Utegate: the smoking gun which backfired?
This had the ingredients of a uniquely Australian scandal. There was a 'ute' (a pickup truck), a 'mate' (in this case the prime minister's friend and neighbour, the car dealer John Grant) and a lot of savage name-calling in parliament (Question Time in Canberra can regularly be a watch-from-behind-the-sofa sort of affair).
The problem was that the 'incriminating' email at the heart of the 'scandal' has been found to be a fake - 'created by a person or persons other than the purported author of the e-mail,' according to the preliminary investigation conducted by the Australian Federal Police.
According to the version originally put forward by the opposition, the email showed that Mr Rudd's constituent - the car dealer John Grant - had been granted special attention from the government when he applied for a government loan to cope with the global credit crunch.
Not a bad return for the loan of a battered old ute.
The opposition leader, Malcolm Turnbull, thus claimed that the prime minister had abused his position, and misled parliament, and should resign as a result.
From Friday afternoon onwards, the controversy seemed to go from nought to 60 in a blur - unlike the aforementioned ute - and it always seemed that Mr Turnbull might have been a bit hasty in ramping up his rhetoric and calling for Kevin Rudd's resignation.
Now Mr Turnbull's judgment has been brought into question, since the email upon which he based his attack has turned out to be bogus.
So much, then, for the smoking gun. As far as the prime minister is concerned, there isn't even the whiff of cordite. Indeed, there isn't even a gun.
Last week was Malcolm Turnbull's best as opposition leader for the simple reason that his main potential rival, the former Treasurer Peter Costello, finally ended months of speculation and announced his retirement from politics.
Now Mr Turnbull is nursing self-inflicted wounds and facing further questions about his political judgment and his basic political skills. As Annabel Crabb noted in her recent Quarterly Essay on Malcolm Turnbull, the Liberal Party wears him like a borrowed suit that does not fit.
The opposition has now turned it guns on the Treasurer, Wayne Swann, another Queenslander who they claim gave preferential treatment to the Brisbane car dealer John Grant.
Mr Turnbull must hope that this time they are not firing blanks.
I'm 
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Spot on about the couch (or Sofa) thing Bryan, but that's what keeps me in front of the tele at 1am to watch the question time, it's good sport, doing each other slowly. The truth is the Australian people can't wait for these clowns to start governing again, there are plenty of issues that neither side of politics would like to face right now, CPRS, it's gone subterranean due to the amount of spit in Canberra, one doesn't need to wait for the sea level to rise. Back on the sport, any one can tell Rudd is now in cruise control. It took Labor 4 leaders to get back into the crease, perhaps it will take the Coalition even more now seeing how Rudd has taken spin bowling into a new universe, and there are no new drafts coming out of the opposition ranks.
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Pathetic partisan journalism from a hack.
Rudd has been implicated as part of a political culture that is dishonest and yets preaches moral wisdom to the masses. This is reported by the BBC editor as a problem for the opposition.
The role of the opposition is to keep the government honest, and a journalist who can't understand what that means should stick to commenting on fashion and TV celebrities. Like Rudd does.
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What would a bookish geek like Rudd want with a ute?
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Great piece Nick, I really enjoyed it. It's starting to become evident why Turnbull is so hard to warm to. I thought your last sentance was going to be:
Mr Turnbull must hope that this time they are not back firing.
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Nick, it is worth noting that Prime Minister Rudd declared the loan of the ute in the gifts and financial interest statement that all Australian politicians are obliged to complete. Also the car dealer in question was not applying for a government loan but a line of finance for his car buyers from a company that was to receive Government backing during the depths of the GFC.In the end he recieved nothing. All politicians in Australia as elsewhere receive requests from constituents for help in dealing with the bureaucracy. The point that the opposition are loudly trying to make is that PM Rudd and Treasurer Swann have misled Parliament by saying the dealer did not get special treatment. Anyway thanks to opposition leader Turnbull this nonsense has now gone on for several days consuming parliamentary time when far more important matters are in need of dicussion. At least we do not have to contend with moats, duck-houses, and phantom mortgages!
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First off, Comment #2, Democracythreat, what planet are you on?
The whole point right now is that it looks like Rudd hasn't been implicated in anything. In fact it looks like Turnbull is part of a political culture that will cynically spin any whiff of a rumour to their advantage. Maybe you're annoyed that Nick didn't blog on this one while it still looked like it might end badly for Rudd, but perhaps it's time to accept that there's a difference between keeping people honest and making stuff up.
When all this started I thought that this looked like a none-issue - at worst Rudd might have tried to speed the loan process up. I don't think it was ever implied that he tried to get government money to someone who wouldn't otherwise have qualified for it.
When they denied all knowledge of the email etc, it looked like the government was setting itself up for a fall, but now, they either look better than before (especially alongside the bumbling, posturing opposition) or super-corrupt (the implication being that they control the police).
