Ute Gate Political Scandal

A DEFENSIVE Malcolm Turnbull has sought to avoid creating a double dissolution trigger by supporting the Government’s alcopops tax hike and postponing a showdown on the emissions trading scheme until August.

“We must not be shy or reserved,” the Opposition Leader told the Coalition parties’ meeting in Canberra today. “Our attacks are based on information, it’s our job as opposition to continue the attack.”

But Mr Turnbull had already been forced to concede his attack on the Prime Minister for misleading parliament over the OzCar affair could not be sustained.

“There is no doubt about that,” he admitted on ABC Radio.

He was further embarrassed when he admitted speaking to the senior public servant at the centre of the row, Godwin Grech.

Mr Turnbull’s authority was weakened yesterday when four Coalition MPs crossed the floor to oppose the alcopops tax increase.

It received a further blow today when a defiant Nationals’ Senate leader Barnaby Joyce said he could not support the measure.

“I won’t be voting for it,” he said. “I think you should stick to your position.”

Coalition MPs told today’s meeting that the Opposition “must stand for something”.

As the Opposition tried to switch the focus to Treasurer Wayne Swan, the Prime Minister continued his efforts to raise doubts about Mr Turnbull’s credibility.

“Mr Turnbull’s integrity, I believe, has been fundamentally undermined,” Mr Rudd said at a media event earlier this afternoon.

He continued his attack in question time, accusing Mr Turnbull of desperately “changing tack”.

“The only responsible thing for him to do in this parliament today is to resign,” Mr Rudd said.

*Source Christian Kerr | The Australian

The Federal Government has used a rowdy Question Time to attack Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership of the Opposition and his handling of the OzCar affair.

Mr Turnbull has conceded he cannot sustain his allegation that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sought favours for political donor and car dealer John Grant, and misled Parliament.

The change comes after a crucial email in the OzCar affair was found to be a fake.

Mr Turnbull says he cannot be held responsible for the email and that there is other evidence to show Treasurer Wayne Swan has misled Parliament.

Mr Rudd says Mr Turnbull promoted the false email and should apologise and step aside.

“I would ask the entire nation to reflect on what credibility can be attached to this Leader of the Opposition. A Leader of the Opposition who has refused to answer any basic element of credibility,” Mr Rudd said.

“The only responsible thing for him to do in this Parliament today is to resign.”

Mr Rudd says the Opposition must reveal all its dealings with the Treasury official at the centre of the OzCar affair, Godwin Grech.

Mr Grech, who is in charge of the Government’s OzCar scheme, gave key evidence about the scandal to a Senate inquiry on Friday, saying he received a short email from the Prime Minister’s office asking him to assist Mr Grant.

But federal police yesterday raided Mr Grech’s home, uncovered the email and declared it a fake. They suspect Mr Grech was involved in creating it.

And today it was revealed that Mr Grech once worked for the Opposition’s treasury spokesman Joe Hockey.

“It was around 10 years ago and he was a departmental officer in my office for a matter of weeks and if there is somehow any suggestion at all that there was a relationship between Godwin Grech and I in this matter, it’s absolutely wrong because I haven’t had a conversation with him for at least a couple of years,” Mr Hockey said.

However, Mr Hockey confirmed he left a message on Mr Grech’s phone on Friday after the explosive Senate inquiry.

“Because I saw this very fragile person before a Senate committee, I mean when you know someone like that, what are you going to do? You’re going to ring them up and say ‘are you okay’ and I did that. I left a message on his phone on Saturday and that was it. I did not hear back from him,” he said.

Mr Turnbull says he too has had contact with Mr Grech, but has not specified when.

“Mr Grech is very well known and I have certainly spoken to Mr Grech. I know Mr Grech as I know many public servants in Canberra. He is a very highly regarded public servant,” Mr Turnbull said.

Mr Rudd says Mr Turnbull has some questions to answer.

“Mr Turnbull to the nation has an obligation to outline all dealings that the Opposition has had with this fake email [and] to outline all dealings that the Opposition has had with this public servant,” he said.

Swan targeted

The hoax email has left little oxygen for the Opposition’s main argument that Mr Swan has misled Parliament.

The Senate inquiry also revealed an email trail between the Treasurer’s office and Mr Grech about John Grant Motors and there was evidence from Ford Credit that Mr Grant’s case was brought up at a meeting between Mr Grech and the finance company – at the time that it was seeking $500 million worth of government guarantee.

Mr Turnbull says the case against Mr Swan is watertight.

“What Mr Rudd is trying to do is to divert attention from the fact that Mr Swan unquestionably misled the Parliament. He did give special treatment to Mr Grant. He did use the leverage of the Federal Government over Ford Credit when it was desperately seeking $500 million in order to survive so that Mr Grant could secure an advantage,” Mr Turnbull said.

But the Treasurer has released a stream of other emails. He says they show Mr Grant was not the only car dealer given a helping hand.

“The additional emails we’ve put out overnight shut the door on this false case that other car dealers didn’t receive same treatment as Mr Grant. The emails that have gone out overnight detail emails about other dealers that have got no relationship with myself, no relationship with the Prime Minister,” Mr Swan said.

The Opposition is not convinced and says it will continue to target the Treasurer.

*Source abc.net.au

OPPOSITION Leader Malcolm Turnbull has pledged to pursue the Government “relentlessly” over alleged preferential treatment for a car dealer and friend of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Mr Turnbull told Coalition MPs at their joint parties meeting this morning that it was not the job of the Opposition to be “shy and reserved”.

The declaration comes after he backed down over accusations that Kevin Rudd misled Parliament over “utegate”.

A Coalition source said only one of half a dozen MPs who spoke about the matter was critical after yesterday’s attack on Mr Rudd collapsed when an email linking the prime minister’s office to a request for help for car dealer John Grant, turned out to be a fake.

“We must not be shy or reserved, our attacks are based on information, it’s our job as opposition to continue the attack,” Mr Turnbull told the party room.

He said they would continue to target Treasurer Wayne Swan who the Opposition believes still has a case to answer over emails which Mr Turnbull said show Mr Grant was granted special treatment by Treasury at Mr Swan’s behest.

“The evidence against Mr Swan is overwhelming, we must pursue this issue right to the end,” Mr Turnbull said.

During debate, MPs told the party room that the Opposition must “stand for something”. It needed to be aggressive in its pursuit of the government and must not turn back.

This included a need to take risks.

Mr Turnbull said Labor had a culture of “cronyism” and Mr Rudd was “rolled gold” Labor.

He said that Labor could not be trusted in its relationships with business.

Mr Turnbull said the issue of the fake email, which police said had originated within Treasury, was not the responsibility of the Opposition.

“We will pursue this issue relentlessly,” he said.

Earlier, Mr Turnbull said he would only apologise to the Prime Minister over the incident if Mr Rudd apologised to him.

“I’ll apologise … for saying he misled the Parliament when he apologises to me for saying I had a hand in fabricating this email,” he said on Channel 7.

“We can have mutual apologies. I’d be delighted to do that.”

Mr Turnbull continues to insist he did not give the text of the email to News Ltd newspapers.

He would not say whether Mr Grech had contacted his office before the Senate hearing, but indicated he had expectations about the official’s evidence.

“We certainly were expecting, based on information we had received, that he would say he had a communication,” Mr Turnbull said.

*Source www.news.com.au staff writers & wires