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

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It relates to the answer he gave to the previous question. Now that he has conceded for the first time in this place that he was briefed on the cable dated 13 January 2000—saw it, was briefed; whatever—does he recollect that the cable contained the following warnings from the UN office: firstly, that the Iraqis were demanding a surcharge of $US14 per metric tonne for wheat, which would be paid outside the oil for food program? Does he recollect, secondly, that the funds were to be provided into a bank account in Jordan? Does he recollect, thirdly—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. Under the standing orders, a question already answered fully is not permitted to be answered again. This question has already been answered on a number of occasions, and it is quite out of order.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mackellar will resume her seat. The Leader of the Opposition has not completed his question. I am listening carefully. I call the Leader of the Opposition.

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

Does he recollect, thirdly, that the cable said the system was designed to provide illegal revenue for Iraq in US dollars? Does he recollect, fourthly, that the cable said the United Nations believed the company involved in the scheme was owned by the son of Saddam Hussein? Does he recollect, fifthly, that AWB had concluded contracts of a similar nature to this with the Iraqi regime? Minister, how could you have satisfied yourself that this matter was properly looked at by a few phone calls to AWB and will you now go to the Cole inquiry and discuss the content of this cable and the other matters contained in this appalling scandal?

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

Obviously, this happened six years ago, but I have had the opportunity during the last few weeks to examine all of this material again very carefully, which is why I know so much about it today, 28 February 2006. These are cables from early 2000, but I do know a lot about them and I have examined this material very carefully. I have done more than that: I have had to satisfy myself that my department responded appropriately to these allegations. I have done that myself. Of course, the Leader of the Opposition reads out the parts of the cable that suit him, but he does not read out the part of that cable where the UN Office of the Iraq Program noted it had no way of judging the accuracy or otherwise of the claims made. More than that, of course, we knew as time went on that these claims had been made by competitors of the Australian Wheat Board.

What the department subsequently did, which is clear from not only these cables but subsequent material which has not yet been tabled in the Cole inquiry but if the Leader of the Opposition would care to listen he may be interested to know something about, was not just ring AWB Ltd, ask them a few questions and give up on that. It went back to the UN. The UN asked for very specific information. That information is referred to in one of these cables—the Austrade cable from March. It asked for very specific material and, I think quite rightly, the department followed up those claims to obtain that specific material.

As I have said already in answer to questions, AWB Ltd were somewhat reluctant, if I may say so, to provide that material, but they did provide it. That material was then given to the UN investigators. They employed the experts to look at these contracts and they gave AWB Ltd a clean bill of health. So you have to look at the totality of the documentation and the totality of the story. The point is that I have done that. I have had a look at what has been done. I personally have been satisfied; I think the Minister for Trade, who obviously is involved as well, has been satisfied.

What is more, just in case there is any doubt, the Labor Party will make their party political points, but this is all material which has gone to the Cole inquiry—all of it. Mr Cole can make his own decisions and his own assessments. He is probably not driven by the desperation of party politics like the Leader of the Opposition. I suspect Mr Cole may be driven by his record as an objective and excellent judge who is now retired but is a man of great distinction. He will make the decisions about whom he wants to talk to, when to talk to them and how to handle the inquiry. I can only say: thank God the Leader of the Opposition is not trying to conduct an inquiry.