Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and I refer to the minister’s statement to parliament on 31 October last year that:

As far as the government is aware, the first knowledge of Alia and concerns relating to the AWB’s use of the company was in the context of the Volcker inquiry—

an inquiry which began in April 2004. I also refer to the fact that the minister has confirmed for the first time—yesterday—that he made this statement to parliament in full knowledge of the contents of the cable of 13 January in the year 2000, which warned that the AWB was paying funds into the Jordanian bank account of a company owned by Saddam Hussein’s regime. Minister, why did you mislead the House?

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