Radio Australia Today Editorial

OzCar blows up in the Opposition’s face.

24 June 2009

Last night we saw the revelation of one of the most intriguing scandals in Australian political history.

I’ve gone into the background of this OzCar affair in previous blogs, so I won’t go into detail except to say it started with a purported email (now found to be a fake) that suggested that the PM was seeking favoritism and financial benefit for a car dealer.

When the federal police investigated and found that the email was fake, the light turned from the PM and his treasurer Wayne Swan to the Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull, who had blasted off about the email and demanded the resignations of both PM Kevin Rudd and Swan. Yesterday Malcolm Turnbull was in trouble. Today he’s in dire straits.

He’s in these straits because of revelations on ABC TV by reporter Chris Uhlmann that the man with the email, a senior public servant, had been leaking government information to the Opposition for years.

Malcolm Turnbull, in one of his less snappy performances, was caught by journalists in a door stop interview and refused to confirm or deny that this public servant had been working as a spy. It would have been far better for Malcolm Turnbull to keep as far away from the media as possible until after he had worked out what he was going to say to them. He didn’t and he didn’t, and what resulted was not a good look.

One of our comments to yesterday’s blog came from David, who asked if Kevin Rudd could be impeached. Well David, no. Australia does not have an impreachment procedure. It isn’t relevant anyway, since Kevin Rudd has not been found to have done anything wrong. If he had, then what would happen would be for the parliament to move a motion of no confidence. For this to pass, then members of his own party would have to vote against him. That’s why such motions rarely succeed. If it did succeed then he would have to quit as PM. If a motion of no confidence was moved against the whole government, and succeeded, then in theory you would have to have an election. But as I say, the chances of government members voting against themselves is as likely as snowflakes becoming good friends with the devil.

That said, there is every chance of a no confidence motion in Malcolm Turnbull. This would succeeed in the lower house where the government has the numbers. Whether that means the end for Malcolm Turnbull is another thing. The Opposition would go into the party room and could well vote for him again. Almost unbelievably, the Australian Consititution makes no mention of the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader.

In a separate comment, John has commented that Peter Costello is the one to feel sorry for in this sorry mess. He resigned from the Opposition only days before this scandal. Well John, Peter Costello hasn’t quite gone yet. He only announced that he would be leaving at the next election. He’s still there, and if he wished, he could have the leadership if Turnbull stumbles. That’s two pretty big if’s. The Opposition has little chance of winning the next election, especially if it was to be held early.

Any other questions about this extraordinary scandal, just post a comment and we’ll get back to you.

– Phil