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

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. I refer to the statement by Mr Warren Truss, a cabinet minister, a former Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Deputy Leader of the National Party, that there was ‘hardly anything odd’ about AWB’s kickbacks to the Saddam Hussein regime, that it was ‘quite normal to pay commissions for services, especially in the Middle East’ and that ‘When we sell our house we pay commissions to a real estate agent. We may think he charges us far too much but we do not say that it is corruption or a bribery payment. It is a fee for a service.’ Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with his deputy’s remarks?

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