This federal government is rotten to the core, just read this;
ABC Online; The Cole inquiry is focusing its investigation on why Government officials sharply reduced scrutiny of Iraqi wheat contracts from the mid-1990s.
The inquiry has heard evidence on the level of Government knowledge about breaches of United Nations (UN) sanctions on Iraq.
Council assisting the inquiry John Agius, SC, says the Australian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister was only supposed to approve exports if Australia's international obligations were met.
The documents suggest that after the Howard Government was elected the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) changed its approach from thoroughly scrutinising export contracts for breaches of UN sanctions on Iraq, to checking that forms were filled out.
Bronte Moules, who was posted to New York in 1999, says she was not aware that the Foreign Affairs Department did any detailed examination of AWB contracts before sending them to the mission and to the UN for approval.
Labor's Kevin Rudd says if DFAT relaxed its scrutiny of AWB contracts, Alexander Downer must bear the responsibility.
"Alexander Downer is the one responsible for issuing an export permit for each of these 41 wheat contracts with Iraq, Alexander Downer had a responsibility to put in place the proper systems to ensure that each of these contracts was okay, Alexander Downer failed to do his job," he said.
Documents suppressed
Earlier, Commissioner Terence Cole said the inquiry was a full and open one despite granting a Federal Government application to suppress intelligence documents.
The Government argued keeping the documents secret was in the national interest.
The material in question is about possible breaches of oil-for-food contracts collected by one of Australia's five intelligence agencies.
It was gathered well before last year and the commission wants to question Foreign Affairs officials as to whether they saw the evidence.
Commissioner Terence Cole says the material will remain highly classified, however he has told the Federal Government's lawyers he will publicise a summary of the material which does not impinge on Australia's national interests.
The inquiry earlier heard that the general thrust of evidence from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials is that they acted as a post box for AWB.
They will tell the inquiry that the Australian wheat export contracts were not reviewed, merely sent on to the United Nations for approval.
Commissioner Cole has heard that wheat contracts paid for from UN oil-for-food accounts were inflated to pay almost $300 million to Saddam Hussein's regime between 1999 and 2002.
