Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Banking and Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Abetz, the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Isn’t it now clear that the Wheat Export Authority had been alerted to serious anomalies about the AWB’s arrangements for selling wheat to Iraq in early 2004? Didn’t those arrangements include a dramatic escalation in bogus transport costs and a grossly inflated price of wheat? Given the Wheat Export Authority investigated these serious breaches in 2004, is the minister able to explain why the authority simply accepted AWB’s advice that everything was above board and did not take a closer look at what was going on? Can the minister also explain why the Wheat Export Authority took no further action, even after the Volcker inquiry in the United States started to express concern about the AWB’s deal to sell wheat to Iraq?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I repeat the answer given to Senator O’Brien both today and yesterday—and also to Senator Siewert, I think, yesterday. There is an inquiry going on in relation to these matters. Whether certain people investigated properly, did not investigate fully, reported fully or did not, turned a blind eye et cetera, all those matters are being canvassed, as we speak, by the inquiry. It is important for the inquiry to be allowed to undertake its task in an atmosphere without a situation whereby those on the other side in this chamber or other people try to run a concurrent inquiry in the public domain. I suggest to the honourable senator that these sorts of questions may well be appropriate at a future time after the facts have actually been determined by the inquiry.

Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Banking and Financial Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. This is, isn’t it, Minister, a matter that has been dealt with before, at least in part, by the Senate via Senate estimates? And it is reasonable for the minister to attempt to respond, to try and answer questions and issues that flow from this. Did the Wheat Export Authority fail to do its job properly in investigating this matter, or was it really a case of incompetent ministers who were part of the ‘wheat club’ not wanting to rock the boat?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would invite the senator to read my first answer.