There’s an awful lot of twaddle doing the rounds with the Ozcar thing – but this takes the cake. Over at The Oz, Glenn Milne and his “sources” would have us believe that the infamous exchange between the PM’s advisor Andrew Charlton and Malcolm Turnbull actually went something like this:
According to colleagues briefed on the Opposition Leader’s version of his conversation with Andrew Charlton at last week’s press gallery Midwinter Ball, it was Charlton — not Turnbull — who raised his own role.
The two men were seated next to each other at the ball. After talking about a mutual friend, Turnbull says he gave the generic career advice as “one old man to one young man; always tell the truth”.
According to Turnbull’s version of events it was Charlton who admitted to worrying about the advice he had given Kevin Rudd.
Charlton was “clearly anxious and stressed” but concluded he had given the Prime Minister the correct advice on OzCar.
Rudd instructed his staff to use a BlackBerry to get a picture of Charlton and Turnbull talking. After the ball, Charlton issued a statement saying he had been threatened and bullied by Turnbull, who had warned him not to lie over the affair.
According to Charlton it was Turnbull who first raised OzCar.
No, no – I shit you not – this really is being passed off seriously!
So let’s go through the primary political timeline here. On June 4th, Malcolm Turnbull at 2:10pm in Question Time asked:
My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the standards of ministerial ethics and I note that the Prime Minister’s register of interests states that he has been given a free car complete with registration, insurance and RACQ membership by a Mr John Grant of John Grant Motors. Has the Prime Minister, his office or anyone on his behalf made representations on behalf of Ipswich Central Motors, John Grant Motors or any other car dealership owned by or associated with John
Grant to OzCar, the taxpayer funded special purpose vehicle managed by the Treasury and set up to provide finance to car dealers?
He then goes on to ask another 5 questions – at 2:24pm, 2:33pm, 2:41pm, 2:53pm and 3:30 pm – about Ozcar, John Grant and if there were any representations made by Treasury and PMO over this. The question at 2:41pm on June 4th is particularly interesting, since it suggests that the issues that came out with the mysterious email were long planned as a political attack.
Mr Speaker, I refer to the Treasurer’s previous answer in which he confirmed that his office had made a representation to OzCar on
behalf of Mr John Grant’s car dealership. I ask the Treasurer: were there any discussions or communications regarding Mr John Grant’s interest in seeking finance from OzCar between himself and the Prime Minister or between their respective offices?
This question you’ll note, is not only about Ozcar, but about communications between the offices of Swan and Rudd over Ozcar and John Grant. Turnbull was obviously in the middle of a political ploy here, asking 6 questions about Ozcar and the who did what, when on the process side.
Let’s jump ahead to the next sitting day, which was June 15th. On that day, Turnbull asked another 2 questions over Ozcar and whether Rudd or Swan made representations on behalf of John Grant. It was on the 15th of June that Turnbull attempted to set the ground for Rudd misleading Parliament by asking:
Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will start again. I refer the Prime Minister to Mr John Grant, who has supplied him with a free car for almost all of the time he has been Leader of the Labor Party, and to the Prime Minister’s answer in question time on 4 June where he most indignantly denied that he or his office had spoken to Mr Grant in relation to OzCar, the taxpayer funded finance company, or had made any representations on behalf of Mr Grant. Does the Prime Minister stand by this denial?
Blind Freddy could see that Turnbull was attempting to confirm on the record the PMs denial.
By the 16th of June, everyone knew what Turnbull was up to here with his Ozcar tactic, as Swan’s remark to an unrelated question attests:
Of course, then there is the campaign from those opposite against OzCar and the efforts of this government to ensure a flow of finance to car dealers.
On the 17th June – the day of the Mid Winter Ball, just hours before the Charlton/Turnbull exchange happened – Truffles stood up in Question Time at 2:21pm and asked the following:
My question is addressed to the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to his remarks in the House on 4 June where he told us that Treasury officials would be free to appear before a Senate committee to answer any questions about representations made in relation to the OzCar finance scheme. As the Treasurer said: “… go for your life …”
Will the Treasurer reaffirm to this House that there will be no attempt to prevent any official appearing before Friday’s Senate inquiry and will he provide promptly to senators any and all documentation casting light on the nature of the representations made by ministers or their officers on behalf of Mr John Grant, the Queensland car dealer who provides a free car to the Prime Minister?
