Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

I do take your point, Madame Deputy Speaker. We know that the Leader of the Opposition told Dr Charlton at the Midwinter Ball in the Great Hall that there was documentary evidence about the Prime Minister making representations to the Treasury. Unless he was referring to something else, I assume he was referring to the email we now know is a forgery. He admitted this morning on the Sunrise program—and this is also very interesting—that he knew about certain matters:

Turnbull: We did not make any accusation against the Prime Minister until after Godwin Grech had given sworn evidence in the Senate.

Koch: Did you know that was coming?

Turnbull: Well of course we had some, absolutely, we, we—

Koch: And you knew what he was going to say?

Turnbull: Well we certainly were expecting based on information we’d received from—

Koch: From who?

Turnbull: (inaudible) I’m not going to go into that he would say—

Koch: Why not?

Turnbull: that he had had a communication. Well Kochie I don’t want to go any further than that.

I wouldn’t either. Then this morning it gets worse. On AM Lyndal Curtis, an award winning journalist no less, said:

LYNDAL CURTIS: … Has anyone in the Opposition, to your knowledge, spoken to Mr Grech in the last few months apart from that conversation Joe Hockey said he had?

In fairness, I do not think Joe Hockey did have a conversation. I wish to say that the member for North Sydney left a message, which is completely different. The interview continued:

MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well, I’m sure they have. I mean Mr Grech is very well known and I have certainly spoken to Mr Grech.

So said the Leader of the Opposition. So could the Leader of the Opposition do one thing before he tenders his resignation? Could he provide full disclosure of the opposition’s knowledge about this sordid little matter?

As we all know, the opposition’s case has two parts to it, and the second leg has as little substance as the first. The first is that the Prime Minister made representations to the Treasury—Dr Charlton did it on his behalf—by sending an email. We now know that to be a complete and utter fraud. The second leg has as little substance: that the Treasurer gave favourable treatment to Mr John Grant. That has been completely debunked over the last 24 hours. First, we saw the chief executive of the Motor Traders Association of Australia, Michael Delaney, who has been closely involved with the government in sorting out problems for car dealers—

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