Former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid did nothing wrong in contacting a senior bureaucrat over leases at Sydney's Circular Quay, his barrister says.
Sydney silk Braddon Hughes SC says Obeid took an interest in the plight of Circular Quay business owners long before securing two leases of his own.
The 72-year-old is standing trial at the NSW Supreme Court charged with wilful misconduct in public office while he was a state upper house MP.
It's alleged that between August and November 2007, Obeid contacted newly-installed Maritime Authority deputy chief executive Paul Dunn, whom he had known for some years, asking him to meet with a representative of Circular Quay tenants over a protracted lease dispute.
The court has heard leaseholders were anxious to negotiate new agreements directly with the authority, rather than allowing them to be publicly contested as planned.
The crown alleges Obeid failed to disclose his own private interests in two of the properties, Cafe Sorrentino and Quay Eatery, which his family purchased for $2 million in 2002.
The prosecution argues his failure to do so was a "grave breach of duty" which "strikes at the heart" of parliamentary standards.
But Mr Hughes said his client lobbied colleagues about the Circular Quay leaseholders securing long-term agreements back in the mid-1990s.
"He expressed that to the appropriate minister well before he gained any interest in the lease," Mr Hughes said.
He told jurors Obeid didn't advocate any particular course of action when he approached Mr Dunn, and a meeting which later took place was conducted "strictly by the book".
"The accused did no more than to ask Mr Dunn to meet with a mediator to hear what he had to say on behalf of a number of tenants," Mr Hughes said.
"He did not act improperly ... certainly not to warrant criminal prosecution simply by asking Mr Dunn to meet with (mediator) Mr (Paul) Scanlan."
One of the accused's sons, Damien Obeid, told the court he was the primary negotiator in purchasing the two cafes on behalf of a family business named Circular Quay Restaurants Pty Ltd.
He said he never spoke to his father about the purchase but knew he wasn't happy about it.
The court heard the pair never spoke about lease issues that later ensued, but the concern was discussed among Obeid's sons.
Damien Obeid said he wasn't aware his father was a beneficiary of a family trust linked to the cafes.
He said the family's name was kept off public records concerning the company to avoid unwanted attention.
John Abood, Obeid's brother-in-law, said he managed the family's two waterfront cafes and never once spoke to the accused about them.
The trial is set to resume on Monday.
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