Fed: Govt trying to create firewall over WMD - Rudd

AAP General News (Australia)
02-17-2004
Fed: Govt trying to create firewall over WMD - Rudd

CANBERRA, Feb 17 AAP - The government was trying to create a firewall between it and
the intelligence community before a report into Australia's pre-Iraq war intelligence
was officially released, Labor said today.

The report is not due to be tabled in parliament until March 1, but leaks indicate
it will come down hard on intelligence bureaucrats, while absolving the government of
doctoring information.

"The government is now backgrounding out to journalists the fact that they, the government,
don't have a problem as far as pre-war intelligence on Iraq is concerned but they are
backgrounding out that the Australian intelligence community does," Labor's foreign affairs
spokesman Kevin Rudd said today.

"Well this is terrific. Here we have the Howard government trying to create as of now
a firewall between themselves...and what their intelligence community has done on the
other."

Mr Rudd warned the government it would still bear responsibility for the performance
of the intelligence community on Iraq.

"Well I've got news for the Howard government. They have been in power for eight years.

Under the Westminster system of government they bear direct political responsibility for
whether the Australian intelligence community has performed properly or not," he said.

Mr Rudd also accused Foreign Minister Alexander Downer of hypocrisy over comments he
made yesterday saying that Labor was wrong to call for an independent inquiry with royal
commission powers to examine Australia's pre-war intelligence.

"This is monumental hypocrisy on Mr Downer's behalf," Mr Rudd said.

"On the one hand the government last week briefing out to everybody that there will
be an independent commission of inquiry, on the other hand criticising the Opposition
for beginning a debate on what the terms of reference of such an inquiry should be.

"This is a monumental double standard."

AAP bt/sb/drp/de

KEYWORD: IRAQ WMD RUDD

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