Well Mr Crean, did you go into bat for Gunns?

My impeccable, highly-placed source, says that at the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne last month Minister for Trade Simon Crean buttonholed one of the top execs of of the National Australia Bank … and tried to talk him into supporting Gunns pulp mill in the Tamar Valley.
It seems jobs, jobs, jobs was the mantra. And no doubt, in view of his portfolio, Crean had balance of payments figures rolling around his head.

My source says Minister Crean attempted to convince the NAB exec that the pulp mill was the best thing since sliced veneer for job creation in Tasmania.

But our NAB man was having none of it.

He said that there was no way NAB would be involved because of the controversial nature of the project and the damage that it would do the bank’s image; echoing Gunns banker ANZ’s decision to wash its hands of any involvement.

Fascinating that a federal minister would act as a lobbyist for Gunns. Fascinating, but not surprising. You hear of ex-pollies going into the lobbying bussiness but how compromised and desperate are they that one would do so while still in office. It is, however, revelatory of the truth that the political and union establishment is intimately wedded to this controversial private company.

And it does make you wonder how many official and unofficial lobbyists there are out there.

Crean was a guest of NAB. Was Gunns Chairman John Gay in the same corporate box?