Ute Gate Political Scandal

THE Utegate affair has run over Malcolm Turnbull, with more than 50 per cent of voters accusing the Opposition Leader of being dishonest or deceitful in his handling of the forged email scandal.

The latest Galaxy Poll, conducted for The Courier-Mail at the weekend, finds Mr Turnbull’s credibility is in tatters.

And senior Liberals believe there could be moves within the party to remove him as Opposition Leader within days or weeks, The Australian reports.

After Mr Turnbull’s disastrous call for Kevin Rudd to resign over alleged preferential treatment for a car dealer and Labor donor, the standing of the Coalition and Mr Turnbull has slumped in polling, leaving him in an untenable political position.

Senior Liberals said last night that if parliament had been sitting this week there would have been immediate moves to replace Mr Turnbull, probably with NSW frontbencher and Opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey.

Meanwhile, only 7 per cent of Australians believe the embattled Liberal leader has been open and honest and part of the backlash has been from Coalition supporters.

The poll reveals 23 per cent of all voters, and 30 per cent of Liberal or National Party voters, say Mr Turnbull has been economical with the truth.

While 34 per cent of all Australians, and 29 per cent of Coalition supporters, believe he has been somewhat deceitful, 17 per cent of all voters, and 10 per cent of Liberal/National supporters, go further and say he has been dishonest.

Last week the Utegate scandal backfired on Mr Turnbull after he called for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to resign over allegations his Government gave special treatment to Ipswich car dealer John Grant, a friend of Mr Rudd’s.

But the email at the centre of the claims was fake, and Australian Federal Police are investigating senior Treasury official Godwin Grech.

Mr Turnbull yesterday confirmed he too had provided a statement to police.

*Source Courier Mail : news.com.au Read the rest of the story by Stefanie Balogh here.