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

A query is raised, so what do we do? Roll over because one of our competitors says we are bad? We roll over, according to the Leader of the Opposition. That is not my idea of protecting the national interest. I repeat: in March the UN query about Canadian allegations and on the AWB contract terms was resolved to the UN’s satisfaction after the provision by the AWB of its contract terms and conditions. And importantly—and I emphasise this—the United Nations Office of the Iraq Program, which had raised the complaint in the first place at the instance of the Canadians, indicated that this had removed any grounds for misperceptions. That was the response. In those circumstances, I rest on my claim that we responded correctly.

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