Fed: Public servants caught up in parliamentary games

AAP General News (Australia)
04-02-2004
Fed: Public servants caught up in parliamentary games

By Maria Hawthorne

CANBERRA, AAP - Mick Keelty must know how Ron Bonighton is feeling.

A fortnight ago Mr Keelty, the Australian Federal Police commissioner, was driven to
issue a statement clarifying his comments linking the Madrid bombing to Spain's involvement
in the Iraq war.

This week Mr Bonighton, the head of the top secret Defence Signals Directorate (DSD),
has had to write a letter clarifying a briefing he gave federal Opposition Leader Mark
Latham on January 5.

Mr Latham says the meeting was a discussion about Iraq, but the government claims it
was simply a courtesy briefing on DSD's workings.

Mr Bonighton's letter, tabled in parliament by Prime Minister John Howard, backed the
government's view.

"There is no mention of Iraq in my record of the topics covered in the briefing because
it was not in any way central to the substance of the brief: it arose only in an illustrative
context," Mr Bonighton wrote.

Mr Howard said the letter - along with similar ones from Defence Department secretary
Ric Smith, the normally secretive Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) Director-General
David Irvine and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Deputy Secretary Murray McLean
- proved Mr Latham had misled parliament.

But Mr Latham maintained that not only did the briefing cover Iraq, Mr Bonighton's
summary of government policy was so damning it had firmed up his conviction that Australian
troops should return home as soon as possible.

"I wish there was a record of interview giving word for word what Mr Bonighton said
about the government's record on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, what he actually
said about the government's failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," Mr Latham
said.

"I walked away from that briefing knowing and understanding the government's policy
in Iraq was a fiasco, an absolute fiasco."

Opposition frontbencher Julia Gillard invoked the Keelty affair when she queried how
the government had obtained the letters.

Had Mr Bonighton, Mr Smith and Mr Irvine been phoned by Mr Howard's chief of staff
Arthur Sinodinos? she asked.

It was Mr Sinodinos who rang Mr Keelty to complain about his comments that Spain's
involvement in Iraq may have led to the Madrid terror attack.

"Was it the same member of staff ... who put pressure on the Australian Federal Police
commissioner to produce a clarifying statement which caused a good man to contemplate
his resignation over days?" Ms Gillard asked.

Mr Keelty reportedly considered resigning in the days after his comments amid alleged
pressure from the government to issue his clarification.

But Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson said Ms Gillard had launched an outrageous
attack on professional officials of very high standing.

"Does anyone believe that Ron Bonighton would be subjected to pressure from us? You
actually believe that?" he asked.

Judging by the reaction on the Labor benches, the Opposition clearly does.

AAP mfh/sb/lb/de

KEYWORD: IRAQ AUST BONIGHTON (AAP NEWS ANALYSIS) REPEAT

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