The Prime Minister has ruled out referring to NSW Police an alleged forged document that Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor used in a political attack against Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
Labor has demanded Scott Morrison refer the matter to police and said it would if the Prime Minister did not.
That looks likely now the PM’s office has told the ABC that Mr Morrison has no intention of referring the case to police.
Mr Taylor faced sustained questioning in Parliament on Thursday over figures he used in a letter to Cr Moore, accusing City of Sydney councillors of racking up a $15 million travel bill at a time when the organisation was trying to spruik its green credentials.
He told the House of Representatives the document he relied on was the council’s 2017-18 annual report, which “was drawn directly from the City of Sydney’s website” and “was publicly available”.
The Liberal frontbencher used the $15 million figure in a letter to Cr Moore at the end of September, where he argued cutting down on “unnecessary air travel” would provide a “real opportunity for your council to make a meaningful contribution to reducing Australia’s emissions”.
Details of the letter were published in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper at the time.
The Lord Mayor took aim at Mr Taylor, accusing him of using a “fraudulent document” and stating the Council’s annual report showed a travel bill in the range of $6000.
She told The Guardian Australia that the report had not been altered since it was first uploaded to the council’s website in November 2018.
Yesterday, shadow energy minister Mark Butler and shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus demanded Mr Morrison refer the matter to NSW Police, asking for an investigation to be launched into the alleged forgery.
The pair threatened Labor would call on police to investigate if the Prime Minister did not make the request within 24 hours.
“This document is a forgery,” Mr Butler said on Thursday.
“It is a very serious forgery because it is made with the intent to influence the exercise of a public duty by a publicly elected official.”
Labor told the ABC on Friday it would refer the matter to NSW Police but the timeframe for when that will happen remains unclear.
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