Grist for the Mill
The Australian Wheat Board violations of the oil-for-food sanctions program in Iraq continues to scandalize everyone but the government officials involved, with Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile today stepping up before the Cole commission to plead incompetence. Of his staff, that is. This is about what anyone would expect from the pack currently holding the majority. They seem adept at the I-didn’t-know, nobody-told-me excuse individually and collectively, singing the tune their master taught them. Of course, now John Howard himself is closer to having to front the inquiry, with a (confidential) written statement to be provided shortly. Not that it can be expected to help either Mr. Vaile or Mr. Downer, the Foreign Relations minister who will appear tomorrow, probably to face more severe questioning than Mr. Vaile had to contend with today, especially in light of allegations by the former managing director of the AWB, Andrew Lindberg of a meeting between himself and the simpering Dolly Downer. This mess stinks, but in the end I have my doubts as to how tainted any of Howard’s front-benchers will end up. This is a slippery bunch, and it would take more than a Royal Commission to nail them for their misdeeds, let alone their mismanagement.