Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Coonan, representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and relates to the announcement by Mr Downer on 28 March 2003 of a $100 million AusAID package for Iraq, which was to cover two shipments of wheat and included $45 million for handling and distribution costs. Did the Minister for Foreign Affairs sign off on the aid budget as the delegate under the Financial Management and Accountability Act? If not, who did and when? Was the usual AusAID package development framework, including risk and probity assessment, followed?

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

Thank you to Senator Siewert for the question. I would certainly assume that Minister Downer signed off on the aid package in accordance with the act—

John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What do you mean by you ‘assume that’?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to 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.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Under what OECD development assistance code was the $937,000 payment by AusAID to Trevor Flugge made?

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

As I have said, all of these matters will be the subject of further information in relation to the Cole inquiry. I am not going to be pre-empting who signed what under what circumstances. It is entirely appropriate that these matters be properly investigated in the Cole inquiry. That is what it is set up to achieve, and that is what it will do.