by Ganesh Sahathevan
Here however is a related issue which involves one M.Turnbull , currently Prime Minister of Australia,and intimately involved in the Major General's serial breaches of the Act: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-18/turnbull-confirms-asio-chief-called-mps/7041706
As mentioned,what was meant to be a defence and promotion of ASIO and Duncan Lewis by Rosie Lewis of The Australian has in fact led to further breaches of the ASIO Act 1979: http://realpolitikasia.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/asio-strikes-back-via-canberra-press_23.html
There seems to be a pattern here of certain persons acting in concert with sections of the Liberal Party,and I am referring to Steve Lewis and Utegate :
A POWERFUL Senate committee has cleared former Treasury official Godwin Grech of the serious charge of contempt - but shed fresh light on the relationship between the controversial public servant and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull.
Treasury documents tabled last night contain references to previously undisclosed emails between Mr Grech and Mr Turnbull, and other correspondence, including one email where Mr Grech suggests he is ''doing some fund-raising for MT''.
The documents suggest Mr Turnbull effectively gave Mr Grech the green light to background News Ltd journalist Steve Lewis about the improper relationship which the official alleged existed between Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Brisbane car dealer John Grant.
Steve Lewis has gone on to work as an advisor to the lobby firm Newgate. The firm's services include media management and government relations.Steve's bio boasts of he having" built an extensive network across the political landscape and within the federal public service."
The MediaWatch investigation into Turnbull, Steve Lewis and Utegate is provided below. The similarities to Rosie Lewis's Duncangate are hard to miss but at least her father gave us scoops,news, and not poorly sourced promotional pieces:
EPISODE 27, 10 AUGUST 2009
Journalists and Their Sources (part 2)
And now back to The Oz's other big story of the week:
Six weeks ago, Media Watch asked whether News Ltd reporter Steve Lewis, who first published the words of Godwin Grech's infamous fake email, still had a duty to protect a source which seemed to have fed him misinformation.
See Media Watch's previous story Journalists and Their Sources
But in his statement to Paul Maley of The Australian last week, Godwin Grech outed himself:
Read Godwin Grech's statement, as published in The Australian online
Next day, Steve Lewis gave us his version:
Read the full article published in The Daily Telegraph [1.2MB]
Well, by then it wasn't much of a disclosure. But Lewis still won't talk about his dealings with the Opposition. It seems certain that he passed on the wording of the email to Senator Eric Abetz, who then read it out to a Senate Committee.
But did Lewis know that Abetz had already been shown the email by Godwin Grech himself? What was going on?
To all such questions, Steve Lewis has simply told Media Watch:
Steve Lewis's role in this extraordinary affair has been subjected to little scrutiny by his colleagues. The games that journalists and politicians play in Parliament House are, it seems, off limits.
Yet the day after the Federal Police revealed that the email was a fake, The Daily Telegraph thundered:
Read the full editorial published in The Daily Telegraph
Well, that's a bit rich, coming from the newspaper which was conned by Godwin Grech just as comprehensively as Turnbull himself.
In his press conference last Tuesday, Malcolm Turnbull said this:
And the next morning, Steve Lewis wrote this:
Can you spot the difference? I can't.
Perhaps the Tele should review its methods, before getting stuck into the Opposition's.
And there's one other matter.
At that same press conference, Malcolm Turnbull insisted that:
Sworn testimony. He said it over, and over:
Mr Turnbull's been talking about Grech's 'sworn testimony' for weeks. And he isn't alone.
On July the 4th, Steve Lewis wrote this about Godwin Grech:
Read the full article published in The Daily Telegraph
At least ten other senior political reporters have also said that Grech gave sworn testimony to the Senate.
Indeed, I said the same thing myself six weeks ago:
Well, we now know that in denying it, Grech was lying to the Committee. That might lay him open to a charge of contempt of the Senate.
But he wasn't on oath.
The office of the Clerk of the Senate tells Media Watch that with the exception of the Privileges Committee...
Read Cleaver Elliott's full response to Media Watch’s questions
A viewer alerted us to my mistake, and we corrected our transcript online weeks ago.
But despite nearly two months of intensive coverage of this affair, nobody in the Parliamentary press gallery has so far picked up on it.
Godwin Grech has never given sworn testimony about the Utegate affair.
If Malcolm Turnbull and Steve Lewis had known that, perhaps they both would have been a bit more cautious.
Why I faked email: Grech
— The Australian, 4th August, 2009
Six weeks ago, Media Watch asked whether News Ltd reporter Steve Lewis, who first published the words of Godwin Grech's infamous fake email, still had a duty to protect a source which seemed to have fed him misinformation.
