Politicians, a used car salesman and journalists are the central players in the Ute-Gate scandal an axis of untrustworthiness based on community perceptions of these professions. At the hub is Treasury official Godwin Grech, responsible for rolling out the Federal Government's OzCar scheme, which is a plan to provide up to $2billion to support cash-strapped car dealers during the global recession.
Last week, the experienced bureaucrat was propelled into the limelight after he gave explosive evidence to a Senate inquiry into the legislation. He was grilled over the assistance provided to Brisbane car dealer John Grant who supplied a ute to his mate and neighbour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who was seeking help with financing. ''I certainly had the impression that he was not your average constituent,'' Grech said. ''I cannot recollect the exact words, but I was certainly left with a general understanding that MrGrant had some relationship of some type with at least the Treasurer'', Wayne Swan. Grech recalled albeit vaguely receiving a ''short email'' about Grant from the Prime Minister's office but he didn't have it.
A string of other emails exchanged between one of the Treasurer's staffers and Grech show the bureaucrat had ''as promised'' raised Grant's case during a meeting with Ford Credit. The car financing company was seeking $500million in support from the yet-to-be-established ''special purpose vehicle'' dubbed OzCar.
Rudd has a perception problem. Should one of the richest men in Parliament accept a 1996 Mazda Bravo ute valued at about $5000 from a used car salesman? The ute, dubbed the ''Rudd-mobile'', was a feature of the 2007 election campaign and in keeping with the would-be Prime Minister's back story shared with voters. The boy who grew up on a dairy farm and suffered hardship after his father died and the family was forced to leave the land, relying on the charity of others and sleeping in the car at one point. He has a ute, not a luxury sedan like those Mandarin-speaking, affluent ex-diplomats who regale their colleagues with power-point presentations.
In Parliament, Rudd maintained ''neither I nor my office have ever made any representations on [John Grant's] behalf''. But he became embroiled in the Ute-Gate scandal based on a fake email and Grech who recalled receiving a ''short email'' from the Prime Minister's Office that ''very simply alerted me to the case of John Grant''. ''My recollection may well be totally false, faulty,'' Grech said. In all the twists and turns of this brain-scrambling drama, political foes were eventually forced to concede that Rudd didn't mislead Parliament.
Parliament's other rich man, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, has a credibility problem. Rudd's economic adviser Andrew Charlton has produced a ''file note'' on his confrontation with Turnbull at the Canberra Press Gallery's Mid-Winter Ball. Turnbull warned he had ''documentary evidence'' that Charlton had lied to protect his boss over the Grant brouhaha. The conversation took place days before Grech gave evidence. Turnbull disputes the adviser's account and has repeatedly denied having a copy of the email, which the Australian Federal Police concluded was a fake concocted on a Treasury computer, sent to Grech's home and deleted from the department's system.
Turnbull has spoken with Grech over the past few months but has repeatedly refused to be drawn on whether the bureaucrat was involved in the supply of information to the Coalition an allegation made by an unnamed Liberal Party source. It's a sure sign that some members of the team are critical of their leader's tactics. Armed with the ''smoking gun'', Turnbull called for Rudd's resignation but it blew up in the Opposition Leader's face. As a result, Turnbull's leadership has been damaged during a week when his team was also split over the alcopops tax, emissions trading scheme and legislation to overturn a mean-spirited law that charges asylum-seekers for the cost of their detention. He has overreached in targeting Rudd based on shaky evidence and blunted the attacks on Swan who still has a case to answer.
Swan has met Grant ''three or four times'' over the years. ''He's a reasonably prominent Brisbane businessman, but he's not a friend of mine. A few years ago I did buy a used car from him, but I have not had any extensive contact with MrGrant,'' Swan said. Unlike Rudd, Swan paid about $13,000 market value for the 2007 Toyota Hilux used in his electorate.
Grant is a constituent of Labor Member for Oxley Bernie Ripoll who raised the car dealer's case with the Treasurer. In Parliament, Swan has repeatedly stated Grant received the same treatment as other car dealers and he had ''no idea what the outcome of that was''. Grant didn't receive a special benefit from Ford Credit or the Government, which doesn't exclude special attention. About 240 car dealers wanted more information about the OzCar scheme. Swan has indicated that he had a telephone conversation with one dealer and received material related to the same dealer on his home fax Grant.
It sounds a bit special.
Grant acknowledges Rudd is a mate ''but I have not asked for any special treatment and I have not gained any special treatment. I never spoke to Kevin Rudd about it.'' He bemoaned that ''ordinary people aren't allowed to talk to the elected politicians they put into power. We've come to the situation where you can't do it any more.''
It misses the point. Constituents can still raise issues with their elected representatives who can take up their complaints whether it involves car financing or welfare payments. The issues are whether Swan misled Parliament over his dealings with Ripoll's constituent and whether the Prime Minister's mate wielded more influence than ''ordinary people''. The Government says rubbish. The Opposition says absolutely. The AFP, auditor-general and parliamentary privileges committee are investigating. Hopefully, they will help answer the question asked about politicians: ''Would you buy a used car from this man?''
Danielle Cronin is Political Correspondent.
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