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

You are easy to amuse. It goes on:

It’s striking how Australia has been one of the few countries to have pushed the oil-for-food investigations to the extent of examining its own role.

I believe Commissioner Cole is doing a very thorough and a very good job, and we will have to wait and see what conclusions he draws. All sorts of evidence has been brought forward. That is interesting, but we want to find out when it has been tested what is right and what is wrong, and Commissioner Cole will do that.

While others are praising the work of Cole and waiting for its report, the Leader of the Opposition has gone out and said that the government is corrupt. In recent days he has sunk to even newer lows. He has allowed shadow ministers to slur the reputation of one of the most honourable people ever to sit in this parliament—the member for Gwydir. He has gone on television attacking departmental officers because apparently, at some point, those departmental officers worked within the offices of ministers and shadow ministers. Yesterday he allowed the member for Wills—I heard it on AM this morning after I got back from Jakarta—to ridicule Trevor Flugge because he has a hearing defect. I thought this parliament had got over the fact that people with hearing defects should not be ridiculed.

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