Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in this debate about whether or not a censure motion should be allowed in this place. The Australian government has not failed our allies in terms of the United Nations, it has not failed our trading partners, and it has not failed the wheat growers of Australia who have put a great deal of faith in this government to look after their interests internationally. All the points by the opposition should be absolutely refuted. The Leader of the Opposition mounts his case today for this censure based on information in a series of cables that have become a part of the Cole commission of inquiry. He claims that the government is trying to cover up what it did during the course of the oil for food program, but the government has handed all this information over to the Cole inquiry.

What the cables do prove—and this is what the opposition absolutely ignore in this debate—is that the government did not ignore the issue. The government did not turn a blind eye; the government responded to the request of the UN. The cables indicate this very clearly. The Leader of the Opposition knows this, but he quite conveniently ignores that part of it. When we approached AWB, they categorically denied the assertions and the allegations that the UN indicated that they could not disprove or otherwise. So the AWB categorically denied those allegations that were contained at the time that the information was brought to us from the UN.

DFAT subsequently sought further information from AWB about terms and conditions. This is in the cables that the Leader of the Opposition is referring to. What happened? What did the government do? The government went to AWB and said: ‘You need to provide this information to the organisation that is overseeing these contracts, the Office of the Iraq Program at the United Nations. You need to deliver this information to them to reassure them on these concerns.’ That was done. In response, the people at the oil for food program in the United Nations under the section 661 sanctions committee—the people responsible for running this program, the people who had oversight of it, the people who were supposed to be checking all aspects of this program in the conduct of the contracts—responded in this language: ‘The Office of the Iraq Program has confirmed that this clarifies the matter and removes any grounds for misperception.’ That was in response to the provision of information and some of the terms and conditions in the contracts that they asked about—the subject of the cable traffic at the time. So, quite clearly, there are no grounds for this censure motion.

The government did not ignore the issue. The government did not turn a blind eye. The government sought information from the private sector body, the organisation that was engaged in the contractual arrangements. It denied any wrongdoing. It refuted the allegations that were being made. Subsequently, when we sought to deliver that information with regard to the terms and conditions—as is quite clearly outlined in those cables that the opposition has, that the Cole inquiry has, that the government has given to the Cole inquiry with a whole heap of information to assist that inquiry to uncover the facts in this whole exercise—the claim and the charge is that the government is covering up, that the government is turning a blind eye. We did not turn a blind eye at the time. We got the information quickly back to the oil for food Iraq program at the United Nations, and then they responded that ‘this clarifies the matter and removes any grounds for misperception’. Far from covering up, far from being of no assistance to the UN, we have assisted the UN. We have sought out the information that was required when they made those inquiries that have been the subject of questions and the debate today.

In terms of mounting the case for a censure motion, the Leader of the Opposition has maintained that the Australian government has failed in its responsibility as a member of the UN, failed in its responsibility as a member of the international community and failed in its responsibility to look after the interests of wheat growers. We have not failed on any single one of those counts. As a responsible member of the international community, we have gone to enormous efforts in recent years to ensure that we play a responsible role. That was clearly outlined to me on my recent visit to Baghdad in discussions with Prime Minister Al-Jaafari, Deputy Prime Minister Chalabi and trade minister Basit Karim. They reflected on the contribution that Australia had made in terms of helping establish a democratic process in Iraq—one that they are rejoicing in and one that we take too much for granted in Australia but one that was certainly a clear objective. They were very complimentary about the way the Australian government has quickly established the Cole inquiry with regard to the whole oil for food program.

Obviously the Iraqi government are interested in the operation of the oil for food program. But I can tell the Leader of the Opposition, without opening up confidential conversations I had in Iraq, that the Iraqi government have far greater concerns about many other countries and institutions than they have about Australia in this matter. That is a fact. That point was made to me while I was in Iraq. They are concerned about many other countries and institutions in this matter. That gives me heart that I am comfortable in what the Australian government have done over the preceding years that cover the time frame that this debate is focused on.

In going to Iraq over the weekend in the interests of Australian wheat growers, we have not failed in our responsibility to look after them. We have not failed to do that. We did see media reports in recent weeks about what the Iraq government was prepared and not prepared to do. Unlike the Labor Party, we are not prepared to stake the future interests of Australian wheat growers on media reports. We are not prepared to do that. We are prepared to travel to different parts of the world to represent their interests, as they should be, in face-to-face meetings with the governments and ministers with whom we are trying to ensure an opportunity for our wheat growers to do business.

That was certainly the case on Sunday, when I spent many hours with Iraqi ministers in Baghdad. They clearly indicated that to me, as outlined in the joint statement that I made with Dr Chalabi after our meeting. I will quote from the statement so that it is on the record. This is in response to the charge that in this whole matter we have abrogated our responsibility to Australian wheat growers. It states:

The Ministers agreed to redouble their efforts to ensure that the mutually beneficial economic relationship continues in an open and transparent way.

In particular Ministers reaffirmed their strong desire for the longstanding and important wheat trade to continue into the future on a secure and predictable basis.

In this context, the Iraqi Government will continue to welcome offers to supply high-quality Australian wheat through participating in competitive tendering in Iraq.

The Ministers agreed that the two Governments should remain in close contact over coming months to ensure the trading relationship continues to move forward.

The Leader of the Opposition knows full well that you need to front up and eyeball people whom you are doing business with—you cannot rely on media reports—and that is what I did and that is the statement that came out of the meeting. I am absolutely confident that, even in the short term, Australian wheat growers will have an opportunity to get into this market. I would like to table a copy of that joint statement by Dr Ahmad Chalabi, the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, and me on 26 February 2006, upon my visit and meeting with him in Iraq.

I will just recap in this debate why the government is not prepared to accept a censure motion and why the case has not been mounted. The case has not been mounted because we did not ignore the issue. The government did not turn a blind eye to it. The government has not abrogated its responsibilities, either internationally or domestically, to the Australian wheat growing community and the Australian public.

We have at every stage responded to requests and, as was clearly indicated by the Office of the Iraq Program upon our delivering that information to them, they confirmed that this clarifies the matter and removes any grounds for misperception. I look forward to the time when the opposition bring up this cable in question time, which has positive advice from the United Nations after the government addressed the issues that had been raised. (Time expired).

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