A suggestion of an illicit political " favour for a mate " has Australia enthralled !
It has all the ingredients of an Jeffrey Archer novel. A car dealer gives a rusty old utility vehicle to the Prime Minister for use as a campaign office - and is rewarded with special treatment when he seeks access to car finance.
Proof it said to be in an email sent from the Prime Minister's department - but so far nobody has been able to produce this email !
Now the police are involved and the search is on for this elusive message hidden somewhere in cyberspace. The scene seems to be set for a bunch of clueless coppers trawling through a medium they neither know nor understand - in search of something recorded on an individual machine's hard drive !
The likely outcome would be a nil all draw !
The government would suffer some discomfort from the admission that the Prime Minister did receive a free ute from a car dealer, and Treasurer Wayne Swan did buy a vehicle for this dealer, but insists he paid normal retail price.
The Opposition's claim is supported by the remarks of a senior official in charge of the OzCar scheme, Godwin Grech, who thinks he remembers an email from the PM's office requesting that the car dealer's search for finance be assisted.
Many will question the involvement of a highly paid public servant in such a controversy. Normally the public service studiously avoids comment on matter involving politics - and once so quoted their career is finished !
It should also be remembered that this whole affair has a striking resemblance to the " Watergate " scandal that ultimately unseated President Richard Nixon.
This stemmed from a minor crime of little consequence. That developed into an earth shattering investigation that led to the cover-up that ensnared a vast number of people scattered across both sides of the political spectrum.
Those involved should consider an appropriate adage: " from little acorns - mighty oak trees grow ! "
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