See Media Watch's previous story Journalists and Their Sources
But in his statement to Paul Maley of The Australian last week, Godwin Grech outed himself:
I spoke with the relevant journalist the following evening on 16 June... I reiterated that it was my belief that an e mail had been sent and that its contents were consistent with the record of exchange which I read out over the phone.
— The Australian online, 4th August, 2009
Read Godwin Grech's statement, as published in The Australian online
Next day, Steve Lewis gave us his version:
Snitch the source of his own demise
I believe there is now a public interest in disclosing the contact I had with Mr Grech, given he now admits to having lied to me.
— The Daily Telegraph, 5th August, 2009
Read the full article published in The Daily Telegraph [1.2MB]
Well, by then it wasn't much of a disclosure. But Lewis still won't talk about his dealings with the Opposition. It seems certain that he passed on the wording of the email to Senator Eric Abetz, who then read it out to a Senate Committee.
But did Lewis know that Abetz had already been shown the email by Godwin Grech himself? What was going on?
To all such questions, Steve Lewis has simply told Media Watch:
I have no comment at all.
— Statement from Steve Lewis (Political Reporter, The Daily Telegraph) to Media Watch, 6th August, 2009
Steve Lewis's role in this extraordinary affair has been subjected to little scrutiny by his colleagues. The games that journalists and politicians play in Parliament House are, it seems, off limits.
Yet the day after the Federal Police revealed that the email was a fake, The Daily Telegraph thundered:
Turnbull went too far, too soon. Government criticism of his judgment and political wisdom is justified... Turnbull needs to review his methods of establishing whether evidence before him is accurate.
— The Daily Telegraph, 23rd June, 2009
Read the full editorial published in The Daily Telegraph
Well, that's a bit rich, coming from the newspaper which was conned by Godwin Grech just as comprehensively as Turnbull himself.
In his press conference last Tuesday, Malcolm Turnbull said this:
Malcolm Turnbull: We relied in good faith on statements made to us by Mr Grech, a senior and well regarded public servant.
— Press conference, Malcolm Turnbull, 4th August, 2009
And the next morning, Steve Lewis wrote this:
With high-level access to Cabinet, and his intimate detail of the OzCar scheme, Mr Grech seemed a highly credible source...
— The Daily Telegraph, 5th August, 2009
Can you spot the difference? I can't.
Perhaps the Tele should review its methods, before getting stuck into the Opposition's.
And there's one other matter.
At that same press conference, Malcolm Turnbull insisted that:
Malcolm Turnbull: No accusation against the Prime Minister was made either by Senator Abetz or myself until after Mr Grech had given his sworn testimony in the Senate...
— Press conference, Malcolm Turnbull, 4th August, 2009
Sworn testimony. He said it over, and over:
I expressly relied solely on the sworn evidence given by Mr Grech before the Senate...
— Press conference, Malcolm Turnbull, 4th August, 2009
Mr Turnbull's been talking about Grech's 'sworn testimony' for weeks. And he isn't alone.
On July the 4th, Steve Lewis wrote this about Godwin Grech:
Under oath he had told a Senate committee hearing that he did recall receiving a short email from Rudd's office...
— The Daily Telegraph, 4th July, 2009
Read the full article published in The Daily Telegraph
At least ten other senior political reporters have also said that Grech gave sworn testimony to the Senate.
Indeed, I said the same thing myself six weeks ago:
Jonathan Holmes: Now let's be clear. We don't know if it was Godwin Grech who read out the email to Steve Lewis. Grech has denied it, on oath.
— ABC, Media Watch episode 21, 29th June, 2009
Well, we now know that in denying it, Grech was lying to the Committee. That might lay him open to a charge of contempt of the Senate.
But he wasn't on oath.
The office of the Clerk of the Senate tells Media Watch that with the exception of the Privileges Committee...
Senate committees do not take evidence on oath or affirmation.
— Response from Cleaver Elliott (Clerk Assistant (Committees) Dept of the Senate) to Media Watch, 30th June, 2009
Read Cleaver Elliott's full response to Media Watch’s questions
A viewer alerted us to my mistake, and we corrected our transcript online weeks ago.
But despite nearly two months of intensive coverage of this affair, nobody in the Parliamentary press gallery has so far picked up on it.
Godwin Grech has never given sworn testimony about the Utegate affair.
If Malcolm Turnbull and Steve Lewis had known that, perhaps they both would have been a bit more cautious.
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