Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition refers to quotes and makes allegations. I will check that quote that he has referred to and see whether I made that comment and in what context. The most important point to make here, and this is something that is lost on the Labor Party, is that our responsibility on behalf of Australian wheat growers—with the knowledge that the AWB had continually said to us that they were operating within the guidelines of the UN Sanctions Committee and that we continually reminded them of their responsibilities in that regard right through the whole process of the program—was, when there were from time to time concerns about contamination as there were last year, that we represented the interests of Australian wheat growers to keep their trade flowing. I will check the assertion that the Leader of the Opposition has made about a comment I made in 2002.

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