Ah so many willing to blame past ALP actions to aviod present shame bought to us all.
No smokeing gun yet but fact is this event is far from the only event the Howard goverment has involved us in that shames them.
History will be kind to Hawk and Keiting, but may look back on such as this event and question are some any better than Saddam?, oh yes he murdered but we may have paid for the killing.
Lets forget other countrys shamefull involvment it ours that concerns me.
And stop defending shamefull acts by switching targets to those who played no part in this event .
My party/country right or wrong is wrong.

Why do people digress from the subject matter, when it badly reflects on their favourite son. The point is political morals today, not over a decade ago.
What ever type of business dealings are the norm in the Middle East, it appears this particular business deal was suspect, accordingly all the people involved must be made to account.

No Kipp.

I believe the point the author was making is that the market and the community should have provided checks and balances to AWB-which is exactly what happened. By implication the author was also contending that any government involvement should also be subject to the same checks and balances-which will happen.

The problem is that the left doesn't like the end result of those checks and balances- it would rather the government be brought down by AWB yet the market and community continue to support Howard. The bottom line is that any savvy and competent business person will tell
you that in places like Africa, the Middle East and Asia 'donations' or whatever you want to call them are a fundamental of doing business. The left can't scream cultural relativism and then ignore the aspects of it that aren't moral.

The great pity of this is that the ALP is destroying the competitive edge of Australian wheat growers in the international market by harping on about AWB- why doesn't the left start asking questions in Europe and the US about some of their companies?

The only positive is that Howard will come out of this on top again and the left will be left grasping at it's semantical, idealist but irrelevant arguments and accusations of 'deceit' yet again.

The author makes a valid point that monopoly control be they government or business, are not good for the betterment of society.

Mentioned is Telstra, add to that fuel,public transport and retail, the list goes on and the costs go up for the consumer.

The privatising of essential services, did not improve those services, it made them inefficient and more expensive, again to the cost of the consumer.

We have a monopoly government that passes contentious Bills without scrutiny.

I am not an ALP supporter, but I do expect them to fulfill their elected duty as an opposition party, in questioning the government on issues that may have a negative effect on society.

To the AWB enquiry, I feel this is an issue that must be questioned, irrespective of how business is done in the Middle East. The alleged offence occurred during a time of sanctions against a country we were told was a threat and whom we invaded.

Although it pains me, I have to agree with plerdsus and Barnaby Joyce. The majority of Australians don't give a damn about much other than where the next new gadget is coming from. That's the great flaw in the article's argument about transfering power to communities. Just like the school tuckshop, you'd end up with the same three people doing endless lamington drives while everyone else is out shopping. Howard's greatest strength is that he understands the apathy that keeps him there. It's certainly not his integrity.

Of course this is a very important issue and it threatens to engulf the way WE do business with the rest of the world if WE don't get to the bottom of it quickly.

If you think this is a storm in a teacup... then it is a bloody big teacup!

The Yanks and the Canadians have been waiting for something like this... Watch them move in on our poor farmers markets now WE appear not to be able to be trusted.

It doesn't matter if the Middle East operates this way ... WE are the ones who have been caught. Whose the little fish in the big pond? Us!

Once again it will be the little people who suffer the consequences of this mistake. Our poor struggling wheat farmers... my heart bleeds for them.

Why do people go all party oriented about an issue? It is the role of the opposition to debate this issue whatever colour shorts they wear. If the Liberals were in opposition they'd be bleating just as loudly as Labor and rightly so.

If you get offended because the opposition question things, you might want to question your understanding about democracy and democratic institutions.

If you have voted for one party all your life you may not truly understand what makes a democracy strong. It is the willingness of you to change your vote and vote against the party you would normally vote for based on issues that makes a robust democracy.

Where is the National Farmers Federation in this debate... the $300 million belongs to their members and they are the ones who could be most effected by the findings?