Political drama Down Under

They say, a week is a long time in politics, and last week proved it in Australian politics. It was high drama - compelling television viewing that threatened to bring down the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the country's treasurer, and perhaps, the government itself. The plot had more twists and turns than a Jeffrey Archer best-seller. But in the end, the sword fell in the least expected place.

What's now referred to as UteGate, is Australia's Watergate.

The government had decided to set up a fund called OzCar to provide finances to car dealers. It was believed that a lot of car dealerships would go under, and jobs lost, if fresh funding wasn't immediately restored to the industry.

Two weeks ago, Malcolm Turnbull, the opposition leader, started quizzing Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan about handing out any special favours to a car dealer personally known to the prime minister (who had lent Rudd a 1990s Mazda ute, or utility truck, to use for his election campaign). Both denied the claim in parliament.

Turnbull behaved like a man in a hurry. He is very intelligent, but naked ambition and over-confidence, could have clouded his judgement. He implied that Rudd and Swan had indeed provided special treatment for "their mate" and had lied in parliament about it.

If this was true, it was a serious offence and both could fall. It looked like Turnbull had the goods on the government. This was edge of the seat stuff for the media and public.

At the insistence of the Opposition party, a special Senate committee was quickly convened to investigate the matter. At its hearing, a high-ranking staffer from the Treasury, a diminutive prawn-like character called Godwin Grech, came under pressured questioning.

Grech gave evidence - he said that he had been in no doubt that John Grant (Rudd's car dealer friend) "wasn't your average constituent".

Government senators grilled him doggedly. Grech qualified his response - "My recollection may be totally false, but my recollection - and that's a big qualification, my recollection is that there was a short e-mail from the PMO [Prime Minister's Office] to me which very simply alerted me to the case of John Grant, but I don't have the e-mail".

A senior opposition party Senator, Eric Abetz, jumped in. Abetz read the text of the alleged e-mail from the treasurer's chief of staff to Grech. This was explosive stuff - so there was an e-mail from the treasurer's office currying favour for Rudd's mate. Had Rudd and Swan lied in parliament, wondered the media and the public? It was not a good look.

Turnbull went for broke - he now had the smoking gun. "If the prime minister and the treasurer cannot immediately justify their actions to the Australian people, they have no choice but to resign," he thundered at a crowded press conference.

He spoke with the confidence of a man who held the Nixon tapes in hand.

But, in 24 hours, the world looked very different. Once again, the twists in the script caught the media and public by surprise. Rudd ordered a police inquiry. Police raided the Grech's home and checked his computers. The e-mail had been deleted, but was forensically unearthed.

It was a fake!

Now Rudd went on the attack. He accused Turnbull of mud-slinging, of wrongfully questioning the integrity of the prime minister of Australia and falsely accusing him, the treasurer and the government of corruption based on a fake e-mail.

Turnbull began to feel the full might and pressure of the government machinery. A full-scale police investigation was now underway. Then came the revelation that Turnbull and Abetz had been meeting Grech privately - lending credence to the belief that Grech leaked them information even on earlier occasions. Turnbull hasn't denied meeting Grech and suddenly, gone was his confidence - he stumbled and stuttered through the 24-hour media cycle and intense questioning.

The hunter had turned the hunted. What's more, the government is now starting an inquiry into a $10 million (Dh36.7 million) allocation made by Turnbull (later reneged by the current government) to a company on his last day as minister in the previous government - against Treasury advice. Allegedly, a senior executive in the company is Turnbull's neighbour, a 'mate'.

This week, the polls were out again. Turnbull took a hammering while Rudd's popularity went up. According to three independent polls, Turnbull's approval rating is at a historic low for an opposition leader. His disapproval rating beats his approval by a factor of 2.

But, he's not out for the count yet. He's still standing. He's got to come off his corner with renewed vigour and fresh perspectives when parliament resumes in a few weeks.

Yes, a week is a long time in politics.

Eapen Verghese is a Sydney-based business consultant who writes on Australian affairs.