Mr Turnbull says Mr Cousins is an "arrogant bully" who is not fit to serve on the board of a public company.Ah yes, Malcolm "Australia's richest parliamentarian" Turnbull would know all about using money for political influence, wouldn't he? Turnbull, who successfully defended Kerry Packer against the "Goanna" allegations, bought his way into the once-safe Liberal seat of Wentworth by spending $600,000 to defeat the previously safe Liberal incumbent.
"What Mr Cousins is proposing to do is to use his money to pervert the lawful consideration of this issue and in effect, to corrupt it by using what he described in his own words as raw political power to compel a Minister or try to bully a Minister," he said.
And even Bill Heffernan say Turnbull's decision to allow the mill was influenced by money:
Senator Heffernan supports the pulp mill but he says Gunns has too much influence on the decisions being made by the state and federal governments.
"There is obviously the economic intimidation of politicians at work, and I would shudder at the thought of agreeing to a process for some sort of economic convenience that had us all look back in 100 years time and say how in the bloody hell did we let that happen?" he said.
