The Real Utegate Scandal - New Matilda The Real Utegate Scandal Media & Culture Over four extraordinary days in late June, Rupert Murdoch’s flagship, The Australian, and his capital city dailies in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide waged war on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan — armed only with a forged email. They savaged Rudd on the grounds that he had lied to parliament and that he and Swan had improperly lobbied for government financial assistance for a Queensland car dealer who was a mate. They were heady charges and their front-page treatment across the News Ltd stable sent a frisson of excitement through the ranks of the embattled Coalition. The orchestrated media campaign was music to the ears of Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull — if he could damage fatally the Rudd-Swan team then a voter recovery suddenly seemed possible, especially if there was an early election as widely predicted. The aggressive ambition of Turnbull plus the zealotry of the regime-changers in the editorial chairs at News Ltd made a toxic combination.

There was, of course, one small snag in this breathtaking power play: the sole piece of evidence upon which the political assassins were relying — an email sent by a senior member of Rudd’s staff to a Treasury official named Godwin Grech — was a fake, a concoction, a fraud. Until the Australian Federal Police raided Grech’s Canberra home and seized his computer and its electronic entrails, Turnbull and Murdoch’s newspapers sang from the same song sheet — or email — alleging that Dr Andrew Charlton, Rudd’s senior economic adviser, had sent a message to Grech, the Treasury official in charge of organising a financial guarantee package for the credit-squeezed car industry, requesting he give special treatment to a Brisbane car dealer named John Grant. The situation was complicated because Grant had given Rudd a 1996 Mazda utility truck, aka the "Ruddmobile", to use as his campaigning vehicle in recent elections and there was no doubt that the glad-handing, knockabout car salesman had dipped into his pocket more than once to help his mate "Ruddie".

Yet the record showed that Grant — along with many other car dealers and dealerships — had made representations to the Government; that Grant had not received special treatment; and, indeed, had not received a cent from the Federal Government. None of these essential facts fazed the News Ltd editorial offices. Murdoch’s papers crystallised the Prime Minister’s link with Grant into "UteGate" and a scandal leading to the highest elected office in the land was born. Sydney’s Daily Telegraph gave notice of its " exclusive " with the front-page headline on June 19, "Car Deal: PM In Spin", accompanied by this startling revelation: "The Daily Telegraph has learned of a correspondence trail involving the office of the Prime Minister and Government officials responsible for a $2 billion scheme to help cash-strapped car dealers." National Political Correspondent Steve Lewis produced further revelations the following day in another front-pager , "Rudd’s Car Crisis", which read: "The Rudd Government last night launched a full inquiry into the UteGate affair amid increasing pressure on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan to resign." The early editions even published a mock-up graphic of the alleged email between Charlton and Grech.

In their haste, the News Ltd embroiderers actually got the name of the email recipient wrong. It read "Godwin Grant". Turnbull fumed that Rudd and Swan were guilty of "a shocking abuse of power", adding: "The Prime Minister and the Treasurer have used their offices and taxpayers’ resources to seek advantage for one of their mates and they lied about it to parliament." Over the weekend of 20–21 June the country’s mass media focused on the email that was driving a stake into the heart of the Rudd Government, with the Prime Minister calling on the Opposition Leader to come clean and produce it. Turnbull began to look shaky when he declared that he had never seen the email and that it had not been distributed to the media by him or anyone from the Opposition. He told commercial radio on 20 June: "We did not.

No one in the Opposition provided the text of that email to the News Limited newspapers." Over on ABC Radio, Rudd sensed blood: "Mr Turnbull has sought to smear my reputation as Prime Minister, and that of the Treasurer, which is his argument — backgrounding editors across the country, and you know this to be true, over the last couple of weeks, saying that they have a smoking gun against the Government, that it is this email which drops me directly in it." The issue was settled a few hours later when the federal police issued a press release stating categorically that the email was a fake and that Grech, whose home had been raided, was assisting them with inquiries. News Ltd’s follow-up coverage was extraordinary. Turnbull, who had been feted as a caped crusader for truth and justice only days earlier, was thrown to the wolves.

Cynically ignoring their own explicit involvement in the whole email scam, Murdoch’s papers thundered across the land: "Turnbull’s fake email nightmare" ( The Australian ); "BACKFIRE — Turnbull wounded as Utegate email exposed as fake" (Daily Telegraph); "UTE BACKFIRE — Fake email turns the tables on embattled Turnbull" (Brisbane’s Courier-Mail); "WHAT A CAR WRECK — Ute-gate fake email backfires on Turnbull" (Melbourne’s Herald-Sun), "GRAND FAKE AUTO — Ute-gate: Email didn’t exist, pressure on Turnbull" (Adelaide Advertiser). Grech underwent a similar News Ltd makeover. Hailed as a courageous "whistleblower" on the weekend, poor old Godwin Grech, the man with the Dickensian moniker, suddenly became a dysfunctional "mole" who was sick, reclusive and eccentric, according to unnamed neighbours and colleagues. The email affair is now in the hands of the Commonwealth Auditor-General and the federal police.

The question remains: how did News Ltd’s editors, its senior correspondents in the Canberra Press Gallery and political commentators become parties to such an inept, misguided and ludicrous scam to ambush the Australian Prime Minister and his Treasurer and try to force them out of office? With the simple use of time-honoured journalistic checks, the email would have been revealed as a forgery. By way of comparison, when Australian conman Peter Foster told the British Daily Mail in 2002 that he had emails from Cherie Blair about the purchase of two investment units in Bristol, the Mail did not publish them until it had conducted three independent forensic tests. Obviously, the most stringent scrutiny was advisable in dealing with the convicted fraudster, but the Mail demonstrated in this case the elementary practices of proper journalism. So why didn’t News Ltd’s operatives do their job? Rudd addressed the lapse in professional standards at a press conference two weeks ago when News Ltd reporter Matthew Franklin asked him about UteGate. His response was unusually scathing — and marks the first time in living memory that an Australian PM has criticised the Murdoch press.

