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June 22, 2009
As we know the global recession had forced financiers to tighten lending, leaving many car dealers in danger of losing crucial financial support. Hence the yet-to-be-established OzCar finance facility. One fallout from the Rudd Government efforts to establish alternative financing for car dealers when two major financiers threatened to pull out of Australia at the height of the global credit crisis is the so-called OzCar affair or ute-gate.
Ute-gate refers to the Coalition's allegations of a favour for a mate (namely, Ipswich car dealer John Grant, a friend and political donor who lent a 1996 Mazda ute to the PM's electoral office for use as an electoral vehicle) by both the PM and Treasurer. Both are alleged to have helped to arrange finance from Treasury and to have misled Parliament about this, by understating their contact with, and support of, John Grant's attempts to find substitute financing for his business.
Little evidence has been presented to justify the allegations. Firstly, the Coalition does not have the alleged email from from Rudd's economic adviser Andrew Charlton to Treasurer Wayne Swan's office and to Treasury official Godwin Grech. Said email does not appear to exist at this stage, despite the clams of News Ltd journalists. Secondly, the case against Swan is circumstantial, in that the public emails show Grech reporting back to Swan and his office in regular detail about Grant's case, but Grant did not receive any finance for his dealership.
Not withstanding this, the Coalition is calling for the resignation of both Rudd and Swan for having mislead Parliament. At this stage it's still heat and bluster. On the basis of an email Turnbull says he doesn't have he has demanded the resignation of Kevin Rudd. The federal police and Auditor-General have been called in to ascertain the status of the missing email. So it's all sound and fury at this point by both the Coalition and News Corp newspapers.
That leaves the patronage and special treatment case against Swan in the spotlight. The case is thin. Godwin Grech in Treasury said he devoted considerable time and effort because he knew that Grant wasn’t any "normal constituent". Did Swan intervene on behalf of the Prime Minister's friend? Did Swan intervene on behalf of the Prime Minister's friend? If so, was Swan just acting like any MP and directing a constituent to the relevant agency as he claims? Did he lobby for taxpayer funds to be given to a car dealership in difficulty?
So we have the question of whether it is about process or outcomes. Did John Grant get preferential treatment is the question. There are emails showing two other car dealers got handled the same way. So was this preferential treatment just standard political procedure in a liberal democracy?
Once again, it is still mostly heat and bluster. However, heat and political bluster often results in burns and wounds. People get hurt and there blood on the floor. It is still unclear, at this stage, who will get hurt-----Rudd, Swan or Turnbull. Things will start sorting themselves out as information comes to light from the investigations by the Australian Federal Police and the National Audit Office.
Calling this a 'political crisis'--as do some News Ltd journalists--- is playing fast and lose with language. It's only a political crisis in the feverish imaginations of the media arm of the Liberal Party.
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News Ltd opinion writers are the Fox network of Australian media. The Daily Telegraph printed the email in last Saturday’s newspaper, later conceding that it was never actually sighted. The reporter in question, Steve Lewis, claims that it was read to him over the phone by a “primary source”.It was never actually sighted. The Daily Telegraph implied that it was in possession of the electronic or printed version of the email, whilst Lewis implied that the email was a fact.