Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I will provide no rhetoric and no great emotion—even though this is an issue that calls for some emotion—but just a clinical analysis of what is going on. On 4 June 2009, in response to a question from the Leader of the Opposition, the Treasurer said in relation to John Grant Motors:

It is the case that Mr Grant made representations to my office, and he was referred on to the SPV—

the special purpose vehicle—

just like everybody else.

Just like everybody else. He went on to say:

I have no idea what the outcome of that was. But it is entirely normal that, in circumstances where car dealers right around this country were potentially going to the wall, car dealers would have been ringing members of parliament, including the Treasurer’s office, asking how they could make contact with this organisation in the Treasury establishing the vehicle. That is the situation—an entirely normal situation, as the Treasury officials have reported in estimates today.

So the Treasurer said in this place that the treatment of Mr Grant was an entirely normal situation and he was treated just like everybody else.

His own words in the Hansard from Monday, 22 June were, ‘We on this side of the House took the responsible decision to involve them in the special purpose vehicle that 240-odd dealerships, most located in rural and regional Australia, would not go to the wall.’ After numerous questions today and over the last few days, for the first time the Treasurer conceded that of the 240 car dealerships—of all the car dealerships, and the Treasurer has referred to many—that were seeking support from the government and that approached his office, approached their members of parliament and approached the Treasury, only one car dealer had a direct conversation with the Treasurer, and that was John Grant from John Grant Motors, who, it has been established without any dispute, donated a car to the Prime Minister. Step 1: only one dealer had the personal phone conversation with the Treasurer.

Step 2. After numerous questions today, which the Treasurer could barely bring himself to answer, it appears that only one car dealer—just one out of 240 that were interested—had details and regular updates about their progress going directly and indisputably to the Treasurer through the Treasurer’s home facsimile.

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