We are on dangerous ground if we insist on ethics in politics. Anyone contemplating a career in politics must be able to produce a history of criminal behavior. In lieu of a history as a person liable to succumb to temptation a potential politician must be able to demonstate a life of indolence, ineptitude, aversion to truth or a failing memory.

Well said Natasha.I am familiar with the'culture'within DFAT.
Morality declined in DFAT when it was required to cover up what it knew was happening inside East Timor and together with succesive Australian governments felt obliged to apologise for the behaviour of the military.However we are not being very honest with ourselves.
Under apartheid the majority of white South Africans lived in a firm state of denial,sometimes aggressively so.
If we believe that DFAT needs reform then so does Immigration,PM&C,the AFP(with its para military role and dirty tricks department),Defence and Defence Procurement,ASIO(under the new Director-General),AusAid,Health and Education.It would also be useful to have investigations into Macquarie Bank,Qantas,the mortgage industry and financial advisory services.
Cole was never about the AWB,it was about us and it said a lot.
Why was it felt necessary to cover up the death of Private Kovco?
Bruce Haigh

Just finished reading John Clarke's 'The 7.56 Report' - a collection of the brilliant and hilarious scripts over the past three years taken from the weekly sketches by Clarke and Dawe. The biting satire of these two writers is sadly spot on.

They are the true Court Jesters of our time shouting to all and sundry that for some time in Canberra while the the lights may be on - there is no one home.

If howard and his gang of four did what they did in private enterprise they would have been sacked - and rightfully so! This pathetic excuse "I/we didn't know - "they" didn't tell us" How many times has this peurile, lying excuse been used now by howard and his disfunctional ministers?
If these pathetic pollies had any decency, honesty or shame they would resign immediately. But no wiley howard will once again fool the Australian people and throw money at them and be re-elected. Of course these people get the government they deserve but what about the rest of us? Regards, numbat

Regarding the AWB wheat sales fiasco in Iraq, is it a case of the little growers all too often the bunnies while the original overseers are allowed to get away Scot-free.

The Howard government certainly had knowledge, because it is in Federal Government records that the single-desk is a government-sponsored cooperative or agrarian socialist plan from farmer’s groups begun in the early 1930s to cut out big entrepreneural companies such as Dreyfus and Bunge from taking too much of the grain profits during the Great Depression. Pollard, the Labour PM at the time, gave solidarity to a motion for the Federal Government to guarantee the cost of grain production. Further this proposal could only be guaranteed by letting farmer executives take the place of the private buyers or middle-men. Hence the Australian Wheat Board - AWB - was born and also because it began as a government-sponsored enterprise, future governments had to be kept in touch with all major movements of the Wheat Board, especially about sales.

During the recent inquiry why was not this information asked for? Or if presented, why was it pushed aside?

Finally, if the Howard government can't find the records, both State and University libraries will have them as historical records.

From an angry old cockie - BB

Yep. The way I see it is pretty simple. If DFAT wasn't complicit, they were incompetent. It's one or the other, there is no third option.

Either way, heads should roll, and not just those of senior AWB figures.

This is how I feel, and I suspect the majority of Australians do as well. Anyone honestly disagree?

(That being said, I'm opposed to removing the single desk option, unless of course foreign subsidies are phased out, which is unlikely before 2017. On this score, I suspect a few more may disagree :) )

I couldn't care less. I am unable to work out why the issue is being pursued so much by the media, even when they admit that the public couldn't care less. In fact, I personally think that what the AWB did was rather neat. Bribing someone with his own money, with not a cent being paid to any Australian person or company was pretty smart. As far as the United Nations is concerned, it has my complete contempt. The massive scandals that have surrounded the whole oil-for-food business, some of which involved the Kofi Annan's son, demonstrate how corrupt the whole organisation has become.

There is one aspect of this affair, however, that could be of benefit, and that is how we can eliminate media bias. The method is simple: legislate that all media personnel must be paid only in wheat. It would be a criminal offence for the wheat to be sold in Australia, it would have to be exported. Exposure to the real world of commerce, rather than the highly moral ivory towers in which they appear to live at present, would make them realise how nasty, brutish, corrupt and violent the real world is, and how that will never change. It's due to something called human nature.

DFAT had the duty to scrutinise the AWB contracts under the Customs Act, not just ask AWB "are these contracts OK" then rubber stamp them.

They had 30+ reasons to think something was not OK but of course big agri-business has freinds in high places.

Its the wheat farmers I feel sorry for, they have lost the Iraq market to the USA, now have to face a national v liberal political stoush, as if the drought wasn't enough.

No our Govt. did not do anything criminal, but they certainly were deliberately incompetent. Heads should roll, but of course ministerial responsibility went out the window years ago.

Yes heads should roll but wont happen until change as with one of my policys its pretty tuff.

email:swulrich@bigpond.net.au
Australian Peoples Party

It is everyones choice that makes change

what is your's

S.Carney got it right in The Age today - the Howard government is complicit with the (heavily weeded) public service and business in breaking the law, blocking investigation, and evading responsibility.

This has been common knowledge for years among many working in or closely watching government, now they're giving up the even the public pretending.. hopefully this will at least save on the useless efforts to resuscitate the rule of law (which applied to government, once upon a time).

RightThinkers given prominence across the MSM see no problem with Australia/AWB funding supposed terrorist supposed WMD builder Saddam ($290mil, far and away his largest source of pre-Invasion funds) and then invading on the fabricated threat - i thank them for proving to me that Australia is beyond lost, possibly beyond saving.

Only reason to follow the news now is to see what pre-fascist pig will Howard get T.Cole to apply lipstick to next. My office has a sweepstake going, i'm in with a chance on Compulsory Religion.

What a great revelation the author has come up with 'I also know Canberra is stacked with their doppelgangers, men and women who ruthlessly prioritise promotion, posting and patronage,

Have you worked in factories or universities or on mine sites or anywhere for that matter to find out peoples motives are not always pure. Plenty of women have slept their way to the top and plenty of blokes have crawled their way to the top. Why should DFAT be any different? Face it human nature is corrupt so why pick on Mr Howard as if Mr Beazley or Mr Brown would somehow do things differently. If you hate Howard that is fine but to imply he is worse than others shows your ignorance.

DFAT is different because they are a Government Dept. We used to have a thing called "Ministerial Responsibility" where the Minister was responsible for his Dept.

It is ONLY under Howard that the defence of "I was not told" is valid.

Why have ministers if they are not aware of what is happening in their Depts. Would a manager in any other industry have this excuse?

If you don't understand how important this is you must be brain dead.

Steve Madden

You obviously don't follow State Politics!

I suppose it'e feasible that nobody in the Government knew about AWB paying bribes.

As I recall they didn't have a clue that a group of our ex-servicemen were undergoing some sort of secret training in Dubai either - albeit as wharfies as it turned out.

Are they sincere liars or just honest hypocrites?