Hey rederob, I have found some more mud to sling !!
On June 4, the very same day Godwin Grech was first being grilled about the OzCar program by a suspiciously well-informed Liberal Senator Eric Abetz, South Australian Liberal leader Martin Hamilton-Smith penned a grovelling apology to Premier Mike Rann.
A few weeks previously, Mr Hamilton-Smith had made extraordinary allegations of serious criminal misconduct against the Premier, claiming he had invoices linking Mr Rann with an illegal $20,000 donation to the ALP from a group linked to the Church of Scientology.
Like the email at the centre of the Ute-gate affair which appeared to suggest Kevin Rudd had committed that most heinous of political crimes — misleading Parliament — the documents upon which Mr Hamilton-Smith relied turned out to be fakes.
“My allegations were untrue and the documents I released were forgeries,” Mr Hamilton-Smith wrote in his June 4 letter to Mr Rann. “I accept that the allegations I made against you in the Media Release and in subsequent media interviews were false and unfairly and improperly questioned your honesty and integrity. I accept that you did not in any way act dishonestly or corruptly.
“I unreservedly apologise to you for the hurt and embarrassment I have caused you, your office and your family.”
Like Malcolm Turnbull now, Mr Hamilton-Smith’s judgment was questioned and his capacity for higher office doubted, both inside and outside his party.
But unlike Mr Hamilton-Smith, Mr Turnbull has not apologised, nor is he expected to.
It’s not in Mr Turnbull’s DNA to take a backward step, but his reluctance could also be explained by the fact that the more we find out about this scandal, the more the Liberal Party looks like an active player.
The plotlines to this drama clearly point to the Federal Liberal Party and its leader being deeply involved, if not in the creation of the fake email, then in the manner it got out.
We know this for several reasons.
Firstly, it was Senator Abetz who initially raised John Grant, the name of the Ipswich car dealer who gave Mr Rudd the use of a second-hand ute for his Brisbane electorate. Senator Abetz put Mr Grant’s name to Mr Grech on June 4 after the Treasury official remembered there being one representation to him from the Prime Minister’s office asking for help with a car dealer.
Secondly, the manner in which Mr Turnbull pre-emptively rounded on Mr Rudd’s economics adviser Andrew Charlton at the Mid-Winter Ball on June 17, lecturing him on the virtue of telling the truth, spoke of a man who was sure he had the PM’s career in his hands.
Dr Charlton, you’ll remember, is the one who purportedly wrote the email to Mr Grech that turned out to be a fake. That email didn’t surface until June 19 when read into the public record by Senator Abetz.
Reports that Mr Turnbull met Mr Grech before the official gave his explosive evidence and as-yet undisputed claims that he and Senator Abetz were shown the text of the alleged email by Mr Grech are also descriptive of an Opposition which was much more than a spontaneous recipient of politically super-charged information.
And here’s the point.
The fact that the Opposition — like Labor before it — may or may not have moles within the Federal bureaucracy is not why Ute-gate has blown up so extraordinarily for Malcolm Turnbull. Good luck to the Opposition if they have snouts.
But if it is proved that Mr Turnbull was actively muscling, grooming or coaching a public servant to provide damaging evidence in a parliamentary hearing — or that he was party to such activity — then it’s very troubling indeed.
There was a chance for the powerful Senate privileges committee to probe whether there had been any undue influence on Mr Grech but that was defeated yesterday when hapless Steve Fielding sided with the Opposition. The Family First senator said: “I smell a rat with this one . . . you shouldn’t turn Senate hearings into playing politics.” That from a politician!
Mr Turnbull’s colleagues are worried by what his handling of Ute-gate says about his leadership qualities given his apparent willingness to take almighty risks with no regard to the consequences. They want courage but at least a modicum of caution.
One says: “Malcolm, he’s a front foot sort of guy who’ll throw a few hefty rights but who on occasion will expose himself on the left.”
Another Liberal says: “I’m really worried about how this is going to affect the party. Turnbull’s deeply, deeply flawed.”
Others are amazed and disappointed that Mr Turnbull should have greedily gone so hard on the Prime Minister when he had a stronger case in targeting Treasurer Wayne Swan.
“He was a bit eager — he went for the swinging knock-out punch, when in Opposition the slow, hard approach usually wins,” one Liberal old-timer said.
Then there is the fact that by pursuing the matter so personally and, in the case of Dr Charlton so publicly, he gave himself no cover.
There is palpable despair within the Opposition ranks at how this parliamentary week, the last before the six-week winter break, has played out for them.
Gifted clean air by Peter Costello’s resignation, Mr Turnbull blew it.