Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Nettle for her question. Obviously this government takes very seriously matters that relate to Papua New Guinea and certainly looks to the UN where appropriate to ensure that actions such as Senator Nettle refers to and the allegations that have been made are not brought to fruition. I will find out from Mr Downer what the representations are in great detail, but I believe that reports that suggest that Mr Downer was persuaded by the Indonesian authorities to take a position in relation to these matters are incorrect.

The matter will be handled by independent decision makers in accordance with Australia’s international and domestic legal obligations in the normal manner. Mr Downer or, in fact, the Prime Minister—I will check which it is—said publicly that he made clear to President Yudhoyono of Indonesia on about 27 January that these cases will be handled by independent decision makers in accordance with Australia’s international and domestic legal obligations. What is important is that the United Nations is able to have a view on this if in fact the matters are made out. But my current information is that, while the Australian Embassy in Jakarta is following up on these reports, we do not have any clear information that there is anything to pursue in relation to comments made by Indonesian ministers.