For that reason alone, Rudd’s reply is worth quoting at length: "I think, what a number of people have said to me, Matthew, around the place is where have we kind of got to when you have major papers like the Daily Telegraph, the Courier-Mail and the Adelaide Advertiser running on their front page that the Prime Minister of the country is corrupt, and then, secondly, the editors it seems not having sighted any original document in terms of this email, and thirdly, it turns out that that email is a forgery. I would have thought a few people would want to know how all that happened, what sort of journalistic checks were put in place for that to be the case, or is it simply being sort of airbrushed from history?" The email hoax comes hot on the heels of another News Ltd fiasco. On 15 March this year, Murdoch’s largest selling newspaper in Australia, the Sydney-based Sunday Telegraph, published nude photographs of Pauline Hanson. The go-between was Sydney paparazzo Jamie Fawcett who received a $15,000 fee for supplying photographs allegedly taken in 1975 by a former Australian army officer named Jack Johnson.

Sunday Telegraph editor Neil Breen splashed the pictures across several pages as did Murdoch’s Sunday tabloids in four other State capitals. The coast-to-coast coverage arrived one week before the Queensland state election in which Ms Hanson was standing as an independent candidate in the outer Brisbane seat of Beaudesert. How much her political comeback was stymied by the censorious uproar caused by the nude pictures is anybody’s guess, but she was soundly defeated. For almost a week after the publication of the steamy portfolio of Hanson photos, Breen defended their authenticity. Only when faced with incontestable proof that the photos weren’t of Hanson did Breen finally back down. In May he published a signed 57-word, three-paragraph apology to Ms Hanson which concluded: "We have learnt a valuable lesson." Last month, a private, out-of-court settlement was reached with Hanson. She has been paid off but Breen, one of Murdoch’s rising stars, remains the editor of the Sunday Telegraph.

At the National Press Club in Canberra in early July, News Ltd’s chief executive in Australia, John Hartigan, defended the group’s coverage of UteGate: "I’m more than happy with the quality and standards of the reporting," he declared . "We ran with the story because it’s in the public interest." Most newspaper readers in Australia would be unaware of these facts because they weren’t covered in News Ltd papers — no surprises there — and they were almost totally ignored by the Fairfax papers as well. The ABC — apart from the highly commendable and sharp observations of Media Watch presenter Jonathan Holmes — was also silent on the Murdoch papers’ involvement in this affair. News Ltd wants both scandals buried as quickly as possible because it has more important items on its agenda. In particular it is seeking a greater share of Foxtel, the pay TV monopoly which it currently shares with James Packer and Telstra, and is anxious to soften up the Rudd Government to make its case.

This is a classic case of what Rudyard Kipling once described: "Power without responsibility — the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages." Utegate explained - Crikey Utegate explained Share The cast: John Grant: Brisbane car dealer and neighbourhood friend of Kevin Rudd and occasional attendee at John Howard events. Donated a 1996 Mazda Bravo to Rudd in 2007, lobbied MP Bernie Ripoll for assistance in the face of the GFC. Godwin Grech: Principal Adviser, Financial Systems Division, Treasury. Former PM&C officer and workaholic SES Band 1 officer and long-serving Treasury bureaucrat, charged with the implementation of the OzCar initiative. Steve Lewis: Veteran Press Gallery figure, political journalist for 17 years, at The Australian until 2007 when editor Chris Mitchell moved him on. Now one of the nation’s most widely-read political journalists via News Ltd tabloids. Andrew Charlton: Prime Ministerial adviser. Economist, author of, inter alia, Ozonomics and apparently possessor of an ego the size of Rudd’s and Turnbull’s.

Said to have been a big fan of Turnbull’s until he decided the ALP was his path to the Prime Ministership. Discussed OzCar with Turnbull at MidWinter Ball, later claimed Turnbull had threatened him. David Martine: Head of the Financial Systems Division – Band 2 SES officer and Grech’s supervisor; moved from Finance to Treasury in 2001. Advised both the Senate inquiry and the Treasurer’s office that the Charlton email had not been found. Mike Mrdak: Deputy Secretary, PM&C, incoming Secretary of Department of Infrastructure. Mrdak has an impeccable record and a strong reputation for probity. Oversaw the search for the Charlton email in PM&C and advised it had not been found. Michael Delaney: Long-time head of the Motor Trades Association of Australia, Labor staffer in a distant previous life, heavily involved in coordinating work with Treasury in support of car dealers in the face of the withdrawal of GE Money Motor Solutions and GMAC from the car dealership finance market. OzCar: Special Purpose Vehicle to provide Big Bank support to motor vehicle dealer financiers using a part-Government guarantee. Still not in existence.

The claims: 1) Kevin Rudd sought preferential treatment for John Grant as part of the OzCar implementation Malcolm Turnbull 19 June: “The Prime Minister and Treasurer have used their offices and taxpayers’ resources to seek advantage for one of their mates, and then lied about it to the Parliament.” Eric Abetz 4 June, in Estimates: “Minister, can you also take on notice for us whether the standards of ministerial ethics include in paragraph 2.17:Ministers shall ensure they do not come under any financial or other obligations to individuals or organisations to the extent that they may appear improperly influenced in the performance of their official duties as Minister. “I would have thought that might apply even more so to the Prime Minister… he only responds to some [letters], like people that give him a private car.” The evidence: For: Grech says he was contacted by the PMO in relation to John Grant, although his recollection may be faulty. Grech’s manager, David Martine, and Labor senators vigorously, and successfully, acted to prevent Grech from answering a question at the Senate inquiry about whether it was Andrew Charlton, at least giving the impression there was something to hide.

