

MEDIA RELEASE

KEVIN RUDD M.P.   Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and  International Security

DOORSTOP INTERVIEW  - QUEENSLAND PARLIAMENT HOUSE,  BRISBANE  12 APRIL 2006

E & OE - PROOF ONLY

Subjects:   John Howard to appear at Cole Inquiry; Iran.



RUDD:   The Prime Minister is about to appear before the Cole  Inquiry. This is the Prime Minister whose policy on Iraq was to allow us to  bankroll Saddam Hussein one day before bombing Saddam Hussein the next.  The Prime Minister who said the reason for going to war against Iraq was  because sanctions had failed without telling the Australian people that the

biggest reason why sanctions failed was because John Howard failed to do his  job. The Prime Minister who took us to war on Iraq because he said that the Oil  for Food Program had been rorted by Saddam Hussein without telling the  Australian people that the principal rorter of the Oil for Food program was an  Australian company approved by the Howard Government.

This has become a very sorry saga indeed. So far we’ve had the Trade Minister  who couldn’t tell you what time of day it was, the Foreign Minister who said that  he’d rather read the in-flight magazine than secret diplomatic cables on the AWB  and we’re about to see a Prime Minister who does the best impersonation of  Sergeant Schultz of Hogan Heroes.

This is all pretty unacceptable and the reason it’s unacceptable is because this is a  massive scandal. A $300 million wheat for weapons scandal which has in fact  caused Australia’s international standing and Australia’s good international  name to suffer as a result.

It’s time for John Howard to accept responsibility. John Howard doesn’t believe  in the doctrine of ministerial responsibility. John Howard believes in a doctrine  of ministerial pass the parcel. Alexander Downer is saying that it is the UN’s job;  Mark Vaile is saying that it is Alexander Downer’s job; well who is the Prime  Minister going to say ultimately has the job of ensuring that sanctions were  imposed effectively against Saddam Hussein’s regime?



At the end of the day, John Howard and Alexander Downer are smiling and  giggling quietly to themselves because they were aware of the joke. They were all  in on the joke. And what is the joke? The joke is that they know that the  Commission of Inquiry that they have set up has no powers to make

determinations about whether these Ministers actually did their job. The dice has  been loaded from the very beginning. They know that because they wrote the  Commissioner’s terms of reference.  At the end of the day they know that  whatever evidence they provide, however difficult and embarrassing the  questions may be, however embarrassing the answers may be, this  Commissioner has no powers whatsoever to make determinations about whether  these Ministers did their job under Australian law. And people ask the question,  why does the Prime Minister appear relaxed and comfortable? Why do we have  a giggling Foreign Minister? Why do we have a Prime Minister who quietly  smiles to himself? It is all because they are in on the joke, they are in on the scam  and the scam lies in the terms of reference given to Commissioner Cole at the  very outset.

REPORTER:  [Inaudible]

RUDD:  Well, already we are up for a record I think of 67 or 68 ‘I  don’t knows’, ‘I can’t recalls’, ‘I can’t remembers’ and ‘the dog ate my  homework’ - I am sure that will be added to tomorrow.

The bottom line is John Howard’s single defence for the $300 million dollar  wheat for weapons scandal is that of incompetence. His Government was too  incompetent to find out what the AWB was up to; too incompetent to investigate  the allegations about the AWB at the time; too incompetent to follow up the  warnings that they were given by the UN, by the US and practically everybody  else. That is John Howard’s single defence -the incompetence of his own  Government. Because if he was to admit knowledge of these matters, if any of  these Ministers were to admit knowledge of these matters, then they would be in  deep strife. That is what this is all about.

REPORTER:  What needs to happen now then?

RUDD:   Well, the key challenge for the Prime Minister if he has  nothing to hide is to widen the terms of reference and the powers available to  Commissioner Cole. Until he does that, this Commission of Inquiry has one hand  tied behind its back. People were stunned yesterday as to why there were limited  questions of Ministers. The reason for that is that the powers available to  Commissioner Cole are so limited. He only has powers to make determinations  about whether the AWB has committed criminal offences or not. He has no  powers whatsoever to make determinations about Howard Government  Ministers.

