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| Australia row over 'fake' e-mail | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Australian MPs are locked in a fiery debate over claims that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tried to help a car-dealer friend get a government loan. | Australian MPs are locked in a fiery debate over claims that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tried to help a car-dealer friend get a government loan. |
| The debate is focusing on an e-mail purportedly from the prime minister's office asking the Treasury to deal with the loan request "asap". | |
| Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull said the e-mail showed an "abuse of power" and Mr Rudd must resign. | |
| But in a preliminary investigation, police said the e-mail had been faked. | |
| Analysts say it is the biggest test Mr Rudd has faced since he was elected in 2007. | Analysts say it is the biggest test Mr Rudd has faced since he was elected in 2007. |
| Escalating row | |
| The row has been brewing for weeks, since it emerged that car dealer John Grant lent a pick-up truck to Mr Rudd for use in his constituency. | The row has been brewing for weeks, since it emerged that car dealer John Grant lent a pick-up truck to Mr Rudd for use in his constituency. |
| Mr Grant is a friend of the prime minister, and opposition politicians believe Mr Rudd tried to help him secure money from a Treasury fund called OzCar to help his business deal with the global economic slump. | Mr Grant is a friend of the prime minister, and opposition politicians believe Mr Rudd tried to help him secure money from a Treasury fund called OzCar to help his business deal with the global economic slump. |
| The row escalated on Friday, when Treasury official Godwin Grech told a Senate committee he thought he could remember receiving an e-mail regarding funding for the car salesman, but added he had no proof. | |
| We have a treasurer who has used his considerable influence to get a favour for a mate. And not just any mate - a mate who is a benefactor of the prime minister Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull | |
| Police were called in to search Mr Grech's home on Monday and specialists examined his computer equipment. | |
| "Preliminary results of those forensic examinations indicate that the e-mail referred to at the centre of this investigation has been created by a person or persons other than the purported author of the e-mail,'' the Australian Federal Police said in a statement. | |
| The row forced a special session of parliament on Monday in which the two sides traded insults and demanded resignations. | |
| Mr Rudd had given Mr Turnbull an ultimatum to produce the e-mail in the parliamentary session, or resign. | Mr Rudd had given Mr Turnbull an ultimatum to produce the e-mail in the parliamentary session, or resign. |
| "It is false, fake and a forgery. There can be no graver offence in public political life than to be in the business of communicating a document that is false, out there, through the media, in order to bring your political opponent down," Mr Rudd said. | |
| He told parliament the opposition had failed to provide the evidence so had "no alternative now but to stand up and apologise and resign". | He told parliament the opposition had failed to provide the evidence so had "no alternative now but to stand up and apologise and resign". |
| But Mr Turnbull mounted his own attack, telling parliament: "What we have here is a shocking abuse of power. | |
| "We have a treasurer who has used his considerable influence to get a favour for a mate. And not just any mate - a mate who is a benefactor of the prime minister," he said. | |
| Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey demanded Mr Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan should both stand down. |