Australia's government and opposition leaders were locked in a bitter clash yesterday after an e-mail at the centre of political corruption allegations was declared a fake.
The e-mail linked the office of Kevin Rudd, the prime minister, to a dispute over whether senior government members had exerted undue influence by helping John Grant – a car dealer and friend of Mr Rudd and Wayne Swan, the federal treasurer – gain access to OzCar, a government car- financing fund, earlier this year.
The police disclosure that the e-mail was a fake took the political heat off Mr Rudd. But Mr Swan still faces accusations that he misled parliament by not admitting the full extent of his assistance to Mr Grant.