Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Ellison, Minister for Justice and Customs. Can the minister confirm his answer to my question on notice of 21 November 2005 that AUSTRAC was not aware of any suspicious transactions involving the Australian Wheat Board and that the agency had received no request to investigate all international transactions involving AWB? Given that AWB was making large payments directly to a Jordanian trucking company linked to Saddam Hussein, why weren’t these payments picked up by AUSTRAC? Can the minister indicate whether he has now demanded that AUSTRAC undertake a full search of all its records on the Australian Wheat Board? If so, what have been the results of that search? If not, why not?