Does
our memory serve us right? Was it a bloke named Costello who made some
very clear, very public comments about AWB that if criminal acts have
been committed, criminal charges should be bought?

Former AWB managing director Andrew Lindberg seems determined this morning to ensure that if he goes down, he won’t go down alone. The different recollections
of Lindberg and Alexander Downer’s chief of staff, Innes Willox, over a
meeting last June about the UN inquiry into the Iraq affair is shaping
up as in issue of vital importance.

After Mark Vaile’s
appearance yesterday, it looks as if the Foreign Minister and the PM
will be much more important witnesses. Costello knows that. He would
have known it all along.

And if we’re watching ministers, we
should also be watching senior public servants. Wasn’t the commission
of inquiry the idea of Peter Shergold, head of Prime Minister &
Cabinet? And who might want his job? Jane Halton? Ms Overboard?

Ah, there’s nothing like good government – and good governance.