The text of a 19 February email purportedly from Charlton to Grech has been circulated: “Hi Godwin, the PM has asked if the car dealer financing vehicle is available to assist a Queenslander dealership, John Grant Motors, who seems to be having trouble getting finance. If you can follow up on this asap that would be very useful. Happy to discuss. A.” Against: Rudd and his office deny being contacted by Grant or making representations for him. John Grant says “”I’ve never spoken to Kevin Rudd or anyone of his staff [regarding] the SPV, or now called OzCar… Never asked him for anything.” PM&C and Treasury have advised the Charlton-Grech email has not been found in either system. Grech says he does not have an email, and told the Senate hearing on Friday that he told Lewis he didn’t have an email. The permanent erasure of an email from two separate IT systems is extremely difficult. Who’s right? The AFP will be able to conduct a more forensic investigation than PM&C and Treasury’s IT providers undertook on Friday afternoon, and the issue will not be resolved until then, if at all.

The absence of the email from both Treasury and PM&C systems can only be accounted for by deliberate erasure. But a cover-up of the email would require a conspiracy at the highest level between the PMO and Treasury and perhaps PM&C, and their IT providers, and Grech and Martine. The only available evidence is therefore Grech’s caveated evidence to the inquiry, and doubts have been cast on Grech’s evidence by the head of the Motor Trades Association. In the absence of the increasingly-unlikely email, not guilty. 2) Wayne Swan sought preferential treatment for John Grant Malcolm Turnbull 19 June: “The Prime Minister and Treasurer have used their offices and taxpayers’ resources to seek advantage for one of their mates, and then lied about it to the Parliament.” Eric Abetz 4 June: “It defies belief that the Treasurer… acknowledges that he had made representations to his own department on behalf of somebody that could become a beneficiary. And of course with money being made available.” For: Grech advised the Senate inquiry that the Treasurer’s office, which asked him to deal with Grant, made it clear that Grant was “no ordinary constituent.” Grech’s emailed responses about his contact with Grant were sent on to Wayne Swan’s home fax.

Grech (in a hilarious exchange with ALP Senator Doug Cameron) stated that he had given Grant far more time than the dealer about whom Nationals MP Kay Hull had made representations. Greg Cohen from Ford Credit told a Senate inquiry Ford Credit was asked to consider assisting John Grant by Treasury officials in a meeting about Oz Against: Grant has not received any assistance from Ford Credit or, obviously, the yet-to-be-established OzCar. Delaney says his documents show Grant received treatment no different to that provided by Treasury for many other dealers, and if anything Grant received poorer treatment because he went through the Treasurer’s office. Who’s right? While Delaney disputes it, the idea that Grant did not receive better treatment than other dealers doesn’t stack up. Grech said he devoted considerable time and effort because he knew Grant wasn’t any “normal constituent”. And it is entirely normal for Ministers’ offices to ask public servants to devote time and effort to looking after Government mates and mates of backbenchers. What Grech was doing was what public servants have done for decades. Guilty — in the same way as every other minister for the last decade is guilty.

3) Kevin Rudd misled Parliament with the statement Kevin Rudd misled Parliament with the statement: “(I have been advised that neither I nor my office have ever spoken with Mr Grant in relation to OzCar; (2) neither I nor my office have ever made any representations on his behalf; and (3) I have not been aware of any representations on his behalf made by anyone in the government, including the referral referred to before by the Treasurer’s office.” For and against: See 1. Who’s right? Rudd’s caveat “I have been advised…” gets him off the hook even if the email turns up, although he will be seriously and perhaps terminally damaged, and would need to sack at least one staff member, as Howard did to Grahame Morris over the travel rorts affair. That now looks highly unlikely. Not guilty. 4) Wayne Swan misled Parliament Swan’s statements in Parliament: It is the case that Mr Grant made representations to my office, and he was referred on to the SPV, just like everybody else. I have no idea what the outcome of that was.

But it is entirely normal that, in circumstances where car dealers right around this country were potentially going to the wall, car dealers would have been ringing members of parliament, including the Treasurer’s office, asking how they could make contact with this organisation in the Treasury establishing the vehicle. That is the situation—an entirely normal situation, as the Treasury officials have reported in estimates today. — 4 June I can say I have had no discussions with the Prime Minister about this matter whatsoever—none whatsoever. I am happy to look at what communications have taken place between my office and other offices. I am happy to do that, and I am sure there were a number of communications between my office and many over there and many over there. But, in the case of the Prime Minister and me, there were none. — 4 June Mr Grant approached my office. He was referred to a departmental liaison officer who then referred him on to the relevant section of the department. Mr Grant would have received the same assistance as any other car dealer who was referred through that process received. — 15 June Whether Swan has any idea what the outcome of Grant’s process was cannot be known. Let’s ignore that.

The home fax issue is a furphy – all Ministers and Departmental Secretaries have home faxes. In fact, the real scandal is why Swan like a lot of other MPs can’t use a PC. His last sentence on 15 June, however, says clearly that Grant would have received the same assistance as any other dealer, a statement at odds with Grech’s evidence. Swan is continuing to maintain that today. If other struggling dealers were not referred to finance companies by Treasury — and MTAA head Michael Delaney appears to be saying they were – then Grant clearly got better treatment. Swan has a case to answer 5) Senior officials participated in a cover-up Tony Abbott 19 June: “Well, you know, I hate to sound cynical, but there are such things as searches designed to lose the evidence.” For: Against: Mrdak advised the Prime Minister’s office on Friday evening: As advised, the Department has this evening undertaken a search of all of the emails in the PM&C email system for the period 16 February to 22 February. This search indicates all emails from and to Mr Chalrton. The search would include any material deleted from the system.