Turnbull tells all and sundry that there will be a concerted attack in the Senate Committee on the coming Friday over the behaviour of the offices of Swan and Rudd and any respective representations they made to Ozcar on behalf of John Grant.
Just hours later, Glenn Milne and his sources would have us believe that Andrew Charlton – Doctor, author, PM’s economic advisor and Rhodes Scholar, a bloke that can obviously tie his own shoe laces – in an act of profound stupidity and political suicide, confessed to Malcolm Turnbull that he was worried about the advice he’d given to his boss, the Prime Minister, over the very issue that all and sundry knew was supposed to explode at the Senate Committee in 40 hours time!
Milne and his sources are alleging that one of the smartest blokes around was so stupid that he voluntarily gave Malcolm Turnbull the nod that his political strategy to bring down the PM was on the right track!!!?!
The political analysis at The Australian has been sliding down a notch or two in the quality stakes recently – but honestly, you’d have to be a lead poisoned crackhead to believe that horseshit.
On something else entirely different, this place was a little light on last week – I was ‘on the road’ so to speak, so this week we’re back to our normal programming.
39 Comments
You could almost guess that Malcolm was set up to do this. Is there any connection with Peter Costello’s “resignation”, and a last ditch effort by the old-guard of the Liberal Party to get someone in charge of the Liberal Party that they can control? Did the other people in the Liberal Party who foisted this tissue thin “scandal” on to the leadership group set this up deliberately to destroy Malcolm’s credibility? Malcolm certainly has the arrogance to overlook the possibility that he was the butt of the joke, and he has shown he lacks political commonsense and so cannot be objective about working out the way this small issue would run. The cheering from the sidelines from the more ratbag among media commentators makes me more suspicious. The old guard had to move fast or Peter Costello would depart the scene, and who else is there who could take over the leadership?
Nice work collating all these questions. It’s pretty ridiculous for anyone in the opposition to claim that their source of the email was the Saturday article by Steve Lewis. The only question i am left with is who is feeding Milne with Costello out of the picture? This shit can’t be fucking serious.
Incidentally, if you want to have a laugh at Milne’s expense, check out about the last 5th of the Friday panel segment here http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2009/2602624.htm. (start from after the audio clips of Costello)
A) Milne is happy to peddle the fact that he is extremely chummy with Liberal MPs and that
B) He was completely done over by Costello – made to look stupid by someone that played him over and over when he was in government. I can’t blame Costello for having a laugh at Canberra journalists.
Re Charlton. Turnbull had him pointed out to him. So they obviously had not met previously. My mum, always said never talk to strangers.
On standards at News. Good news is Shanahan is back which should impact on their journalistic and analytical standards no doubt.
Great article. I heard Julie Bishop on 774AM this morning claiming that no other car dealership had received any assistance from the Treasury, and Swan moments before reading out emails to prove that many car dealerships did, in fact, get assistance from the Treasury.
The whole affair is redundant, as Ozcar did not end up actually getting financing from Ford Credit.
News Ltd Journo’s are the joke of Australian journalism, especially the one you mention and the other is the reporter who “broke” this story because this email was “read” to him over the phone. This organisation has big time egg on it’s face and are in lock step with Turnbull’s arguments all the way. When Turnbull changed from Rudd and Swan must resign to Swan must resign, so did News Ltd opinion writers. Some said that they’re the Fox network of Australian media, that about sums it up for me.
Until Australians get their own media matters (US) online in which they check the stories told or printed by the media, Poss you and a small band of respected journo’s are it. Thxs
Is it just me, or has this thing totally backfired for Aquaman?
There might be a little bit of gloss come off Kruddy and Swanny, but Turnbull is looking like he has fugged it up royally.
I note today that the govt has widened the AG enquiry to include Treasury, and there are more emails from them about 2 entirely unrelated dealerships.
I don’t see the govt running scared, if anything, they think they are onto a winner, and seem happy to have it investigated thoroughly.
And in front of the PM who took a picture of the incident!
I know BB – faaaark! Lobotomies ‘R’ Us!
4 June
MT: I’ll be PM by Christmas in July!
Liberal Tacticians: Are you sure Mal?
MT: Yes, I have an email and my best newsman on the job!
15 June
LT: Say, where did you get the email Mal?
MT: Shhh! The lawyer is working. Watch the web I weave.
will they give him a sedative before the colonoscopy today?
Another lucid analysis here, Estimable Marsupial.
