Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. Can the minister confirm that his statement on 24 July 2002 that he was ‘in constant dialogue with the Iraqi government’ was made at the time of the dispute between the AWB and the Iraqi Grains Board about alleged contamination of a number of shipments of Australian wheat? When did he first become aware that the arrangements agreed by AWB and the Iraqi Grains Board to resolve this matter were in clear breach of UN sanctions?

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to 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.