PM&C captures a copy of all emails in and out of the Department’s system. The Department has not found any record of an email from Mr Charlton to Treasury which relates to motor vehicle dealership or any related matters. Abbott is suggesting either Mrdak is lying or PM&C officials and its ICT provider, Macquarie Telecommunications, which also provides services for the Defence Signals Directorate, deliberately failed to find the email. Martine advised Chris Barrett, Swan’s COS, on Friday night that no emails from the PMO had been received by Grech on 19 February, and that “even if an email was subsequently deleted, it would appear in the log [for incoming external emails].” Abbott’s claim similarly suggests Martine is lying or has been lied to by Treasury staff and their ICT provider. Who’s right? No evidence has been produced by Abbott. The involvement of senior PM&C and Treasury officials in a conspiracy such as this would be unprecedented in modern Australian history and, if revealed, require the resignations of the senior echelons of PM&C and Treasury, as well as all associated officials. It would represent a disastrous failure of the Australian Public Service beyond anything seen in the Howard years.

6) If the email is fake, its originator has broken the law The basis of the AFP investigation is Division 144 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, which provides that creating a Commonwealth document with the intention of dishonestly influencing the exercise of a public duty or function is punishable by ten years’ gaol. There is also an offence of impersonating a public official. Anyone employed by the Commonwealth falls under the definition of public official, including advisers. Rudd’s calling in of the AFP appears to have worried the Coalition, who are now backing away from the email. Backbencher Stuart Robert this morning remarkably said “we’ve never actually made reference to it at all”. This was the real point of Rudd’s summoning of the AFP, and it has worked very well indeed. Share this article The 7.30 Report - ABC Broadcast: 22/06/2009 Reporter: Kerry O'Brien The political crisis that has become known as utegate dominated parliament today. With revelations that an email apparently sent from the Prime Minister's office, the central thesis of the Opposition's attack has been deemed a fake.

The treasury official at the centre of the scandal, Godwin Grech, has now become the subject of a criminal investigation. Transcript KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: What an extraordinary day it's been in the national capital. The political crisis that has become known as "Ute-gate" has blown up in all directions. The man at the centre of the explosive evidence given to the Senate estimates inquiry on Friday, senior Treasury official Godwin Grech has today become the subject of a criminal investigation. The central thesis of Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull's attack on Kevin Rudd, an email allegedly sent from the Prime Minister's office has been revealed by Australian Federal Police today to be a fake. The Opposition has charged that both the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have improperly conspired to assist a car dealer acquaintance of Mr Rudd's to access a Government credit scheme and misled the Parliament. But today, as news of the Federal Police investigation began to filter out, Mr Turnbull had swung almost the complete focus of his attack onto Mr Swan. Mr Rudd on the other hand was demanding Mr Turnbull's apology and resignation. In a moment I'll be talking with both leaders, but first this report from Political Editor Michael Brissenden.

KEVIN RUDD, PRIME MINISTER: He has no alternative now but to stand up, be man enough to apologise and resign. JOE HOCKEY, SHADOW TREASURER: He is a man that has lied to the Australian people, he has lied to this Parliament and the Treasurer now needs to resign. WAYNE SWAN, TREASURER: What he demonstrated is how reckless he is, how irresponsible he is and how he should resign. JULIE BISHOP, DEPUTY OPPOSITION LEADER: The Member for Hunter resigned for a lesser offence than this; the Treasurer should resign. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN, REPORTER: Intrigue and outrage have enveloped the politics of the nation as surely as the shroud of fog that wraps itself around the Parliament on these chilly winter mornings. An old ute, a mate, the startling evidence of a stressed and finely-drawn public servant, an email of some highly questionable providence, an industry in crisis and a chain of correspondence to and from the Treasurer all play a part in this continuing drama.

It began with a pointed question to the Prime Minister some weeks ago about his relationship with the car dealer John Grant who'd leant him a Mazda ute for campaigning, and was ratcheted up to a feverish new intensity by this remarkable evidence at Senate estimates on Friday. GODWIN GRECH, TREASURY OFFICIAL (Last Friday): I certainly had the impression that he wasn't your average constituent. It was certainly my understanding that the initial contact I had with respect to John Grant was from the Prime Minister's office. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The revelations of Godwin Grech the Treasury official appeared to contradict the assurances given to Parliament by both the Prime Minister and the Treasurer that they had not given Mr Grant any special treatment as he attempted to secure emergency finance from the Government's special OzCar scheme. The initial contact Mr Grech referred to was in the form of an email that an extensive search initially failed to find. But the contents of which seemed to have been known by the Opposition for some time. It was quoted from on Friday by Eric Abetz, the senator leading the Opposition attack in estimates.

But by today, it had been unearthed as a fake by Australian Federal Police investigators, who this morning raided Mr Grech's Canberra home. It's understood the email was written in the Treasury system, sent to Mr Grech's home account and then deleted from Treasury computers. The Prime Minister said the Opposition Leader's attack has been demolished. KEVIN RUDD: The Member for Wentworth is no longer fit to occupy the office of Leader of the Opposition because he has actively promoted for political gain the contents of an email purporting to be from me, my office, that is entirely false, fictitious and a forgery. Not only is the Member for Wentworth not fit to be Leader of the Opposition, by his actions in this sordid Turnbull email forgery affair, he has also disqualified himself from ever being fit to serve as leader of this country. Let us be clear about what is at stake here: this fraudulent email is the entire rock upon which the Leader of the Opposition has constructed his case against me, the Treasurer and the Government, and this rock has now disintegrated into sand. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Well not entirely. The fake email does take the heat off the Prime Minister - that much is true.

Malcolm Turnbull has overreached on this. How much checking was done on the veracity of that email, for instance? Has the Opposition seen a copy of it, or are they just quoting from what they've been told was in it? But having called on Friday for both the Prime Minister and the Treasurer to resign, Mr Turnbull today turned his full attention to the Treasurer. The key focus of that attack is the claim that Wayne Swan misled the Parliament when he said Mr Grant was not given any special treatment. MALCOLM TURNBULL, OPPOSITION LEADER: The louder they scream, the more desperate we see them to be, as they try to hold up in office a Treasurer who has betrayed the trust of the Australian people and prostituted his responsibilities by seeking to leverage the power of the Commonwealth to advantage the Prime Minister's mate. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The central charge against the Treasurer is based on emails tabled by the Treasury that show that the case of Mr Grant, one of many dealers who had inquired about access to OzCar finance, was raised directly with Mr Grech by the Treasurer's office.

