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

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. I refer to the Deputy Prime Minister’s sworn evidence to the Cole inquiry dated 5 April 2006 in which he stated on 43 occasions that he had no recollection of having received any of the 21 warning cables dealing with the ‘wheat for weapons’ scandal. I also refer to confirmation in DFAT Senate estimates yesterday that since the year 2000 DFAT has been able to formally audit the opening, printing, exporting—that is, moving the contents of one cable to another document—and closing of cables by an electronic cable log. Minister, did you personally check this electronic cable access log before submitting your sworn evidence to the Cole inquiry on 5 April?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Did you personally check your plagiarised document before you put it on the web?

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

Order! The member for Flinders!

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

Order! The member for Flinders is warned.

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In response to the member’s question, I did not personally check that log. The answers that I gave to the Cole inquiry were the truth and were accurate.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.