Rudd calls for Turnbull resignation 

The discovery of a fake email at the centre of the OzCar affair (Ute-gate) has undermined the opposition's calls for the prime minister and treasurer to resign.
  
In the first day of parliament since the affair blew up following a Senate inquiry, both sides dug in for a heated debate lasting nearly five hours.
  
But while MPs were hurling invective at one another across the chamber, Australian Federal Police executed a search warrant at the south Canberra home of Treasury official Godwin Grech, who told the Senate inquiry of the email.
  
The police investigation found the email, purportedly sent from Dr Andrew Charlton, a senior economics adviser in the prime minister's office, to Grech asking him to help Ipswich Kia dealer John Grant gain access to finance, was a forgery.
  
It effectively negated the opposition's claim the prime minister used his office to help a mate, Grant, who is a neighbour of Rudd's and who provided him with an old ute to use in his electorate.
  
The opposition attempted to keep its focus on Treasurer Wayne Swan, who it believes has not satisfactorily answered claims he misled parliament over representations for Grant to Treasury officials.
  
But Rudd turned the tables on Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull on Monday night, calling on senior Liberals including Brendan Nelson, Peter Costello and Nick Minchin to tap him on the shoulder and tell him to apologise and resign.
  
"The entire basis for his allegation, this email, is a fraud, it is a fake, it is a fabrication," Rudd told the Nine Network.

Rudd backed Swan saying that all of the car dealers who had approached the government "were dealt with in the same way".
  
He said the use of a forged document raised questions about Turnbull's character.
  
"He does not have the character to occupy the highest office in the land," Rudd said.
  
Rudd also requested on Monday that Auditor-General Ian McPhee extend his investigation into the email to representations to car dealers by Swan's office and to Treasury.

McPhee is due to report to parliament on July 31.
  
The AFP investigation also threatened to reach the opposition leader's office with police confirming they were keen to interview Paul Lindwall, a former adviser in Turnbull's office.

Lindwall has denied any involvement with the fake email.
  
A police statement said they had conducted a "forensic investigation" of computers at Grech's home and at the Department of Treasury.
  
"Preliminary results of those forensic examinations indicate that the email referred to at the centre of this investigation has been created by a person or persons other than the purported author of the email," the police statement said.
  
Police said a 42-year-old man from suburban Calwell in Canberra had been interviewed in relation to the matter and that the investigation was continuing.
  
Moving a censure motion in parliament, which was defeated along party lines, Turnbull said the case against Swan did not rest or rely on the email allegedly sent from the prime minister's office to Grech. 

He called on the government to set up a judicial inquiry into the OzCar affair with a brief to examine the relationships of Rudd's and Swan's offices, Treasury and car dealerships.
  
But Swan's office released 22 emails on Monday night to and from Dr Charlton and Grech, other officers in Swan's office and Treasury officials including secretary Ken Henry and his deputy Jim Wright.
  
They show communication between officials concerning two unnamed car dealers - their names were blacked out in the emails provided by Swan's office - on how efforts were proceeding in terms of the dealers gaining finance.

Swan said on Monday night that he stood by his remarks in parliament on June 4 that many representations were made on behalf of many dealers and all were dealt with in the same way and passed on to Treasury.
  
"This correspondence goes beyond doubt that other car dealers were receiving as much, if not more, attention from the Treasury as it went about its proper task of assisting dealers to find alternative finance," Swan said in a statement.
  
His comments were backed on Sunday by Motor Trades Association of Australia executive director Michael Delaney, who said he was aware of many dealers receiving the same treatment as Grant.

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