Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I refer to the minister’s statement last week regarding the many warnings the government received on the $300 million ‘wheat for weapons’ scandal. He said:

I—

that is, Mr Downer—

have demonstrated, if I may say so, characteristic diligence in ensuring that the department followed up the issue.

When the minister’s office received the 23 June 2003 cable warning him that all contracts—not some contracts but all contracts—had included a kickback of between 10 per cent and 19 per cent, why did the minister fail to act and allow the AWB to continue to fund this extraordinary corruption scandal through corrupt contracts with Iraq for a further 16 months? Isn’t it a fact that, through this scandal, the minister’s ‘characteristic diligence’ has instead been dedicated to a sustained effort at a cover-up?

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