I’ve been concentrating on recent developments and not been fully aware of the full extent of the ratbaggery being perpetrated by Turnbull and Murdoch’s minions.
And please keep up your cogent comments in Pollbludger as they help keep the thread discussions from losing focus on the key elements involved here.
Thanks for once again pointing out Milne’s stupidity, Poss. Good piece, Cavitation, I’d love that to be right.
BB, if you’re still here, I read a long piece on another website, whose name escapes me for the moment, in which the bloke was mainly relying on quotes from your PB posts. Played strong, done fine!
What I don’t get about this whole thing is that whatever help Rudd or Swan did give to Kohn Grant Motors, it was consistent with the help they we giving to everyone else. WTF does Turnbull want them to do – let the business go to the wall and put people out of work? (keeping in mind that this is comming from “jobs, jobs jobs” man).
From memory, it was the Opposition in the first place that were crying out for the Government to help dealers who were in trouble.
I struggle to work out where Turnbull and the Libs were coming from in the first place on this issue – Even if Rudd did help his mate by directing his enquiry to treasury, this sort of help was being provided to everyone. Most people in the street would look at this and say so-what – he was just doing what any MP should do – that is, help his constituents. The whole Ute thing is a red herring and I suspect the whole drama only came about because some Lib hack went trawling through Rudd’s register and saw car from car dealer and then wondered whether the car dealer had received any assistance from the Government when the finance industry leftb the car industry high and dry. That help was provided is somehow wrong … I just don’t get it and I suspect a lot of other people don’t either.
Dave55,
The head of Motor Traders Association said something similar on Channel 10 last night, reckoning Grant got the same treatment by the Govt. as the other 1000 members of the MTA.
Welcome back, Possum. Good Summary.
There’s a bit of backgrounding that probably explains why Turnbull launched his attack that day, as recorded on Oz Election Frums’ “No recession in Oz?” thread http://www.ozforums.com.au/viewtopic.php?pid=65030#p65030
On 2 June, the Current Account figures were, to everyone’s shock (& the Opposition’s, NewsLtd’s etc dismay) in positive territory! “The market was bouyed”; TheOz very grudgingly admitted that “Australia may have avoided technical recession”
June 3rd, Fairfax’s Elizabeth Knght writes “We’ve heard about this crisis, but where is it?” and TheOz is trying to find excuses for this Positive-but-it-shouldn’t-have-been (and won’t last) turn of events: “World’s best exports may hold off recession”. By Question Time, Hockey had made a fool of himself by saying (post #13) “that of course jobs had been supported/ created [by the stimulus packages] “That’s a ‘no brainer’”, while MalT was saying “Not a job, not one job.”. In QT, with the Government clearly gloating, the Opposition was reduced to snarking “Nasty Nerd” at Rudd.
June 4th dawned with George Megalogenis’s “Recession junkies need not despair “; Brisbane’s CM headlined “Recession-busting Australia in No.1 economy in the world
WELL SPENT”, and Crikey’s Corporate Engagement cried “Media response: Wahhhh! I want a recession”
Had June 2’s ABS-CA Figures been as bad as expected & June 3rd’s QT not been such a disaster, we might still not have heard about “Utegate” (God, aren’t Aust’s meeja creative thinkers, wot!) because the Opposition would not have needed it. But someone was sitting on it; probably not the Opposition or they’d most probably have gone with it on Wednesday, rather that sit like a thrashed AFL team and muttering about “Nasty Nerd”.
Between the release of the ABS-CA figures and June 4th’s QT there must have been a desperate Opposition /NewsLtd/ ABC search for something – any-bo#dy-thing FGS – that could divert attention from figures which showed the Government’s stimulus package worked.
Possum
The usual dross, drivel and pith courtesy of her majesty’s opposition.
“will they never learn”
Crikey lets all tip in and get Glen a guernsey at the pullitzer presentations
he’s ready to go international
Even Chris Ulhmann (sp?), whilst still trying to roast Swan’s nuts on the bonfire this morning, was questioning Turnbull’s judgement in raising the issue the way he did. Given Truffles’ shrinking violet nature it really would not be hard to sucker him into acting rashly when he thought his moment had come. I wonder whose Smirk will be biggest during question time?
