John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is all very well for a government senator to stand up, in the hope of getting some cheap publicity, and tell the Senate which horse has won the Melbourne Cup, when frankly what we are debating here is the fact that this government is run like the Geebung Polo Club. What we know about this issue is this. We know that the AFP received a written referral from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade dated 23 February 2006 in relation to certain Australian companies and alleged breaches of trade sanctions. We know that the AFP said that these matters related to possible breaches of sanctions imposed under the oil for food program but that fell outside the Cole inquiry’s terms of reference. We know that the allegations related to the import into Australia of goods from Iraq. We know that one of the matters related to oil. We know that during question time on Monday last week Mr Downer initially said he had no reason to believe that the importation of Iraqi oil into Australia breached UN sanctions. We know that later that day he added to his misleading answer and said:

… the Australian Federal Police is investigating a possible breach in relation to one shipment of oil.

On Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told estimates hearings that they would not answer questions on this as the oil for food program was a matter for the Cole inquiry. However, they also admitted that they had decided not to refer the matter to the Cole inquiry but to the Australian Federal Police. On Thursday last week, when Mr Downer was asked another question in question time in the House about the matter, he referred the House to the non-answers of his own officials in estimates committees.

No-one has answered the key question: why was there such a huge delay between the oil tanker Poul Spirit landing in Fremantle in October 2000, without proper approval, and the referral to the AFP for investigation of these matters only in February this year? We know that BP Australia also wrote to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to request retrospective approval in early 2001. But why did it take five years to finally refer this matter to the Australian Federal Police? We still have no answers as to why these matters were not also referred to the Cole royal commission. After all, its terms of reference were amended and extended on five occasions. Why is the Australian oil for food investigation into AWB open and public, while these seven other Australian oil for food investigations remain secret? Do we even know whether the Cole commission knew about those seven other investigations? Do we know whether the United Nations has been informed about these AFP investigations? I want to know whether the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade received high-level United Nations’ warnings, or a warning, about sanction-breaking shipments in late 2000. It is crucial information, and we are entitled to an answer. For the first time, how about the Howard government telling Australians and the Australian parliament the truth about the oil for food program? That really would be news.

Question agreed to.