Linda Kirk (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Ellison, and follows on from his earlier answers to questions concerning AUSTRAC and its knowledge of the AWB kickback scandal. Does the minister recall saying on 8 February 2006 that AUSTRAC was assisting the Cole commission? Given that AUSTRAC is now cooperating with the Cole commission, can the minister explain why it refused to help the Volcker inquiry that exposed how the Howard government facilitated the channelling of $300 million in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime? Did the minister order AUSTRAC not to cooperate with the Volcker inquiry? If so, on what basis? Is it any wonder that Mr Volcker found that the Howard government was ‘beyond reticent, even forbidding’ when it came to searching for the truth?