Terence Cole QC was the uncompromising head of the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry. He found evidence that fraud, bribery, corruption and stand-over tactics were endemic in the industry. No surprises there. For his troubles he was villified by the some in the union movement, as well as Labor members of parliament, with his commission being referred to as a “Kangaroo Court”.
Now Cole is inquiring into whether the Australian Wheat Board knowingly paid $290 million to Saddam Hussein to facilitate sales of wheat. Evidence presented to the commission implicates foreign minister Alexander Downer in the payments. An adverse finding against Downer should see the end of his political career. Aferall, how can you preach about the need to bring democracy to the Middle East as a way of halting terrorism at the same time that you are effectively funding a regime that you accuse of being the chief sponsor of this terrorism?
This may be the last mishap to batter Alexander Downer in his parliamentary career. And it may also affect others. Who might Downer have discussed the matter with? More than a quarter of a billion dollars is a lot of money. And to a rogue regime.
Now that Cole is in a position to damage the government, left-wing opinion is right behind him. Will the government now become Cole’s enemy. Or is his appointment an indication that they really do want to know the truth of the matter and are not playing politics on it?
I have a theory that left-wing politics is more prone to villification than right-wing politics. Cole provides a natural experiment for testing this theory.