Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Further to Senator Milne's statement and line of questioning, can the minister indicate whether the DNA technology that can be used could form part of the risk matrix? In other words, could there be a requirement that there be DNA taken at the source of the logging and in the finished product in Australia? Is that something the minister would consider likely or unlikely? Does the minister concede that it would be a gold standard in ruling out whether a particular product was coming into Australia from a source of illegal logging?

My other question relates to matters I raised this morning regarding the serious allegations made by Clare Rewcastle Brown of corruption in the state government of Sarawak, led by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. How does the government of Australia propose to engage? We are not talking about a rogue operator, where you can get the cooperation of another government; these are serious allegations of state based corruption, as Senator Milne has pointed out. The allegations are online that a former aide, who was an informant for the Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak, was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room with a plastic bag around his head in September 2011, just over a year ago. How do we engage with that, and do you concede the issue of DNA testing is the gold standard to determine risk?