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This has really gotten absurd hasnt it? First, Rudd chimes in on a tabloid journo-hack chef row, now this? You'd think there's no bigger issue to grapple, no bigger fish to fry. Time to grow up, boys.
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The thing about Turnbull is that for weeks now he has been holding onto this 'bogus' e-mail looking to stir things up. He had plenty of time to verify its authenticity and chose not too. I suspect that leaking to the press (as he surely must have done since he was alluding to this e-mail prior to publication) has unleashed the typical media fury and the attack dogs have escalated the affair beyond his control.
Considering Turnbull used to be a lawyer, one can understand why he gave that up as a bad job in favour of politics.
His ploy to attack Mr Rudd has allowed Mr Swan to find sufficient evidence to demonstrate that his statement to parliament was accurate if in principle it was not. He has now demonstrated that he has not given 'special' consideration to the prime ministers friend.
Considering that in the last month the U.K parliament has collectively repaid over half a million pounds back to the treasury for less than acceptable expenses claims, you have to wonder how the reputation of Australian politicians can be so damaged by a second hand UTE worth no more than 6 thousand pounds. Sort of puts it into perspective really.
Oh and by the way democracythreat, there is no excuse for Mr Turnbulls poor wisdom and conduct on this affair. He has blown his credibility in the most spectacular way possible.
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More than meets the eye.
Our Greens leader (another Mr Brown) has just complained this is disrupting negotiations over the carbon credits bill which the PM needs to get through this week before Parliament rises.
I would suit the Libs fine for this to be delayed until Copenhagen in December - they must avoid an election on this issue, and a double dissolution election can be forced provided the bill is knocked back in the Senate twice, with a 3 month break between. The 3 month period is the key.
So a ute driven filibuster in effect...
The side issue is the Defense Minister WAS forced to resign a few weeks ago for misleading Parliament. Makes it harder to get out of if the Treasurer was pinged for doing the same thing.
I wonder who concocted the fake email - could become a political classic.
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That nice Mr Shakespeare had it right: "Much Ado about Nothing". And it's all we are currently hearing about on news/current affairs programmes. The only people who are in any way interested in this nonsense are the politicians and the media who report on them. When will they all get round to proper governance again?
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This was not a professional report.
It omitted the crucial facts that
the loan of the ute was mundane and recorded on Rudd's register,
the concept of special treatment flounders given that other applicants received more attention, and
the Liberals read out the contents of the email before it was innocently available.
The real issue that will emerge is the conduct and capacity of our journalists and the way they misrepresent events to boost sensationalism.
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Turnbull iit is revealed as not being really that smart and certainly not tech savvy and neither are his advisers/minders, who are certainly not earning the inflated salaries. For if anyone approached me with a purported email with a contents that was so explosive I would have a forensic IT person check it over, for, if it is genuine there will be all sorts of evidence to say so and if there was not, I would consign it to the shredder. Then be very suspicious of whoever had fronted up waving it around!
As for Godwin Grech, he is being played for a patsy by some others. He may be someone high up in The Treasury but he is obviously a babe in the woods when it comes to technology. It will be interesting to see if the AFP's IT forensics can track down where the original formatting/wording of this email was sourced. That will be the real revelation.
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Opposition Leader Turnbull and his collaborator Hockey have made fools of themselves in front of the whole country, if not around the world. They acted venally and malevolently in a botched attempt to scandalize Prime Minister Rudd and Treasurer Swan on the basis of a fraudulent Email alluded to by a Treasury official who previously worked for Hockey. The alternative Prime Minister is either a fool or a liar, making him totally unfit to lead the Opposition, let alone Australia. His embarrassed backbench, though, will probably soon revolt and drop him, installing a hapless successor to try to clean up the mess. The "Utegate" affair has thus gone from high drama to low farce in just five days.
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This is now blowing-up in Watergate style. High dram, low face or political espionage?
Seems that the liberals have been receiving leaked official information from a so-called "mole" inside government for some time.
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as the Herald noted "is there any Australian interested in this saga that isn't a politician or journalist?" or words to that effect.
never have i cared so little for a political issue.
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hang on, backbenchers are about to cross the floor on the immigration detention payment bill. Now my interest is rising...
i'm no fan of the coalition, but without good opposition you don't have good government.
hopefully Turnball can hold it together and come back stronger next parliament session.