The biggest problem is not so much the blatant dishonesty with which Turnbull and the Liberal Party have conducted themselves with, as reprehensible, as it is, but the public perception of this rubbish. I doubt very much Turnbull cares about decency or truth very much at this point, but more about flinging mud and making sure its sticks. Unfortunately I suspect that its working. I don’t think the public is paying to much attention to lies that the Liberal Party is peddling, but rather the panicky way Rudd and Co. are reacting. The way Rudd has behaved over “OzGate” is very unlike the way he has conducted himself in the past during smear attacks, that I wonder whether the public is thinking that something is up.
Anyway, I’d be more than happy to be corrected. I’d sincerely like to believe that the Australian public is seeing through these tactics.
I’m 86 and have never liked Turnbull, so I think “joe public” will know what he is up to.
He always reveals his true colours in the end
Mr Milne clearly suffers from a severe case of selective amnesia,with a double-helping of hypocrisy, not that this isn’t an on-going issue for him. The News Ltd inspired beat-up of this supposed email affair is another golden example of distraction and trivialisation in our political process. After the smoke clears this will doubtless play out to an anti-climactic conclusion. Much more serious is Milne’s drawing of a very long bow indeed and his odious comparison with the AWB scandal. Apart from all the other grand deceptions of Howard and his gutless, dispicable bunch of acolytes, AWB shamefully rests at the bottom of the toilet. To send our young men and women off to an illegal and immoral War for US oil interests and continue the lies and obfuscation as to the “real reason” was bad enough. To knowingly pay our avowed enemy some A$300 Million at the same time was simply treasonous. Howard studiously avoided a Royal Commission – opting instead for some half-baked and tightly controlled ” enquiry ” that totally prevented the whole truth from ever escaping. All this to prove Howard and his mob were ” blameless “. What a sick joke at Taxpayer expense. Still, no-one has ever been charged. This is what happens when ” ethics ” vanish in the cause of avarice and greed. Mr Howard also had lunch with Terrence Cole (the AWB investigator) shortly before the AWB enquiry began. Dodgy? Conflict of interest? Nah … not according to Milne.
Mr Milne should stick to what he does best – keeping us all entertained in his role as the drunken court jester at media functions and avoid any such comparisons of “ethics” in the future.
Poss, good to see you making political commentary on issues other than polls. I agree with your assessment, which is as perceptive as your statistical analysis.
Most of the time Milne’s writings are best ignored. The pity is that some might take him seriously.
Possum you’re timeline is correct, but you left out one part – before QT on the 4th, Godwin Grech said that the PMO had made representations on behalf of a car dealer.
Seriously is there any point reading articles by the Canberra Press Gallery any more?
Possum has here demonstrated Milne’s idiocy, but everyone else has jumped on the bandwagon too. Omnisicent reporters writing in this faux-objective style about how things look to the public or what will happen, rather than what happened when. They are so consistently wrong and/or partisan.
In case no one’s posted yet. There is/was an email (found!). It was deleted. It’s fake. It originated inside Treasury. It may have been sent to Grech’s home computer – the AFP’s there now. (ABC Midday report)
It IS a conspiracy
In case no one’s posted yet (ABC Midday Report) There is/was an email (found!). It was deleted. It’s fake. It originated inside Treasury. It may have been sent to Grech’s home computer – the AFP’s there now.
It IS a conspiracy
Here’s the link
http://bit.ly/ErvWu
Sorry. I didn’t realise I’d poster the first.
Once again Milne makes a bloody fool of himself and News Ltd. once again he uses information from sources, unnamed. How pathetic from a pathetic washed up idiot. i never seen a contributor (he is no journalist) use the hide behind unnamed ghosts, who provide him with information to excite his warped fantasies. let us be well aware. Malcolm Turnbull supplied all the information to form the basis of Milnes article, as advised by the PM in the house today. it is of no great matter that Milne continues to churn out this nonsense as journalism. What is the most glaring problem here is that the leader of the Opposition has gone to a selected member of the press gallery (Milne) and used that gullible individual to attempt to change the entire basis and thread of his conversation with Mr Charlseworth. Time has caught up with Turnbull today. His denial of facts, his attempts to change his story, his refusal to admit he and some of his parliamentary party knew of this now forged fake document, long before it was published in the Daily Telegraph. it was announced this morning the Oppositions computers hard drives will be checked. That should be of great concern to someone.
