Michael Forshaw (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

If ever the hypocrisy, the duplicity and the deceit of this government was exposed, it is being exposed now with this scandal regarding the corrupt payments to Saddam Hussein’s regime. We have heard pathetic defences coming from ministers in question time today and elsewhere, and also from the speakers during this debate on the motion to take note of answers. Let me just deal with a couple of those, starting with the argument that the government have established the Cole royal commission and therefore they are going to get to the bottom of it, so we should just let Commissioner Cole get on and do his job. The problem with that argument is, firstly, that the terms of reference are limited in terms of what Commissioner Cole can actually make findings about.

Secondly, that argument is being put by people from this government who have made an art form of standing up in this parliament when other royal commissions have been held, asking questions and having questions answered about what is being investigated. I can recall back in the days of the royal commission into the Penny Easton and Carmen Lawrence issues in WA, day after day Senator Vanstone—who was then an opposition frontbencher—getting up here and trawling through all the issues. And more recently, with the royal commission into the building industry that Senator McGauran mentioned, the fact that that royal commission was being conducted did not stop members of the government from standing up in parliament and pre-empting the findings, making claims and dealing with the issues that were being covered by that royal commission. So do not try now, when your own government is under the microscope, to hide behind the argument that it is somehow sub judice because it is being dealt with by the Cole royal commission.

Senator Boswell just said, ‘They’re going to find out whether there was corruption.’ There has been corruption—we know that. That has already been found through the UN and the Volcker inquiry and it is clearly evident. What is now being inquired into is: how did it occur; who knew about it; why did it occur; and why is it being covered up? Clearly the evidence is pointing to a total failure on the part of this government and departments administered by ministers of this government. They either knew and did not say, or they did not know.

Senator Coonan said that there is no evidence that any minister was involved. Either ministers did not know—and therefore they were negligent and ignorant—or the evidence will prove that they did know. Whichever way it is with this argument by the government that they did not know and therefore they are not culpable or guilty, the fact is, at the end of the day, the responsibility rests with the government. It rests with the ministers. Senator Coonan, Senator Abetz and most of the other frontbenchers here are lawyers. They know that old adage ‘ignorance is no excuse’.

Let me make another point. I can remember a former Prime Minister, when he was Leader of the Opposition back in the mid-seventies standing up in this parliament and talking about what were reprehensible circumstances. That, in part, related to what was happening with borrowing money overseas. What we have here is clear evidence of corrupt payments—$300 million being paid to a dictator responsible for some of the worst atrocities that have occurred in recent times—and the government sit there and say it is not their fault. The fact is the AWB is a creation of the government; it is a body set up to look after the interests of the wheat farmers. That $300 million would have done a lot of good to assist farmers. But, no. What happened? It got paid to that murderous dictator in Iraq.

Senator McGauran, the former National Party member, talks about us not having a ministerial scalp. Senator McGauran, you would know all about getting ministerial scalps, mate, because when you ratted on your former party, your former party lost a ministerial position. What hypocrisy and obfuscation we are getting from this mob. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.