SUBJECTS: OzCar, Auditor-General's report, RBA interest rates decision
MARIUS BENSON:
Chris Bowen, the Government is sounding very confident about the outcome of the Auditor-General's assessment of the ‘utegate' scandal. Do you believe that you are in the clear?
CHRIS BOWEN:
We've said from day one, with this scandal, that the Government has acted with the highest standards, and we maintain that that is still the case; having maintained that, are fairly confident that the Auditor-General will uphold that. The member of parliament with the most to answer here is of course the Leader of the Opposition, who must give a full account of his involvement with Mr Grech, of the meeting that has been today alleged that occurred and what role both he and Senator Abetz played in meeting with Mr Grech.
BENSON:
Well the story is far from clear, but it appears that there has been a false document put out; Godwin Grech is reported in The Australian this morning as saying he faked that email. If Malcolm Turnbull was taken in by a con, is he to blame?
BOWEN:
Well the Leader of the Opposition must show considerable judgement in these matters; allegations come to oppositions all the time. The role of a responsible Leader of the Opposition is to sift through the allegations, and to ask questions, appropriately, based on those allegations. Not to race out and call for the resignation of the Prime Minister of Australia on what we now know was a forgery.
So Mr Turnbull has shown a great lack of judgement and the Leader of the Opposition is the alternative Prime Minister of Australia. The Australian people look to both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition for judgement; Mr Turnbull's judgement went AWOL on this occasion – which is a regular pattern in our view.
BENSON:
So for the Government's point of view, what should Mr Turnbull do now?
BOWEN:
Mr Turnbull needs to give a full account today of his involvement with Mr Grech; what was said at that meeting between Mr Grech, himself and Senator Abetz. He needs to confirm that that occurred and a full account of his involvement in discussions with Mr Grech and whether there was any encouragement for Mr Grech to make those statements to the Senate inquiry, and in relation to the email concerned.
If he can't do that, well he must resign today; his position is completely untenable.
BENSON:
One clear truth appears at the moment to be that Godwin Grech's career as a public servant in Treasury is over?
BOWEN:
Well look at the end of the day, employment matters are a matter for the Secretary of the Treasury. We don't get involved in the decisions about individual Treasury officers; the Secretary of the Treasury is the person delegated that responsibility; and I am sure he will deal with it professionally and appropriately.
BENSON:
Are you surprised by these reports today that Godwin Grech as said he faked the email?
BOWEN:
Well very little has surprised me over recent weeks with this scandal, as it has got worse and worse for the opposition. So the main thing now is for Mr Turnbull to come out and give a full account of the involvement the Liberal Party had in this whole sordid affair.
BENSON:
Can I leave that scandal just for a moment and return to the world of finance, because the Reserve Bank is bringing down today a decision on interest rates, and there is a universal expectation that rates will be kept on hold?
BOWEN:
Well, I've seen that commentary, but at the end of the day we don't comment on those movements in rates, that is a matter for the board members of the Reserve Bank to respond developments in the economy as they see fit.
BENSON:
Okay Chris Bowen, we will leave it there. Thanks very much.
BOWEN:
Good on you Marius, good to talk to you.