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

Thank you. I abide by my former answer. I think Senator Hutchins is referring to a comment by Mr Kelvin Thomson. But he has got that wrong, on my information, yet again. AusAID has not contacted nor dealt with Alia. The international partners referred to were the World Food Program and other governments that AusAID contacted to explore food distribution options. The information that I have and that I am prepared to provide to the Senate is that AusAID has never contacted nor dealt with Alia.