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

Whatever the opposition members want, I am happy to accommodate them with that. I am happy to answer their questions as they come, one by one. It might be a bit easier than trying to remember them all at the very end.

Because the government had information coming out of the Volcker process, in particular, that there were at least allegations of AWB Ltd having been involved in a kickbacks operation in Iraq—something that we profoundly disprove of—we decided to set up a commission of inquiry with the powers of a royal commission, which was called the Cole inquiry. This was established in late 2005 and had hearings through the early part of 2006. Commissioner Cole produced his report in November 2006—if memory serves me well. Commissioner Cole went through all of the documentation, cables and emails that my department and other relevant authorities had and, in some cases, he called people before the inquiry as witnesses and examined those people. Those people were also cross-examined by counsel representing AWB employees. The Labor Party had a close relationship with the counsel representing AWB employees. They spoke with them every day and kept in close touch with them, as they did with Caroline Overington.

This was all played out in a dramatic way during 2006. All sorts of allegations and claims were made. The honourable member refers to Colonel Kelly. Colonel Kelly’s testimony was contradicted by people from my department and from other departments. In the end, Commissioner Cole chose not to call Colonel Kelly because he thought the claims Colonel Kelly made—and recently more light has been shed on the basis of those claims—did not merit examination. I cannot speak for Commissioner Cole, but this view was taken presumably in the light of the fact that Colonel Kelly’s claims were contradicted by other witnesses and other evidence.

The Labor Party has come to its own conclusions. I appreciate that. The party political line here is that the Liberal Party and the National Party are guilty of all manner of crimes. My department, according to the honourable member, should be investigating fraud within the department. I have always said that the public servants in my department are good and honourable people; I do not have any evidence of their being corrupt. I do not have any basis for calling for an investigation into fraud in my department in relation to the AWB matter. More than that, Commissioner Cole produced a report and made his own findings and they happen to be at complete variance with the allegations made by the Labor Party. They were 180 degrees different.

In answer to the honourable member’s question, I would recommend to him, with the best will in the world, that he spend time reading the Cole report. It is several volumes; I appreciate that it would take a lot of time—but I would do that if I were him. He might find it interesting. Just making a few party political points like the ones he has made will not take him very far.

The department will receive $4.6 million over four years for the implementation of the government’s response to the Cole inquiry, and the resources will allow the department to carry out the enhanced responsibilities for the implementation of UN sanctions conferred upon the department by the government. The department intends to use these resources to enhance its capacity to support the incorporation of sanctions regimes into Australian law, administer and coordinate the implementation of sanctions regimes, develop systems to monitor and ensure compliance with Australian law on sanctions, undertake outreach in Australia and overseas to develop awareness of responsibilities for the observance of sanctions regimes, and develop online and hard-copy publications providing guidance on Australian requirements for the implementation of sanctions. Those resources are provided under a cross-portfolio measure, which was announced in the budget, led by the Attorney-General.

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