Revealing details of Campaign Costello

Thursday, 01 November, 2007, 12.01am

Dear Mayne Report subscribers and a few extras,
we've put together what we hope will be a very well visited video on the Perpetual AGM in Sydney yesterday:

Despite the heavy security, our cameraman handed over the wrong tape when his bag was searched so the $40 billion fund manager got to listen to some nice piano concertos and we got the audio from the meeting, which features in the video.

Chairman Bob Savage told the meeting there was no sign that Perpetual investors were upset about the money manager having a 15% stake in pulp mill proponent Gunns. Well, we've got news for Bob, as this email from a Perpetual customers reveals:

To: investments@perpetual.com.au; media@perpetual.com.au

"I am an investor with a super fund ($300k) managed by Perpetual. I have just learned of your companies investment in Gunns, from a report of your AGM in the SMH today.

I am presently overseas but on my return in two weeks, my priority will be to reinvest my funds elsewhere. While you manage only a relatively small investment on my behalf, I had been anticipating increasing it substantially with a SMF presently invested overseas.

As I find such investments untenable you leave me and no doubt many others who have similar convictions no choice.

Stephen Heydt

COSTELLO TILT

It took many hours but today we finally gathered the 50 signatures from voters in the electorate of Higgins necessary to get on the ballot as an independent candidate against Peter Costello at the 24 November federal poll.

The video announcing the tilt from outside Kevin Rudd's favourite New York strip club has been moved to here.

More importantly, I'm probably having a chat with Radio National's Fran Kelly shortly after 7.30am later this morning, at which point the exercise will be completely in the public arena.

As part of the background, we've published this complete list of the electoral record that makes me "Australia's most unsuccessful candidate".

WA News on 9 November will be tilt 36 and we've just published this excellent video getting stuck into their voting rorts.

The Federal poll will be tilt 37 and the first goal is to expunge the record of that disappointing 1.33% in the upper house at the Victorian election 12 months ago.

I spent 90 minutes with South Australian political giant killer Nick Xenophon yesterday and it was most amusing to see Tim Costello so effusively endorsing Nick on The 7.30 Report last night.

We've done a fun video interview driving Nick from the Channel Ten studio in South Yarra to the airport yesterday which you'll see in the coming days.

It is very heartening that Nick is taking a big interest in shareholder rights. I've appointed him and a constituent as proxies for the Commonwealth Bank AGM in Sydney on 7 November, where they plan to draw attention to some brutal tactics by the bank's debt recovery team.

Time for some shut-eye.

Do ya best, Stephen Mayne