Until last week, this curious case of the $37 million flea tackling the $35 billion elephant had slipped out of the news.

But during a casual visit to a judicial hearing in Perth, Dryblower received a startling reminder of the battle between Cazaly (the flea) and its elephant, the mining giant, Rio Tinto.

Very little of Cazaly’s cameo appearance received mention in media reports, which is understandable given the nature of the hearing, and the fact that bigger fish were being fried on the same day.

So, in the interests of informing followers of the mining world this is what happened, where, and between whom.

The event in question was a hearing of the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia (CCC). The exchange which caught Dryblower’ ear was between counsel assisting the commission, Stephen Hall, and a leading political player, Noel Crichton-Browne (known to his friends as NCB).

Cazaly, it must be said immediately, is not the target of the inquiry. The prime aim of the investigation is into the activities of lobbyists, and their influence on government.

Over the past few months in Perth, revelations from the CCC inquiry have exposed leaks to lobbyists from the highest levels of government, cost several politicians their positions and triggered a by-election.

Cazaly received a mention because it had engaged the services of NCB to lobby on its behalf, apparently to get a parliamentary inquiry into the iron ore industry.

For readers not familiar with the background to this curious story, Cazaly pegged a potentially valuable iron ore claim called Shovelanna, but lost it when the WA Government returned the claim to its earlier owner, Rio Tinto. Cazaly cried foul. The Government said it was simply doing what it believed to be in the best interests of the state – which just happened to also be in the best interests of Rio Tinto.

In the CCC hearing, it was revealed that NCB lobbied a member of the Opposition, Anthony Fels, suggesting that an inquiry be held into the iron ore industry. Fels is a member of the powerful estimates committee of State Parliament.

NCB’s lobbying for Cazaly led to this exchange between Hall and NCB:

Hall: When you say you’ve suggested it [the inquiry] have you done more than suggest it? Have you helped him [Fels] with possible terms of reference for the inquiry?

NCB: Yes, I have.

Hall: In fact you dictated those terms of reference?

NCB: Yes.

Dryblower will not bore his reader with the rest of the exchange, simply point out that no inquiry has been launched, yet, and suggest that there might be a lot of fallout from that exchange between Hall and NCB.

For starters, it is fascinating that Cazaly should use as a lobbyist a controversial conservative former member of parliament in NCB to pursue its case against the Government and Rio Tinto.

Secondly, that a lobbyist was dictating terms of reference for a fellow conservative to tackle a left-wing government.

Thirdly, that the effort devoted to this curious political diversion by a small mining company appears to have been a complete waste of time and money.

Cazaly’s case has not been advanced, and the Government will now be even more opposed to Cazaly than it was in past given the role of NCB and Fels.

The only winner, and that’s marginal, is Rio Tinto which has its foot back on Shovelanna, and is watching safely from the sidelines as politics muddy the case being mounted against it by Cazaly.

Politics and business always have been, and always will be the equivalent of trying to mix oil and water.