After approaches from, Queensland backbencher Bernie Ripoll direct to the Treasurer's office, Mr Swan phoned John Grant and reassured him that his departmental liaison officer would refer the matter to Treasury. Mr Grech was also encouraged to raise the matter with Ford Credit during a pre-arranged meeting at a time when Ford Credit was itself seeking half a billion dollars in government assistance to keep its Australian operations alive. The Grant matter was raised at the Ford Credit meeting and the Treasurer was informed of this by his DLO via a fax sent to his home - far from ordinary treatment, according to the Opposition, and Malcolm Turnbull says Wayne Swan should go. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Now the Government can raise distractions about other documents and other emails as much as they like. Oh, and good, good ... SPEAKER: Member for Deacon. MALCOLM TURNBULL: You can talk it up as much as you like, but you cannot escape the fact that presiding over the finances of the Commonwealth of Australia is a Treasurer who has lied to this House. He has lied to this House. He said - he said he had no idea of the progress of Mr Grant's application. He said he was treated like everybody else.

There was nobody else treated like this. WAYNE SWAN: Nothing I have done, and nothing that has been said by them or anybody else contradicts anything that I have said to the people of Australia in this Parliament. And I stand by those statements 100 per cent, Mr Speaker. Because at the end of the day, Mr Speaker, Mr Grant received no benefit from OzCar and he received no assistance whatsoever from Ford Credit. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Mr Swan says he dealt with other members' concerns for car dealers in their electorates as well. The Member for Riverina Kay Hull passed on one, and that too was dealt with promptly by his office and forwarded to Godwin Grech. His defence was also helped this morning by the intervention of Michael Delaney, the head of the Motor Traders Association. WAYNE SWAN: And he had this to say: "The treatment that Mr Grant, a member of mine, got was no different from the treatment all of my other members got on my intervention on their behalf to Mr Grech." No different.

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: But we're still not sure if any of those car dealers had quite such close contact with the Treasurer himself, and the Opposition pressed home the point in Question Time today. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Will the Treasurer advise the House how many other car dealers he spoke with directly on the telephone before referring them to Treasury for assistance? MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: So we don't quite know the answer to that one. There are obviously still some questions the Treasurer is under pressure to answer, and there'll be plenty more of them this week for sure. But the Opposition Leader is also now looking damaged after basing such a fierce attack on the Prime Minister on emails that have turned out to be fake. As for the other player in this, the Treasury official Godwin Grech, it seems the Federal Police are now asking him plenty of questions as well. KERRY O'BRIEN: Political Editor Michael Brissenden.

Search the 7.30 Report Opposition leader's resignation wanted by PM | Radio New Zealand News Opposition leader's resignation wanted by PM 8:53 am on 23 June 2009 Share this Share on Linked In Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is demanding Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull resign because of the way he handled what has now been dubbed the Utegate scandal. The ABC reports part of the row hinges on an email which purportedly showed Mr Rudd's office making representations to a Treasury official on behalf of car dealer, who is also a political donor. Police investigations have found the email was a fake. But Mr Turnbull told the 7:30 Report that no-one in the Opposition had anything to do with creating the faked email and he will not resign. AFP confirms OzCar email is fake AFP confirms OzCar email is fake Mex Cooper reddit More A police interview with the public servant at the centre of the Utegate scandal has backed up forensic evidence that a disputed email was a fake. The Australian Federal Police quizzed Treasury staffer Godwin Grech after a raid on his Canberra home this morning.

In a statement, the AFP said a forensic examination of computers at Mr Grech's home and at the Treasury Department found an email at the centre of the political turmoil to be a sham. And an interview with Mr Grech supported the forensic evidence, suggesting he confirmed the email wasn't genuine. "Preliminary results ... indicate that the email referred to at the centre of this investigation has been created by a person or persons other than the purported author of the email,'' the statement read. "A 42-year-old Calwell man has been interviewed by the AFP ... and it will be alleged that the interview is consistent with preliminary forensic advice.'' An AFP spokeswoman would refuse to confirm that the statement meant Mr Grech had admitted the email was fake and would not comment further. Earlier today federal police officers refused to say whether they found anything during a search of Mr Grech's home. The three officers left at 1.15pm having earlier executed a search warrant on Treasury official Godwin Grech's home in suburban Calwell. "We cannot say anything,'' one of the officers told waiting reporters.

Mr Grech's evidence to a Senate inquiry last week appeared to contradict statements Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan made to Parliament about special treatment the Government provided to Queensland car dealer John Grant. Mr Grech told the inquiry on Friday that his recollection was that a staffer of the Prime Minister sent him an email about Mr Grant, but that he did not have the email anymore. He also told the inquiry that Treasury officials gave him the impression that Mr Grant "wasn't your average constituent''. A heated debate has started in Parliament over the OzCar affair, with Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull demanding the Treasurer Wayne Swan explain how many other car dealers received special treatment from the Government. Normal proceedings have been suspended to allow the "utegate" debate, with house leader Anthony Albanese declaring "bring it on". The Opposition has been demanding Mr Swan resign, saying he misled Parliament over claims the Government gave special treatment to a Brisbane car dealer - John Grant - who was seeking financial assistance from the taxpayer-funded OzCar scheme. The Government has countered by demanding Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull produce evidence linking Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the affair. It wants Mr Turnbull to prove the authenticity of an email which the Opposition claims proves Mr Rudd misled Parliament.

