Don Burke a Worthy Nominee

As president of the green sceptics' group, the Australian Environment Foundation, Don Burke had probably already done enough to win a nomination as the Crikey Audacious Lobbyist of the Year without taking a gig with the Gunns pulp mill project but once he did so he clearly became a front runner for this prestigious award.
Mr Burke, who achieved fame with his Burke's Backyard television program, has taken the job as Gunns Limited's paid "honest broker" for its environmentally challenged Tasmanian mill.
"I don't like old-growth logging," he told the Sydney Morning Herald when his paid appointment was announced. "My track record is going into the areas where the greenies will never go, and actually getting better outcomes."
Gunns executive chairman John Gay confirmed Burke's role. "We're committed to sustainable environmental practices and Don will have no problem telling us if we are falling short," he said.
With our Crikey Audacious Lobbyist of the Year Award we are looking for the lobbyist, company or lobby group that in 2008 has employed the most deceptive, misleading, or otherwise problematic lobbying tactics in their attempts to influence political decision-making. The first nominee was Clubs Australia President Peter Newell whose story appeared in Crikey on 22 October.
Entries from readers are encouraged and should be emailed to to boss@crikey.com.au before 14 November. Our judging panel at Crikey will draw up a short list to put to a vote of readers.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Is Scott Morrison getting ahead of Malcolm Turnbull in the GST debate?

Prime Minister Scott Morrison under pressure as the question about knowledge of a rape gets embarrassing

Remembering that Labor only lost last time because of Bill Shorten