Robert Ray (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I direct my question to Senator Ellison in his capacity as the Minister for Justice and Customs. Can the minister explain to the Senate why Customs allowed the importation from Iraq of goods that needed to conform to 4QA of the Customs regulations to proceed without the explicit written permission of Minister Downer or his delegate? Why has it taken more than five years to have these breaches referred to the AFP for investigation? Was any consideration given to having Commissioner Cole look at these blatant breaches? If not, why not?