The email purports to link Mr Rudd to claims the Government gave the dealer, John Grant, special treatment over other dealers wanting to access OzCar, an assertion the prime minister has denied in parliament. Mr Rudd says the email is a fake and is a forgery, insisting Mr Turnbull front parliament today to provide evidence of its authenticity. If he couldn't Mr Turnbull should apologise and resign, he said. "I move that this house require the Treasurer to immediately attend the house and make a full and unreserved statement about his personal involvement and that of his office in the OzCar deal-for-mates-scandal," Mr Turnbull said. Mr Turnbull said Mr Swan had tried to convince parliament Mr Grant was offered assistance at arms-length from the treasurer and his office, insisting he received the same help "as any other car dealer''. "The treasurer ... has sought to persuade this house, to create the impression that Mr Grant's concerns came through the door in the regular run of business and were just referred in a mechanical way off to the Treasury officials responsible for dealing with it,'' he said. "He was treated like anybody else, there was no special treatment.

"And the Treasurer professed a complete indifference, indeed an ignorance of exactly what had transpired.'' "We now know that these statements were completely and utterly false.'' In fact, Mr Turnbull said, Mr Swan's office was deeply entwined with the plea for assistance. "It turns out that the case of Mr Grant was raised directly with the Treasury official, Mr (Godwin) Grech, by Mr Swan's office,'' he said. "So concerned were they when they raised the matter of Mr Grant ... that they encouraged the Treasury officials to raise this matter with Ford Credit.'' Mr Turnbull demanded to know how many car dealers received special treatment from the treasurer, his office and senior Treasury officials "as was the case with John Grant''. The Opposition Leader said Mr Swan also needed to declare how many car dealers he'd had phone conversations with to discuss their financing troubles. He asked how many dealers were the subject of faxes sent to Mr Swan's Brisbane home. Also, Mr Swan must declare how many dealers had their telephone details handed over to Treasury officials during discussions about multi-million dollar financing deals. Mr Turnbull asked Mr Swan to explain how many dealers were described as an acquaintance of the prime minister in meetings between Treasury officials and finance companies.

And, finally, "the Treasurer must lay before the house'' all emails and correspondence related to the OzCar affair, including departmental representations, "no later than 12 noon tomorrow''. "Here we have a treasurer who has used his considerable influence to get a favour for a mate,'' Mr Turnbull said. with AAP Perspective please, people | The Diplomat Perspective please, people By $admin$ for The Diplomat June 22, 2009 Diplomat editor Ian Gerrard puts Australia’s ‘utegate’ scandal in international context There was a great cartoon in a recent issue of the British satirical magazine, Private Eye, in which a journalist visits his psychologist seeking help for his compulsion to put the word ‘gate’ after every word. Sorry, make that, ‘wordgate’. Here in Australia, we are currently enduring the ‘utegate’ scandal. (Overseas readers should be aware of two things: a ute is a small truck with a tray back; and Australian scandals are, in international terms, insignificant.) Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month. The background is this.

A personal friend of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd lent him a second-hand ute for use in his electorate over two years ago. So far, so unremarkable (this is Australia, remember, where lending a car to a mate is pretty much a national pastime). But the kicker is that in February this year, this prime ministerial pal, Brisbane car dealer John Grant, sought assistance from Ozcar, a government fund designed to help dealers needing credit to stock their showrooms. The opposition is claiming Mr Grant received preferential treatment. The government is denying it. Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull is demanding both Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan resign for misleading parliament. Rudd and Swan are demanding Turnbull produce evidence backing up his claims – specifically a much-quoted but apparently never-seen email – or apologise… and then resign himself. The police have been called in. Taxpayers’ money will be wasted on an investigation that will change precisely nothing. Good job there’s not a recession on… Frankly, if it wasn’t for all the self-righteous sanctimony – a necessary tautology under the circumstances – being dished out by privileged parliamentarians on both sides, this whole issue would be laughable.

It’s almost as if the government and opposition alike have looked at the on and on and ongoing situation involving expenses claims by British Members of Parliament and decided to create their own pale-to-the-point-of-translucency imitation of it. Contrast this with reports emerging from Italy that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi enjoys ‘erotic dinner parties’ with prostitutes and you get the distinct impression that, to paraphrase one of Australia’s leading cultural exports, Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee, ‘that’s not a scandal… this is a scandal’. And yet, strangely, the flow of claim and counterclaim from Australia’s politicians seem grubbier than the events that are now threatening Berlusconi’s leadership. Australia’s leaders have a habit of clambering over the moral high ground – shortly before he was elected, Kevin Rudd said his government would seek to bring Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad before the International Court of Justice on charges on ‘inciting genocide’. Which makes me wonder what the people of Iran would make of ‘utegate’.

Topics Vehicle at centre of 'Ute-gate' scandal to travel country for charity reddit More The prime minister's infamous ute is to embark on a public road trip before possibly being enshrined in a museum. Kevin Rudd's ute made headlines when he was falsely accused of doing favours for the man who lent it to him, car dealer John Grant. Now Mr Grant has agreed to personally drive the Mazda ute to the annual Deniliquin Ute Muster in NSW in October, where thousands of ute aficionados are expected to congregate. Festival director John Harvie was rapt. "It will be great for the thousands of people to see the infamous ute in its glory," Mr Harvie said. "We look forward to Mr Grant and the ute attending." Advertisement Organisers have invited Mr Rudd to attend the muster. They are yet to hear whether he will accept. "Let's hope Mr Rudd is even more tempted to come along and bond for one final time with the ute," Mr Harvie said. According to Mr Harvie, Mr Grant is fundraising for charities by driving the ute around the country.

"We hope later to have a big charity function and retire the ute to the Australian Museum in Canberra," Mr Grant was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Ute Muster organisers. He was perhaps referring to Canberra's National Museum of Australia. The muster takes place on October 2-3. Mr Grant, a friend and neighbour of Mr Rudd, lent him the ute to use as a mobile office in 2007. Earlier this year the federal opposition accused Mr Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan of giving special treatment to Mr Grant under a $2 billion OzCar program to provide financing for car dealers. But those claims were discredited when it was revealed they were based partly on a fake email, sparking one of the biggest scandals of this parliamentary term. AAP The 7.30 Report - ABC KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: Malcolm Turnbull joins me from Canberra for the second time this week ... MALCOLM TURNBULL, OPPOSITION LEADER: Great to be with you Kerry. KERRY O'BRIEN: Hang on one second, I haven't quite come to you yet. In contrast to Wayne Swan, who has now twice declined our request for an interview pleading a crowded diary. Now we can talk.

