Australian premier faces calls to quit

Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his treasurer are rejecting opposition calls to resign over their relationship with a car dealer which commentators say has created the 19-month-old government’s biggest political crisis.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said Mr Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan repeatedly misled Parliament this month when they denied that Mr Rudd’s friend, car dealer John Grant, had been given special attention when he applied for a government loan to cope with the global credit crunch.