Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to add to an answer I gave to a question asked of me by Senator Bob Brown on Monday in relation to military action in Iraq. Senator Brown asked about SAS training in advance of our commitment. I can add to my answer that, as a matter of prudent military planning, the ADF is continually engaged in contingency planning for a range of possible operational scenarios.

I would also like to add to an answer I gave to a question from Senator Faulkner yesterday in relation to ONA reports to DFAT with respect to the oil for food program. The report of the Cole inquiry says, at pages 54 to 57 of volume four, that 15 unassessed intelligence reports were relevant to the scope of the inquiry, and some of these reports indicated that Alia Corporation, based in Jordan, was involved in circumventing UN sanctions on behalf of the Iraqi government. There is a need to place the status of the 15 unassessed intelligence reports in context. The 15 reports are spread over a six-year period, from 1998 to 2004. During this period, the intelligence community produced more than 750,000 unassessed intelligence reports. Although most of the 15 reports refer in some way to corruption in the oil for food program, none mentions AWB and only one refers to wheat.

The issue of government knowledge was comprehensively addressed in Commissioner Cole’s report. The government has no concerns about the extent and timeliness of ONA’s assessments on this matter. I emphasise again that the critical finding of Commissioner Cole’s report is that AWB deliberately and repeatedly misled the government and the UN on these issues.