Australian Story is customarily sympathetic to its subjects. This is natural; they’re its stars. Not with the latest episode on Malcolm Turnbull.
The only problem for Turnbull out of this show is that it doesn’t change anything but underlines, with the mother of all magic markers, the existing public perception that his ruthless drive and ambition will lead him to tread over others in pursuit of his goals.
Bad timing for Malcolm, because tomorrow the Auditor-General will publish a report on whether Kevin Rudd’s office made representations on behalf of Brisbane car dealer John Grant - a friend of Rudd’s - to Treasury and, if so, whether the contact was appropriate. It’s unlikely to contain anything damaging for the Government, and ministers have signalled they intend to try lighting a fire around Turnbull, arguing he has no credibility after calling for the Prime Minister to resign over the matter.
You can watch the program on the ABC website here. In short, it focuses on his family story to explain his drive. Talking about how he was affected by his mother leaving his father for another man. “If I look back, you know, perhaps I was thinking to myself, you know, if ... even if unconsciously, if I work harder and do better, will she come back?”
It turns to Turnbull the politician. Proving once again that journalists who are out and about are more likely to end up putting themselves in the right place at the right time, Australian Story was handed a corker when the utegate / OzCar / fake email scandal unfolded in around them as they filmed in the Opposition Leader’s office. It made good TV.
The analysis of Turnbull from commentators - mainly from the ABC’s Chris Uhlmann but also from News Ltd’s Malcolm Farr - was tough. You can see it on the show but as an example here’s Uhlmann discussing the treatment of Godwin Grech, the Treasury official who testified before a Senate committee that he recalled an email from the PM’s office about John Grant.
... Godwin Grech was someone who has been giving good information to the Liberal Party for a long time, but he was someone that Malcolm Turnbull was willing to sacrifice to ensure that the Prime Minister was badly damaged or destroyed. And that struck me as very, very cold-blooded.
This could be the start of a difficult week for Turnbull. We’ll be watching.
7.45pm: The Rudd Government is turning up the heat on Malcolm Turnbull over his handling of the OzCar affair - one minister today said his position was “untenable”. (Story extract below.)
Tonight, ABC TV’s Australian Story will focus on Turnbull and look at what went on in his office on that spectacular day in Parliament last month, when an email upon which the Opposition based its attack on the Government was revealed to be a fraud.
Join us here to discuss the show as it unfolds and give your verdict.
This from AAP tonight:
The Rudd government is increasing pressure on Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull over the faked OzCar email with a key report into the affair due for release on Tuesday.
The auditor-general’s report, ordered by Kevin Rudd in June, will reveal whether the offices of the prime minister and the treasurer were used to make representations on behalf of a car dealer friend of Mr Rudd’s, John Grant.
The prime minister said on Monday he had not seen a draft of the report but said Mr Turnbull had many questions to answer over the affair.
Mr Turnbull used evidence to a Senate inquiry by the Treasury official in charge of OzCar, Godwin Grech, which suggested Mr Rudd sought special treatment for a friend, to call for the resignations of Mr Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan.
But the evidence, an email alleged to be from the prime minister’s office to Mr Grech, was found several days later by federal police to be a fake.
Human Services and Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen says Mr Turnbull has had several weeks to come up with evidence on the role both he and senior Liberal, Senator Eric Abetz, played in the affair.
“Now, unless he’s backed those claims up with evidence to the auditor-general and unless the auditor-general makes a similar finding, then Mr Turnbull’s position is now untenable,” Mr Bowen told reporters in Canberra.
Chris Uhlmann, a rising star of the ABC News team who broke key developments in the utegate affair last month and is now joining the 7.30 Report
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