MALCOLM TURNBULL: He's in the witness protection program, actually Kerry. KERRY O'BRIEN: Have you or your staff taken any steps to correct the accuracy of Chris Uhlmann's ABC News report last night, in which he quoted Liberal sources as saying Mr Godwin Grech, quote: "Has been sympathetic to us Liberals for some time" unquote, and has been supplying information to you? Or are you happy for that report to stand uncorrected? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well Kerry, nobody in this town comments on their sources of information. The Labor Party used to rejoice in leaks when they were in Opposition. They used to publish press releases when they ... a couple of Cabinet documents fell into their hands and of course, the Labor Party's view - someone who leaks to them is a heroic whistleblower. Somebody who leaks to the Liberals is a dangerous mole who should be persecuted. So the fact is we don't comment on that actually any more than journalists. But you know, I've just got to say something to you about Albanese and Latham. 'Cause I was chuckling about it when we came back on. You know something?

He would never have been able to make fun of Mark Latham like that if Julia Gillard had been in town. I mean, it really tells you something that she's away this week, he's been able to do that. I think she would have kicked him in the shins if she was here. KERRY O'BRIEN: And now let's come back to my original question. Liberal sources saying Mr Godwin Grech, quote: "Has been sympathetic to us for some time and has been supplying information to Malcolm Turnbull." Now this isn't just about your sources. This is about the reputation of Mr Grech, so if this is inaccurate, perhaps you owe it to Mr Grech to say he has not been passing any information to you, or leaking or whatever. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Kerry, if you said, if someone wrote an article in the Europe newspaper and said Terry Moran is the Head of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Or Ken Henry, who is the Head of Treasury, was passing information to the Opposition, we wouldn't comment on it. Any more than Labor would have done when they were in Opposition. So, you don't comment on those things. The fact is that people talk in Canberra.

Oppositions receive information, governments receive information. Journalists receive a lot of information and discretion is the better part of valour. KERRY O'BRIEN: Well that might be the case if you're protecting somebody who has been a source, but if it's a case where you can say unequivocally, this person has not been a source to us, then I would have thought you'd want to do so. But how would you describe your relationship with Mr Grech? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well I've said publicly that I know Mr Grech. He's a very highly-regarded public servant. He's been given very important responsibilities by the Government, by Wayne Swan. And beyond that, I really have nothing further to add other than he is a very highly-regarded public servant. No question about that. KERRY O'BRIEN: But how would you personally describe your personal relationship with Mr Grech? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Kerry, I am not interested in talking about Godwin Grech. KERRY O'BRIEN: I can tell you there are a lot of people interested in hearing what you have to say about it.

Can you recall having any personal contact with Mr Grech when you were in Government or has it only been since you were in Opposition? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Kerry, The Labor Party wants to talk about a fake email, an email that was apparently, or allegedly, fabricated in the Treasury, right. In Mr Swan's department. They want to talk about that rather than talking about the real emails that were published or presented to the Senate, that demonstrate that Wayne Swan accorded very special treatment, very special treatment to one Queensland car dealer who just happened to be a good mate of the Prime Minister and the benefactor of the Prime Minister, he's the man that gives him a free car. KERRY O'BRIEN: But the reason I'm asking you the questions on behalf of our audience is because Mr Grech has been and is being investigated in relation to a fake email and I'm asking you about your relationship in that context and other contexts with Mr Grech. Did you or any other Liberal MP or staffer have contact with Mr Grech between when he gave Senate evidence on June 4 and when he gave that evidence last Friday, June 19?

MALCOLM TURNBULL: Kerry, I am not going to talk about Mr Grech. I understand your interest in it, but this is a distraction from the real issue, which is cronyism and the way the Labor Party looks after its mates, rather than managing the economy and managing our finances in the interests of everybody. KERRY O'BRIEN: Are you telling me, Mr Turnbull, and you've had a lot, tens of thousands of words, of your criticism of Mr Swan, Mr Kevin Rudd, but I am here asking you questions about yourself. Is there absolutely nothing you have done in your handling of this affair that warrants any questioning or criticism? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Kerry, the Prime Minister has said that the Australian Federal Police is going to investigate the question of the fake email. Now, we know from what the AFP has already said that the fake email, so called, was fabricated in the Treasury. So the insinuation, the lie that Labor has been spreading that somehow or other the Coalition had a hand in it is exploded. Second lie of Labors is that we relied on this email, fake or otherwise, in mounting a criticism against the Prime Minister.

The criticism I made against the Prime Minister on Friday evening last week was expressly based upon the sworn evidence of Mr Grech in the Senate committee. Did not refer to any email. It was focused on what he said under oath in the Senate. KERRY O'BRIEN: Yes, but my question was about whether whether you've done anything that warrants criticism or questioning, not in this case Mr Rudd or Mr Swan. On June 4, Mr Grech said this in the Senate. Quote: "The representations that were made" to me, he meant, "by both the Prime Minister's office and the Treasurer's office were professional and consistent with what I would expect from a relationship between a ministerial staffer and a public servant." That was on June 4. Did you or anybody else from your party or from Opposition staff have any conversation with Mr Grech where you discussed what he might say on his return to the Senate on June 19? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Kerry, I am not going to discuss Godwin Grech with you tonight, and I'll tell you why. The Prime Minister has asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate this matter of a faked email, which is a matter of very real concern to everyone.

