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 Prime Minister. His answer to the last question referred to Mr Cole’s statement on his terms of reference of February 2006. Is it not a fact that the Cole inquiry stated in black and white in March 2006 that ‘it is not the function of a commissioner to determine his terms of reference’, that ‘it would not be appropriate for a commissioner to seek amendment of the terms of reference to address a matter significantly different to that in his existing terms of reference’, that determining whether ‘a minister had breached the legal obligations imposed on him by Australian regulations’ was a matter which lay significantly outside his existing terms of reference and, finally, that it was of course a matter for the executive government to determine whether or not those terms of reference should be expanded? Does not this letter fundamentally underline the fact that the Prime Minister has rorted the terms of reference with the object of defending the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Transport and Regional Services from having determinations registered against them?

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

I thought the Leader of the Opposition asked it better. Let me simply say that the answer to the honourable gentleman’s question is no. I ask him to contain his energy, ambition or whatever it is for about another 50 minutes and he will be able to have a look at the findings of a person in whom the Leader of the Opposition expressed complete confidence in relation to both his ability and his independence.

I will be very interested to see how the Leader of the Opposition squares what is in the report—and I do not intend to talk about the contents of the report—and any reaction he may have to the report with what he said about the quality of Mr Cole, who I would hope is regarded as a lawyer of great integrity, great repute and great forensic skills and as a completely and fearlessly independent man. He plainly is. That is what the Leader of the Opposition acknowledged earlier. I hope he has the courage to acknowledge it later as well.