By Letters Patent issued on 10 November 2005 the commission was asked to inquire into and report on:[3] The Royal Commissioner was Justice Terence Cole AO RFD QC, a former Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
During the first six weeks of public hearings evidence led by Agius and cross examination by him of witnesses brought out a series of revelations that showed the conduct of AWB's executives and directors in a very poor light.
Apart from interrupting assisting counsel's question to ask witnesses his own probing questions, Cole frequently made reproving comments about the behaviour and evidence of witnesses particularly those in responsible and often highly remunerative positions with AWB and the Wheat Export Authority, who among other things frequently claimed memory loss, inability to locate diaries and notes and notoriously, in the case of former AWB board chairman Trevor Flugge, hearing loss.
[5] On 2 March 2006 counsel assisting, John Agius, threatened to serve search warrants on AWB following claims of memory lapses and loss of documents by a former company manager, Andrew McConville.
"[6] On 28 August 2009 the Australian Federal Police (AFP) decided to drop its investigation into the scandal in which wheat exporter AWB was found to have been funding the Iraqi regime in breach of UN sanctions.
The AFP announced that the decision to drop the investigation was made after a review of the evidence by senior barrister Paul Hastings QC, who declared the prospect of convictions was limited and "not in the public interest".
[citation needed] In 2009, The Australian reported "It has hardly been a secret that the AFP investigation was under-funded and under-resourced, and it received little co-operation from AWB, which sees itself as a new entity, with all staff associated with the corrupt dealings having left.