Fed: Howard under pressure to explain kids overboard claims

AAP General News (Australia)
08-17-2004
Fed: Howard under pressure to explain kids overboard claims

CANBERRA, Aug 17 AAP - Prime Minister John Howard is under increasing pressure to explain
fresh allegations regarding the children overboard scandal three years ago.

Former senior bureaucrat Mike Scrafton is standing behind claims that he told Mr Howard
that no children were thrown overboard from a refugee boat just days before the last election.

Mr Scrafton, who worked for then defence minister Peter Reith before the 2001 election,
has offered to take a lie-detector test to support his allegations.

Last night he said he clearly recalled telling Mr Howard by telephone on November 7,
2001 that no children were thrown overboard.

"I'd be happy to take a polygraph on the question," he told ABC TV's 7.30 Report.

"I left him in no doubt that there was no evidence that there were children thrown overboard."

Mr Howard has maintained over the past three years that he had never been told the
claim about children overboard was wrong.

Mr Scrafton has also claimed he told Mr Howard that photographs purporting to show
the children in the water were taken after the boat had sunk, and that nobody he knew
in defence believed any children had been thrown overboard.

Mr Howard confirmed he had spoken twice to Mr Scrafton on November 7 - three days before
the election - but said he was advised only that a video of the incident was inconclusive.

"My sole purpose in ringing him on 7 November 2001 was to obtain his assessment of
the video which he had just viewed," Mr Howard said in a statement.

"He gave me a description of the video and expressed the view that it was inconclusive.

"I decided that the video should be released. This occurred the next day."

Mr Howard said later statements from Mr Scrafton, taken during an internal inquiry
into the matter, made no mention of any comments other than Mr Scrafton telling him the
video was inconclusive.

Later, Mr Howard told Sydney radio 2UE that he had not discussed other issues with Mr Scrafton.

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KEYWORD: OVERBOARD DAYLEAD

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