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

This is what Senator Coleman said. You may not like Senator Coleman. He said:

My subcommittee will review the Cole report with a fine-tooth comb to determine whether US interests were hurt by AWB’s gross misconduct.

The point I make is that, by setting up the Cole inquiry and subjecting officials to the fine-tooth comb, with all of the documents produced and made public, with public hearings and a long list, of course, of painful appearances by officials before the Cole commission—and many of the officials of my department, not surprisingly, did find it a very painful experience—we have been applauded by Senator Coleman for doing that. This, I think, casts Australia in a very good light—a point that Commissioner Cole himself made. The final point I would make is that the member for Griffith accuses an official of my department of lying. This official was Peter Baxter. He did not lie; he told the truth.

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