Tour Down Under

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:00): Supplementary: so the minister is saying that Mr O'Grady is an exception to the rule, and the strong criticism they levelled at Mr Armstrong. Was his record taken into account, his admission of drug-taking during the interview process, and if there were other Australians who were interviewed, were they all male or were there females, and were any of them ever, or had they ever confessed to being drug cheats?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for his supplementary question. While I wasn't involved in the interview process, I am certain that Mr O'Grady's taking of drugs and his admission would have been thoroughly interrogated by the group in charge of the appointment. I don't know the names of the others and, if I did, they are commercial-in-confidence and I would not be able to disclose them. However, I am sure that all of their histories, whether they are self-confessed like Mr O'Grady, or were found out like Mr Armstrong and were eventually outed as using drugs, I'm sure that would have been fully interrogated by the group.

It is important, but I want to reiterate that David Lappartient and Gerry Ryan and other international cycling identities have supported the appointment very strongly because they know the calibre of Mr O'Grady. He admits that it was a mistake and, as I said, he paid a heavy personal price and his family paid the price for that. It was 20 years ago and he is now well placed, as a South Australian icon, a champion—he has won world, Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold medals and I think he has had nine yellow jerseys in the Tour de France, and he won the first Tour Down Under. He comes with a very long length of credentials, and we are very comfortable that the team has made the right decision in selecting Mr O'Grady.