Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, I second the motion. Today we ask the first of many questions that we will be asking of the Treasurer about this matter, particularly in relation to John Grant. The first question here:

Will the Treasurer advise the House how many other car dealers he spoke with directly on the telephone before referring them to Treasury for assistance?

No answer.

Will the Treasurer advise the House how many other car dealers had updates on their cases faxed directly to his home?

No answer.

Can the Treasurer confirm that at a meeting between Treasury officials and … Ford Credit … [that a] mobile telephone number handed over by Treasury officials in the full knowledge of both the Treasurer and his office?

No answer.

Can the Treasurer confirm that Treasury officials told Ford Credit that Mr Grant was ‘an acquaintance’ of the Prime Minister, whom he knew from his dealings in Queensland?

No answer. And that is in the Senate Hansard. Ford Credit: they do not have any particular motive. In fact, they came to this government asking for $½ billion to keep their business afloat, and now they are saying that they were told unequivocally: ‘This man—here is his mobile phone number—needs your help. He is a friend of the Prime Minister and we are thinking of giving you $½ billion to keep your business afloat’. What does that smell of?

You know what? If it quacks, waddles, sounds like a duck, looks like a duck and behaves like a duck, it is a duck. The Treasurer had the audacity to walk into this place and say that this is an entirely normal situation. It is entirely normal that a company on its hands and knees comes to the government and asks the government to change the rules for a $2 billion fund so it can access half a billion dollars to keep its business afloat. The Treasury emails say unequivocally: ‘Ford Credit will shut down the business if it cannot secure access to capital.’ So Ford Credit came to the government with a begging bowl. In that discussion they were told by the Treasury official, ‘There’s someone that we really want you to help. He’s not a Ford dealer; he’s not a Volvo dealer; he’s got no relationship with you guys and we know that you don’t actually provide credit to these sorts of people. We know that, but we want you to have a good look at this case of Mr John Grant, a friend of the Prime Minister’s from Queensland. Here is his mobile phone number. Please ring him.’ No wonder Ford rang that day—the cheapest half a billion dollar phone call it ever made. I say to the member for Dunkley and the member for Murray, ‘Why didn’t you call Wayne’s World? He’ll ring you back straightaway. He’ll ring the dealer straightaway. You can get half a billion dollars of credit immediately—no problems.’

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