If there is a conspiracy, which is still a big if, I doubt Godwin Grech is anything more than a pawn in the game. Unfortunately even if it is proved to be a set up the mud will just add to the pile aggregating slowly around Rudd. The government might wish Gillard was there to help this afternoon but I doubt she shares the regret. Mind you someone else in the delegation is probably wishing he had postponed one of his last junkets to enjoy the spectacle.
“Mud piling up around the Prime Minister”, perhaps Cat you may wish to stop trying to be a clone of Milne and say what you mean. Such a rediculous statement is hardly worthy of a mature person contributing on an adult site. Playschool perhaps.
“If there is a conspiracy”.
So far I’ve tried not to speculate about anything more than we know. I’ve tried to use Occam’s razor.
And what I’ve come up with is this—Swan may look a bit dodgy (nice deal on the Hilux, bro), but he has a normal case to defend himself with; Rudd has nothing to answer for; but the Coalition only has a case if a conspiracy and a cover-up (involving fraud and the destruction of government communications) has taken place.
Use Occam’s, people. Why the fuck would Commonwealth ministers of the crown have put themselves in this place in the first place RE a small businessman?! What is this man, Grant? Is he the man behind the curtain for the entire Australian Labor Party? If he is he actually hasn’t done very well for himself.
Poor bugger can’t even manipulate the PM & treasurer into successfully getting Ozcar and Ford Credit special deals.
David1 the mud I am referring to is not the kind that kids play in but the kind that politicians, with able assistance from media, fling around. Rudd has (I think quite rightly) had an image of a bit boring but basically decent bloke whose bookish, even nerdish, tendencies were offset by occasional flashes of being a normal bloke (e.g. strip club visit). The last 6 months though has seen a few really trivial stories of varying authenticity being beaten up e.g. the yelling at the Air Force member over the meal, the hair-dryer crap, the ‘butler’ and other pointless bits of trivia that are designed to change the man’s image. Even the supposed intention of going for an early election is being added to the image of someone concerned for no-one but himself . I actually believe Rudd cares about some things outside him own desires and worked my bum off to get the government elected (as opposed to Rudd himself). I have thus been have been increasingly frustrated by conversations with friends and colleagues over the last six months that suggest that the mud, dirt, tarnish or whatever you want to call it that is being laid around him is actually impacting significantly on their image of him. And I have specifically queried whether it is actually transference of concern over the GFC to the personality but it is not. So whether my use of the term mud meets your standards for its use or not I genuinely worry that regardless of the outcome of this mess is it will add to the continued diminution of Rudd and hence the Government’s image.
This is amazing stuff, isn’t it? I just posted this on Milne’s piece in the Oz, in the style of the great Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Pink Panther):
Inspector Turnbull: What is your name?
Rudd: I am Kevin, the Prime Minster.
Inspector Turnbull: And what is it you do?
Rudd: I’m the Prime Minister
Inspector Turnbull: Why didn’t you say that in the first place?
Rudd: I did
Inspector Turnbull: Don’t be funny with me, monsieur. This is a very serious matter…and everyone in this room is under the suspicions. And there is a very good chance that someone in this room…knows more about the email than he is telling.
Rudd: Email?
Inspector Turnbull: What was that you said?
Rudd: I said Email.
Inspector Turnbull: What email?
Rudd: Well, I don’t know. You said email.
Inspector Turnbull: I said email? You said email!
Rudd: No, I said email because you said email!
Inspector Turnbull: I said email?
Rudd: You said someone in this room…knows more about the email than he’s telling.
Inspector Turnbull: Now listen…What was your name?
Rudd: Kevin.
Inspector Turnbull: The Treasurer.
Rudd: Prime Minister.
Inspector Turnbull: Ah, now we are getting somewhere!
My favourite scene in the movie:
Just saw Hockey on Sunrise. When asked “when did you first hear of this (the fake) e-mail?” he started babbling in a very uncharacteristic manner. I have never seen him so discomfited before.
Sunrise – clear inference from Hockey and Turnbull that perhaps Hockey has had recent contact with Grech. A phone call to ask Grech if he was OK?
This morning on ABC Radio, Turnbull is trying to convince listeners that he didn’t ask about the faked email until after Grech gave his evidence in Senate Estimates last Friday.
That is not true!
In parliament back on June 4, Turnball said “I ask the Treasurer: were there any discussions or communications regarding Mr John Grant’s interest in seeking finance from OzCar between himself and the Prime Minister or between their respective offices?” source: http://blogotariat.com/node/174445
Why is nobody else commenting on the time-line of this story?