Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

Because that is what happens. However, if there is something that I can add to Senator Siewert’s knowledge of this matter, I will certainly ask Mr Downer.

As to the expenditure of the aid budget and the contract that Senator Siewert refers to, as has now been said ad nauseam in this place and, indeed, in the other place, the important thing is that the way in which these contracts were administered, and the way in which that interacted with the aid budget, is very much the subject of an inquiry that has been set up, with the former Mr Justice Cole as commissioner, to get to the bottom of exactly what happened with these contracts. There is absolutely no point in speculating about how, what, when or why, when there is in train a properly constituted commission that has possession of all the documents and all the information that has been sought, in circumstances where the former Mr Justice Cole has made it abundantly clear that, if he needs any further information or evidence from anyone in the Commonwealth, he feels free to ask for it and it will be forthcoming. And he has said that, so far as he has regard to the terms of reference, he thinks that he is not constrained in being able to answer all of those questions. So, rather than pre-empt that information, I think we should wait until the inquiry has concluded.