Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, in relation to your trip to Sudan in 2006, did the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provide any assistance, and did you seek it?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not have the details of the trip to Sudan on me, but my recollection is that, through the High Commission in London, I sought assistance in obtaining a visa to visit Sudan. My reason for going to Sudan was to investigate circumstances in western Darfur. I then travelled to western Darfur. My reason for so doing was that the situation on the humanitarian front in western Darfur at the time was deteriorating grossly. At that time there was not a lot of evidence of activity on the part of the previous government on that. I went there with the single objective of trying to shine a light on that problem, and I did so. As a consequence, I had discussions with relevant representatives of the government in Khartoum and relevant Darfurian representatives, most particularly on the state of circumstances in western Darfur.