Peter Rolfe and James Campbell SUNDAY HERALD SUN OCTOBER 31 2010
THE Greens candidate for Melbourne in the state election is working for a company that mines "dirty" brown coal.
Barrister Brian Walters is running for the key inner-city seat in the November 27 election while able to earn up to $7000 a day defending La Trobe Valley mining partner Downer EDI in a workplace death case.
And financial documents show Mr Walters has also bought into the Queensland resources boom by investing in industrial factories at Rockhampton.
ALP state secretary Nick Reece said: "The Greens party always talks about dirty coal, but it is obviously not dirty enough to stop him seeking to profit from it."
Melbourne MP and Education Minister Bronwyn Pike branded Mr Walters "a hypocrite".
Mr Walters denied any conflict of interest.
"I've got a duty as a barrister to accept briefs in an area in which I can practise. It would be an ethical breach for me to turn it down," he said.
He denied he was cashing in on the mining industry, saying he made a real estate investment in a "little series of warehouses" because his brother was the developer.
The revelations came as the Liberals' candidate for Seymour Mike Laker pulled out of the election race.
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