Mr Latham asked the Prime Minister, upon notice, on 2 June 2003:

(1) Has he attended meetings with leaders or representatives of (a) the United States of America, (b) the United Kingdom, or (c) the United Nations at which estimates of the number of civilian casualties in the war on Iraq were discussed; if so, what are the details of the meetings and the estimates of the number of casualties.

Mr Howard (Prime Minister) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) I do not recall any specific estimate of civilian casualties during a conflict in Iraq as having been discussed during my meetings prior to the Iraq war with any representatives of the US, the UK or the United Nations, but do not exclude the possibility that the question might have arisen in general terms. Australian agencies are not in a position where they can provide an accurate estimate of civilian casualties.