REPORTER:  [Inaudible]

RUDD:   Let’s see what the Prime Minister has to say tomorrow when  he appears. But I have got to say that these terms of reference are so stacked that  the likelihood of this Commissioner being able to reach determinations about  whether these Ministers did their job or not is extremely limited.

I mean, if you look at Foreign Minister Downer and Trade Minister Vaile, what  have you got? These are the two Ministers are responsible for Australia’s  relations with the rest of the world. Frankly, it’s a little like having Laurel and  Hardy in charge of the whole show, except that Laurel and Hardy actually look  professional by comparison.



This is absolutely unacceptable for Ministers occupying such positions of  seniority within the Government of Australia. These Ministers should resign for  the simple reason that they have been grossly negligent. The Foreign Minister  yesterday boasted that he didn’t bother reading diplomatic cables. He boasted  that he would rather read anything else other than diplomatic cables. He boasted  that in fact he would rather do anything else than doing his job. That is why this  Minister, if he has any honour at all should simply resign. Trade Minister Vaile  should resign through absolute incompetence. I have got to say that Foreign  Minister Downer should resign through reckless negligence, negligence which is  underlined loud and clear in his remarks to the Cole Inquiry yesterday.

REPORTER:  [Inaudible]

RUDD:  The Prime Minister is ultimately responsible for the actions  of his Government. It has been eight years since this Prime Minister has actually  bothered to step in and sack one of his Ministers, eight long years. The doctrine  of ministerial responsibility and the doctrine of ministerial accountability has  gone out the window with this Prime Minister. He simply doesn’t act that way.  And therefore to believe that he is going to start acting that way, well, pigs might  fly.



But Australia suffers as a result and our public administration suffers as a result.  Therefore, if these Ministers have any honour at all, they should do the right  thing and resign. They and their negligence are responsible for this country  paying $300 million dollars to the enemy on the eve of a war, a war which John  Howard then committed Australian troops to fight.

REPORTER:  Do you think that this will affect the Government’s electoral  reserves?

RUDD:  How the Australian people react to this $300 million dollar  wheat for weapons scandal over time is a matter for them. My job as the Shadow  Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is to do what I can to get to the bottom of  this scandal. How did the Government manage to do nothing to respond to a  total of 27 warnings over five years? How was it that this Government failed to  read at a Ministerial level the 21 cables sent over these five years. How was it that  this Government failed to develop any systems within the administration of  government to be responsible for enforcing our sanctions arrangements against  Iraq?

How did any of these things come to pass? Let me put it this way. If a Federal  Labor Government was responsible for funnelling $300 million dollars to  Saddam Hussein, this mob would be out to Yarralumla straight away and calling  for the entire government to be dismissed. I have got to say, it is time that John  Howard accepted responsibility.

Until today, we don’t have any Ministers of this Government - the Prime  Minister, the Foreign Minister or the Trade Minister who have had the guts to  have taken the slightest bit of responsibility for the biggest corruption scandal in  Australia’s history.



REPORTER:  [Inaudible]

RUDD:  Iran’s nuclear program is of concern to all democracies, it is  a concern to the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is a concern to the  United Nations and the Security Council as well. We are watching those  developments closely and the United Nations Security Council has adopted a  resolution requiring Iran to comply with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We call upon the Iranian Government to begin compliance.  We are deeply concerned about the consequences of non-compliance.

The key challenge now is that of diplomacy. We need diplomacy to try and bring  about an effective, sustainable solution to Iran’s nuclear program. That is where

Australia’s efforts should lie at the moment, through the UN first and through  our own bilateral pressure on the Iranian Government. That is where our efforts  should lie now.







Ends.



Contact: Alister Jordan 0417 605 823







