Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I refer the honourable member to the Australian newspaper—I would not refer the Leader of the Opposition to the Australian newspaper because he does not read it—of February 2006. The member for Ryan drew my attention to it. I would have to refresh my memory in relation to the specific record of conversation, but I can assure the House of this: that was not a reference to the Australian government knowing during the relevant period that AWB Ltd was paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime.

But the Cole inquiry is continuing its investigation and hopefully its report will be produced relatively soon. What is more, in recent days—or in recent weeks, in any case—a series of documents has been released through the Cole inquiry, so-called confessional documents from AWB Ltd. If anybody cares to read those documents, and I suspect not many members of the House would and certainly the Leader of the Opposition would not bother—

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