Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to notify the parliament of the extraordinary claims by Ms Wendy Armstrong, a former staff member of the former Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, made in Mr Anderson’s authorised biography, that she was actually in the meeting when he and Tamworth businessman Mr Greg Maguire and Senator Sandy Macdonald discussed my political future. It had been previously assumed that Ms Armstrong was only in the meeting when the proposed equine centre was discussed.

I find it incredible that, until now, the former Deputy Prime Minister, Senator Macdonald and Mr Maguire have never mentioned the presence of this lady in relation to her being there when discussions took place amongst them about my career when there was an investigation by the Australia Federal Police and a Senate inquiry. If Ms Armstrong’s claim that she was privy to discussions about my political career is correct, why did she not come forward when those inquiries were being undertaken? In answer to the following questions from the Leader of the Opposition in the parliament on 18 November 2004:

... was the possibility of the member for New England pursuing a career outside parliament ever discussed? Were diplomatic and trade appointments mentioned in these discussions?

the former Deputy Prime Minister said, ‘No and no.’

Ms Armstrong contradicts her former boss’s answer detailing how my political career was discussed, saying:

And then he (Maguire) said to him (Anderson), “Can’t you find him (Windsor) a job? Can’t you find him a job? Can’t you get him one of those ambassadorships?”

Ms Armstrong recalls:

And John said, and this is his exact words, “That is not within my gift. That is the responsibility of the Prime Minister and Alexander Downer.”

Further, responding to my claim head-on that she had been asked to leave the room, Armstrong is adamant that she was, in fact, there for the crucial discussion, as evidenced by her clear recall of the specific words the men used. She was not, Armstrong stresses, merely there for the conversation that related to the equine centre proposal.

I believe that, by making this claim, Ms Armstrong confirms that Mr Anderson did in fact mislead the parliament on 18 November 2004 when he answered ‘no and no’ to discussing my political future. Mr Maguire told the Senate inquiry that they did discuss these matters. The former Deputy Prime Minister told the parliament on 18 November that they did not. But now Ms Armstrong confirms that they did. Ms Armstrong’s recollection of her reminding of Mr Anderson that she was there also raises more questions. Ms Armstrong said:

I said to John, “I just want to remind you. I was there.” And he (Anderson) leant across, ... and said, “Of course you were there. How could I have doubted myself? How could I have doubted myself? I’ve been really worried. You were there. You would remember. You would know.”

Neither the former Deputy Prime Minister, Senator Macdonald nor Mr Maguire remembered or mentioned in any of their public statements or evidence that Ms Armstrong was there in the meeting at the time discussion took place about my political future, even though, according to Ms Armstrong’s revelation in the book that she reminded Mr Anderson, ‘During the early days ... around November 2004,’ that she was there.

Was this before or after the former Deputy Prime Minister told parliament on 18 November 2004 that the group had not discussed my career? Bearing in mind that, supposedly, the first time that Mr Anderson knew about this matter was the night before, even though in his initial response to the parliament on 17 November—25 minutes after I first raised the matter—he included reference to ‘the member of my staff who was in attendance at the meeting’. Why would Ms Armstrong also admit that she did leave ‘the men’ before the meeting ended but she was sure she was there for the crucial conversations? How can she be certain of that?

Given the obvious contradictions in evidence given to the Senate inquiry, the parliament and now in this authorised biography, and given that the Australian Electoral Commission, to my knowledge, has still not reported back on its investigation into Mr Maguire’s commitment under oath to provide evidence relating to political donations, I call on the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Electoral Commission to reopen this investigation and for the Senate committee to review the report findings.