Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and it relates to a matter that is not being considered by the Cole royal commission. I refer to reports in the United States congress that money illegally obtained by Saddam Hussein from the oil for food program was used to fund the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. Minister, given that AWB was the single largest user of the oil for food program, will you launch an investigation into how the $300 million in kickbacks from AWB to Iraq was used? Furthermore, given the impact on the security of the state of Israel, not to mention Australians in Israel, has the foreign minister raised this matter with the state of Israel or the relevant intelligence agencies in order to determine whether any of the $300 million went to pay Palestinian suicide bombers?

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