PM Rudd accused of missleading Parliament
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 5:21 pmFor Gozu
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 301,00.htm
lPRIME Minister Kevin Rudd today will face accusations of misleading Parliament for allegedly helping out John Grant, a Queensland car dealer and friend.
The Opposition will raise allegations of a correspondence trail involving the Prime Minister's office and government officials responsible for a $2 billion scheme to help cash-strapped car dealers.
A Senate hearing into the government-backed OZ Car finance scheme will be told Ford Australia's finance arm was asked to help Mr Grant's troubled car dealership – at the same time that it was negotiating a $550 million "loan" with the Government.
Mr Rudd has told Parliament neither he nor his office made representations on Mr Grant'sbehalf.
Senior political staffers have been aware of suspicions that Mr Grant – a neighbour of the Prime Minister's in Brisbane – received special treatment as he tried to rescue his car dealership.
The political advisers have been asking questions about several emails which suggest the Prime Minister was keen to ensure John Grant Motors was considered for attention under the OZ Car scheme – a government fund to provide credit to car dealers during the financial crunch.
Mr Rudd denied as recently as Monday that he or his office made any representations on behalf of Mr Grant to help secure funding under the $2 billion scheme – established last December.
Like many other car dealers, John Grant's dealership ran into difficulty after financier GE threatened to withdraw financial support for the industry.
It is understood Mr Grant approached a number of senior Government figures. The Senate hearing today will pursue allegations of a correspondence trail involving the Prime Minister's office.
At one point, Ford Credit's managing director Greg Cohen – who will appear before today's Senate hearing – was asked to consider providing financial support to Mr Grant.
It is understood the Brisbane car dealer was rung by Ford Credit when he was travelling in New Zealand. At the time, Ford Credit was in negotiations with the Government over accessing the OZ Car scheme.
The financier – which provides support to over 200 Ford dealers around Australia – had been initially excluded from the OZ Car scheme. But in a letter written to Mr Rudd and the Treasurer, Mr Cohen and the chief executive of Ford Australia Marin Burella pleaded with the Government to reconsider – warning the fate of its car dealerships hung in the balance.
Last night, a spokesman for the PM said Mr Rudd stood by his comments to the Parliament.
"Neither I nor my office have ever made any representations on his behalf," Mr Rudd told Parliament on June 4.
"I have not been aware of any representations on his behalf made by anyone in the Government, including the referral, referred to before by the Treasurer's office."
The Coalition has been pursuing Mr Rudd's links with the car dealer. The two men live on the same street in Brisbane and belong to the mysterious 51 Club – which closed down its website several weeks ago after it received public attention.
The Prime Minister has also been forced to defend the use of a 1996 Mazda ute, given to him by the car dealer. Mr Grant refused to respond to numerous phone calls.
But his call for financial assistance from the Rudd Government will dominate today's Senate inquiry into the OZ Car scheme. Senior Treasury officials will be asked to give evidence – potentially placing pressure on the Government's most senior figures to come clean on whether they had acted appropriately.
The inquiry will also pursue Ford Credit.
When senior Government officials went to Melbourne to negotiate access to OZ Car, they also asked whether Ford would consider helping out Mr Grant's dealership. It is understood Ford made contact with Mr Grant and were supplied with financial information from the dealer'saccountant.
However, Mr Grant's financier – GE – eventually came to the party and continued to provide finance for his Queensland business.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 301,00.htm
lPRIME Minister Kevin Rudd today will face accusations of misleading Parliament for allegedly helping out John Grant, a Queensland car dealer and friend.
The Opposition will raise allegations of a correspondence trail involving the Prime Minister's office and government officials responsible for a $2 billion scheme to help cash-strapped car dealers.
A Senate hearing into the government-backed OZ Car finance scheme will be told Ford Australia's finance arm was asked to help Mr Grant's troubled car dealership – at the same time that it was negotiating a $550 million "loan" with the Government.
Mr Rudd has told Parliament neither he nor his office made representations on Mr Grant'sbehalf.
Senior political staffers have been aware of suspicions that Mr Grant – a neighbour of the Prime Minister's in Brisbane – received special treatment as he tried to rescue his car dealership.
The political advisers have been asking questions about several emails which suggest the Prime Minister was keen to ensure John Grant Motors was considered for attention under the OZ Car scheme – a government fund to provide credit to car dealers during the financial crunch.
Mr Rudd denied as recently as Monday that he or his office made any representations on behalf of Mr Grant to help secure funding under the $2 billion scheme – established last December.
Like many other car dealers, John Grant's dealership ran into difficulty after financier GE threatened to withdraw financial support for the industry.
It is understood Mr Grant approached a number of senior Government figures. The Senate hearing today will pursue allegations of a correspondence trail involving the Prime Minister's office.
At one point, Ford Credit's managing director Greg Cohen – who will appear before today's Senate hearing – was asked to consider providing financial support to Mr Grant.
It is understood the Brisbane car dealer was rung by Ford Credit when he was travelling in New Zealand. At the time, Ford Credit was in negotiations with the Government over accessing the OZ Car scheme.
The financier – which provides support to over 200 Ford dealers around Australia – had been initially excluded from the OZ Car scheme. But in a letter written to Mr Rudd and the Treasurer, Mr Cohen and the chief executive of Ford Australia Marin Burella pleaded with the Government to reconsider – warning the fate of its car dealerships hung in the balance.
Last night, a spokesman for the PM said Mr Rudd stood by his comments to the Parliament.
"Neither I nor my office have ever made any representations on his behalf," Mr Rudd told Parliament on June 4.
"I have not been aware of any representations on his behalf made by anyone in the Government, including the referral, referred to before by the Treasurer's office."
The Coalition has been pursuing Mr Rudd's links with the car dealer. The two men live on the same street in Brisbane and belong to the mysterious 51 Club – which closed down its website several weeks ago after it received public attention.
The Prime Minister has also been forced to defend the use of a 1996 Mazda ute, given to him by the car dealer. Mr Grant refused to respond to numerous phone calls.
But his call for financial assistance from the Rudd Government will dominate today's Senate inquiry into the OZ Car scheme. Senior Treasury officials will be asked to give evidence – potentially placing pressure on the Government's most senior figures to come clean on whether they had acted appropriately.
The inquiry will also pursue Ford Credit.
When senior Government officials went to Melbourne to negotiate access to OZ Car, they also asked whether Ford would consider helping out Mr Grant's dealership. It is understood Ford made contact with Mr Grant and were supplied with financial information from the dealer'saccountant.
However, Mr Grant's financier – GE – eventually came to the party and continued to provide finance for his Queensland business.
Looks like the email was a fake, where might have we seen all this before? Poor Turnbull.