AFP defends disclosure of fake email

The nation's top cop has defended the federal police decision to reveal the email at
the centre of the OzCar affair was a fake during the middle of its investigation.
And Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has defiantly refused to counter suggestions he made a
mistake by accepting a free ute from Queensland car dealer John Grant.
Despite its ongoing inquiry, Australian Federal Police publicly revealed the email
was a forgery only days after it was called in to investigate.
The opposition had seized on the existence of the email to pursue its case that Mr
Rudd was giving special favours to Mr Grant, a friend and neighbour.
AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty told reporters it was in the public interest that
ongoing speculation about the issue wasn't based on a false premise.
"I thought it was in the public interest to at least allow the public to know that
that aspect of the inquiry had been completed," he said.
While the OzCar affair and its fallout has consumed political debate for nearly two
weeks, issues such as health and immigration are now starting to return to centre
stage.
The coalition is demanding the Rudd government keep a pre-election promise to take
control of public hospitals if they weren't up to scratch, and it's continuing to
hammer Labor over its immigration policy.
While the focus on the OzCar affair is waning, Mr Rudd still won't brook any
suggestion he might have been ill-advised to accept the ute at the centre of the
affair.
"Can I say that when this ute was lent to us, it was fully declared on the pecuniary
interest register," he told ABC Radio.
"(It involved) no particular error on my part and I think that speaks for itself."
He took issue with some elements of the media for having given the forged email
credibility in the first place.
On the other side of the political divide, Liberals were trying to douse any
flickering discontent over Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull's handling of the
OzCar affair.
And they are playing down suggestions some MPs might be sidelined in an expected
frontbench reshuffle by Mr Turnbull, aimed at restoring voter confidence in the
coalition.
Tony Abbott, one of the coalition's best performers last week, is expected to do
well in any reshuffle.
The speculation is he might be in line for Chris Pyne's job as leader of opposition
business in the House of Representatives.
Mr Pyne cast doubt on the likelihood of that happening.
"My colleagues tell me I'm doing a good job ... I think Malcolm thinks I'm doing a
good job as well," he told Sky News.
"I haven't heard any suggestion that should be changed."
Mr Abbott poured cold water on talk he was looking for a new job, either in charge
of parliamentary tactics, or in the hot-button portfolio of immigration, where
Sharman Stone is failing to gain traction.
"It's a job which is currently being done and being done well," he told AAP.
"I'm not expecting it and I'm not seeking it. I wouldn't even be sure there's going
to be any reshuffle."