of judging the accuracy or otherwise of the claims made. More than that, of course, we knew as time went on that these claims had been made by competitors of the Australian Wheat Board.

What the department subsequently did, which is clear from not only these cables but subsequent material which has not yet been tabled in the Cole inquiry but if the Leader of the Opposition would care to listen he may be interested to know something about, was not just ring AWB Ltd, ask them a few questions and give up on that. It went back to the UN. The UN asked for very specific information. That information is referred to in one of these cables—the Austrade cable from March. It asked for very specific material and, I think quite rightly, the department followed up those claims to obtain that specific material.

As I have said already in answer to questions, AWB Ltd were somewhat reluctant, if I may say so, to provide that material, but they did provide it. That material was then given to the UN investigators. They employed the experts to look at these contracts and they gave AWB Ltd a clean bill of health. So you have to look at the totality of the documentation and the totality of the story. The point is that I have done that. I have had a look at what has been done. I personally have been satisfied; I think the Minister for Trade, who obviously is involved as well, has been satisfied.

What is more, just in case there is any doubt, the Labor Party will make their party political points, but this is all material which has gone to the Cole inquiry—all of it. Mr Cole can make his own decisions and his own assessments. He is probably not driven by the desperation of party politics like the Leader of the Opposition. I suspect Mr Cole may be driven by his record as an objective and excellent judge who is now retired but is a man of great distinction. He will make the decisions about whom he wants to talk to, when to talk to them and how to handle the inquiry. I can only say: thank God the Leader of the Opposition is not trying to conduct an inquiry.

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