It is an appalling prospect. That an email could be faked in the Treasury. Now we've said we will cooperate with that. I am not going to engage in some sort of running commentary on this matter. We've said we will cooperate with the Federal Police. Tony Abbott made a point earlier in the program which is a very valid one. It really does raise some very serious questions about the way in which presumably the results of police investigations are being used by the Government - that information is being leaked out through the Government for political reasons. This inquiry, this AFP inquiry, should be allowed to proceed to its end and reach a conclusion. And I am not going to play the same political games that the Government is with this issue. KERRY O'BRIEN: But you've called for a full judicial inquiry to be conducted immediately, into a wide range of matters at which Mr Grech and his evidence and testimony would be quite central. You're concerned now not to compromise the issues involving Mr Grech and the Federal Police. Could I suggest to you, or ask you, what is the propriety and the responsibility of conducting a full judicial inquiry, which I assume would at least partially be open, where there is a police investigation ...

MALCOLM TURNBULL: It will be entirely open. KERRY O'BRIEN: Where there is a police investigation taking place with the possibility of criminal charges and a court case possibility involving a jury? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well Kerry, there have been plenty of judicial inquiries where the possibility of criminal conduct has been canvassed, in fact it's very common. KERRY O'BRIEN: Not while a court case might be takes place or a police investigation. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well Kerry ... KERRY O'BRIEN: Or a police investigation is continuing. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Are you finished? KERRY O'BRIEN: Absolutely. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Can I speak now? Good, OK. It depends how much openness and transparency you want to have in. If you want the sunlight into this OzCar scandal, if you want to actually find out what Wayne Swan did to look after this friend and benefactor of the Prime Minister, then the best way to do that, openly and publicly, is through a judicial inquiry. Now we've bowled that up twice today in Parliament. We've made that proposal to the Government. They've used their numbers to reject it.

They're not interested in having any sort of judicial inquiry. KERRY O'BRIEN: But you have said you want that judicial inquiry immediately and you have also expressed on this program tonight concern that you don't want to unduly affect the police inquiry taking place involving Mr Grech. But you would want to have a full open judicial inquiry taking place at the same time as an ongoing police investigation that might involve criminal charges and a court case? MALCOLM TURNBULL: OK Kerry, there are two separate issues. The AFP inquiry is focused simply on the question of whether an email was faked in the Treasury. And presumably who did it. It's got a very narrow focus. The larger issue, which is not the subject of any inquiry, is the way in which the Treasurer used his office, the leverage that the Commonwealth Government had, to advantage a mate. Just think about this, at a time when Ford Credit needed $550 million of financial support from the Federal Government to stay afloat, it was vital to their existence. At that point, Wayne Swan ensured that Treasury officials sought the assistance of Ford Credit for John Grant, who, it was said to Ford Credit, was an acquaintance of the Prime Minister.

KERRY O'BRIEN: OK, now you have made that point a number of times including on this program on Monday night. MALCOLM TURNBULL: It was an important point tonight, just as it was on Monday night. KERRY O'BRIEN: Can we come back to these other points? You've promised full cooperation with the Federal Police in their investigation into the fake email. Will you extend that cooperation to any other matters the Federal Police may be investigating relating to allegations of public service documents or information being leaked to you or your office? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Look Kerry, there are whole issues of parliamentary privilege here. There has never been a case where parliamentarians have assisted governments in trying to trace down leaks from the public service. I mean, give me a break. You know, Kevin Rudd lived off leaks from the public service. Wayne Swan used to issue press releases boasting of leaks from the public service during the Howard days. KERRY O'BRIEN: This isn't Mr Rudd's purview, this is now a Federal Police investigation, presumably they will determine their own course. Will you cooperate then beyond just the faked email?

MALCOLM TURNBULL: Kerry, the only investigation which we've been asked about is the question of the faking or fabrication of an email and we'll certainly cooperate with that, because that is a matter of real concern. But if the Government wants to use - if this Government, this Labor Government that used to boast about all the leaks it had from the public service and appraise the heroism of the whistleblowers that it said used to provide it with information - now wants to use the full force of the Federal Police to silence any public servant from leaking information to the current Opposition, we're not going to be very sympathetic. KERRY O'BRIEN: Are you suggesting that Mr Grech is a whistleblower? MALCOLM TURNBULL: I'm just saying, if they want to investigate leaks, Kerry, well ... This is the point you see Kerry, this is the point. As far as Labor's concerned, a public servant that gives them information about what the Government's up to that's concerned about what the Government is doing and wants the truth to be known, is an heroic whistleblower. KERRY O'BRIEN: Sorry you've made that ... look we're getting into repetition now.

We're getting into repetition, I'll move on. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Right. KERRY O'BRIEN: You've now been asked often enough but you still, I don't think, have given a clear answer as to what prompted you to take that extraordinary step for an Opposition leader to seek out the Prime Minister's economic adviser Andrew Charlton, not a political appointment but his economic adviser at a public social event and suddenly start lecturing him about his honesty, several days before the explosive Godwin Grech evidence. Why did you do that? MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well Kerry it was a private conversation. I did impress on him, as he's noted, the importance of telling the truth. KERRY O'BRIEN: Why? How many other political staffers have you suddenly fronted never having met them before and suddenly start lecturing them on the virtues of being honest? MALCOLM TURNBULL: As it happens, Mr Charlton did have some mutual friends, we had corresponded in the past. So it was a - we had a conversation. It was a private conversation. He's published a file note of, which as with all file notes of private conversations is typically neither particularly neither accurate or complete.

But I'm not going to debate it, debate who said what to whom. If he wants to tell people that I told him it's important to tell the truth, well that's fine because it is important to tell the truth. KERRY O'BRIEN: Yes it is, but I just wonder how many other political staffers you've said that to? MALCOLM TURNBULL: You know something Kerry, it would probably be a good thing if I said it to lots of them. KERRY O'BRIEN: I guess it goes both ways. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Indeed. Telling the truth is very important. Even applies to journalists. KERRY O'BRIEN: Thank you very much for talking with us. MALCOLM TURNBULL: Thanks a lot. Search the 7.30 Report

Question: Utegate was a political scandal involving a car dealer and the prime minister of which country?
Answer: Australia