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And then there's this Godwin Grech fella (as in how the grech stole Christmas). The Aussie people don't seem to have the stomach for this type of utegate/saga stuff but who cares, we love it (or how about this one: the Malcolm X Files). But seriously folks, talk about smells-like-the-inside-of-the-Coles-fish-section! Why would his boss try to gag grechie at the Senate hearing? Where do you reckon this email came from? It's turning into a historic audit trail, or more like audit trial! How about this one: the details of the e-mail were not published in the Telegraph until Saturday so how did Abetz have the text with him at the hearing on Friday? And then why did Malcolm threaten Charlton to speak the truth at the ball? Was that a ballsup? Then it turns full circle back to ol' Grechiepoo again supplying unofficial information to the Coalition dating back to its days in government! He'll also be questioned about other leaks from Treasury! Then it goes ballistic: including an email exchange between the Reserve Bank Governor and Head of Treasury on the bank deposit guarantee and damaging departmental advice on Fuel Watch!! Grech routinely provided the Howard government with what has been described as "off-line" information about the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. In the words of one Liberal, "he has been sympathetic to us for some time" (YIKES!) Malcolm has refused to say whether Grech has been supplying him with information: "It would be improper of me to say." So to conspiracy theories I & II: was it an attempt by the opposition to 'set-up' the Rudd n' Swan that went horribly wrong? Or was it a red herring generated by the Government to get the Opposition off the scent by deliberately posting something they could easily dismiss and then get on the offensive to discredit the Opposition to hide what really went on? Great stuff.
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Peterdough - I would love for any of our political to be half as smart as either of your conspiracy scenarios (I like scenario 3 - Labor runbled Grech as the mole, and then had the email created specifically for his benefit - on his computer using his login so the forensic trail starts with Grech himself - knowing he would roll it out to Turnbull et al and the big burly lawyer wouldn't resist shooting himself in the foot..).
Sadly what it looks like is a dumb guy in treasury did a dumb thing and a dumb opposition swallowed it without checking for traces of NUTS.
However, if Grech keeps his job.. it makes you wonder about who exactly wanted him to provide what information to whom... that would be way fun! But I reckon he'll cop it in the neck cos the public service (of which I'm a member) cant have known leaks in any position of any responsibility.
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thecamo - your double-agent Grech scenario runs into two snags, first as you point out there's no trace to who exactly wanted him to provide what information to whom. The only safe assumption being that he couldn't sit on it for any length of time. The second more convoluted, as a mole he would have to in fact be a 'sleeper', what the Soviets referred to as a K-agent, which implies the creation of the email itself a red herring. The AFP raided his HOUSE. The focus therefore shifts to a Manchurian Candidate scenario in which the email was entirely external to the service, which means... oh bother it! :)
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The tragedy of Australian politics is that it is all about people instead of policies. The opposition sees it as its role to make it impossible for the government to govern, rather than taking part in a constructive debate. And the government are never above making a couple of accusations 'ad personam' themselves.
Last week, after Costello more or less left the scene, Labour immediately responded with a real smear campaign in Parliament against the person of Malcolm Turnbull.
A few days later Turnbull came back with this fake email to attack Rudd and Swan. And to achieve what? Even if Rudd and Swan would resign (which they won't), Labour will still be in charge, and the Liberals will still be the opposition.
It is the task of all MP's, Liberal, Labour or whoever else, to help govern the country. And the sort of personal attacks we have seen in recent days will only distract from that purpose.
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I heard Hockey, interviewed by Raphael Epstein on ABC radio Melburne admit he rang Grech on his mobile to say that he hoped he was ok and not feeling too bad over the senate estimates thing. Then Hockey realised what he had said - "but he didn't answer and all I did was to just leave a message wishing he was alright. I got the phone number of a friend" Hockey added real quick before anyone could ask the obvious question - "did you have Grech's phone number on your mobile, Joe?" As for an opposition politician ringing a public servant on his private mobile when the public servant is most likely in breach of his written employment agreement (to keep confidentiality, maintain an apolitical stance, not use government resources for illegtimate uses, like false emails), that is a degree of familiarity that needs urgent explanation
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When I first read that Mr Grech said he recalled an e-mail, my first reaction was : why trust memory, just check the e-mail logs. Even if deleted from the inbox, there is usually a copy of the e-mail. Then e-mails are easy to manipulate, it takes a bit of IT knowledge, but not that much.
Nick: can you find out what is the treasury's and federal government policy on keeping e-mails? But the faker should know this and would have sent the e-mail from a private computer or better yet from an public computer (airport ...). Let's hope AFP is allowed to follow this where it leads.
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June is always a dull month, it's winter and end of the financial year.
This is quite entertaining.
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Best understatement in political history: "Kerry, I am not interested in talking about Godwin Grech."
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Surprize surprize - a dirty labor man- gee wizz lets get the guiness book of records out. Also before we also jump on the "bandwagon" lets just wait for the dust to settle, Im sure it will be worth it. Things just dont come out of thing air, there must be a bit of truth, no matter how distorted it might be. As for Turnbull, well, I think we are heading the way of NSW, until a leader with balls and intregrity comes along, Labor will rule, unfortunately.
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What concerns me is that this has the potential to go the same way as the Dr David Kelly scandal back in the UK. What it appears you have here is 2 leaders of political parties who aren't willing to budge an inch, as well as the media, who could use Mr Grech as the scapegoat. Dr Kelly was found dead in a field having committed suicide, the pressure from both the BBC and British government over his Iraq WMD comments having got to him.
In my opinion, all sides need to take a step back and think about the potential consequences of carrying on arguing the toss over the Ute, and allowing Mr Grech to get caught in the middle.
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