From a rusty ute to a Hills road wreck

What a week it was.

So many nationally important issues to contemplate. Like the jail sentence for Cronulla Sharks’ Greg Bird for a drunken glassing attack on his girlfriend. Will he do his eight months, or get off on appeal? Will she join the cast of Home and Away?

And what about the $20-million Terminus Street bypass, the eastern ring road of Castle Hill? It’s a fiasco, with crisis meetings, lawyers at five paces and gamesmanship galore.

The Hills Council wants the road approved, the RTA is refusing on safety grounds even though it endorsed the original plan and Castle Hill Day Surgery, in a new development, wants to expand into the council car park.

This confounded road running almost a year late now is short in length but its role as Blackspot Central is long on controversy and very tiresome.

Then there’s the so-called ute affair. It looked easy to follow, at first. A strung-out Treasury wonk in charge of the Government’s OzCar scheme a $2-billion fund to help struggling car-dealers tells a Senate committee he recollected an email from the Prime Minister’s office.

It urged favourable treatment for John Grant, a Brissy used-car salesman, who lent Kevin Rudd, who happened to be a neighbour, an old ute for the elections.

Well, the Treasury geek thought he remembered but maybe he was mistaken. Or was he? He wasn’t sure. Then again, maybe he knew more than he let on.

The Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull, went for Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan like a cobra, accusing them of misleading the Parliament over the issue, a sackable offence.

It became the Spycatcher solicitor v the God Botherer, with people joking: Whom do you believe the used-car salesman or the politician?

Then the email turned out to be “a fake, a forgery, a fraud” (got it?) emanating from Treasury and the attack backfired like a ute with a potato up its exhaust.

Rudd suddenly took over the steering wheel and Turnbull was left with mashed spud on his face.

The question of the PM’s credibility and judgement shifted to Turnbull.

From the Backfire came the Backdown.

Turnbull grudgingly admitted on ABC Radio last Tuesday he was wrong on Rudd anyway.

The affair turned on Swan but ask yourself: outside Canberra, does anyone really care?

Let’s put the rusty ute in the wrecker’s yard and lock the gates.

Last 5 posts by Col Allison

• Ailments? Take your pick - the Rees Government is terminal - July 29th, 2009
• When a $243 fine is penalty enough for drivers - July 15th, 2009
• There's no harm in fantasising about sudden wealth - July 6th, 2009