Macquarie Bank urged to beware of pulp mill's 'risky business'

The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc
Media Release  
23 July 2008

The Wilderness Society today urged the Macquarie Bank to beware of the risks associated with the pulp mill proposed by Gunns for Tasmania’s Tamar Valley.

The Macquarie Bank is widely believed to be considering helping Gunns raise the finance for the pulp mill in the wake of the ANZ Bank’s rejection of the project. Today, the Wilderness Society held a colourful demonstration outside Macquarie Bank’s AGM at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, with dancers emulating Tom Cruise in the film ‘Risky Business’ while singing lyrics warning shareholders of the pulp mill’s failings.

“The massive environmental impacts of the pulp mill pose a huge threat to the reputation of whichever institution attempts to fund it,” said the Wilderness Society’s Tasmanian Campaign Coordinator, Geoff Law.

“The project does not enjoy broad community support in Tasmania, where opinion polls show that a majority of people oppose it,” said Mr Law. “Some of the biggest protest rallies ever seen in Tasmania were directed at the pulp mill and its backers in the Government.”

Mr Law said that high-profile casualties amongst supporters of the pulp mill included the former Mayor of Launceston, the former Federal MHR for Bass, and the former Premier of Tasmania, Paul Lennon. He said that in each case the electorate had punished supporters of the pulp mill.

“This pulp mill has proven to be poison for its backers in the political arena. Its environmental impacts promise to do the same for financial backers of the mill as well.”

Mr Law said that the environmental impacts of the pulp mill include the destruction of over 200,000 hectares of native forest; the discharge of effluents containing organochlorines into Bass Strait; the release of emissions into the air of the Tamar Valley, an area notorious for temperature inversions which trap pollutants; the consumption of vast quantities of fresh water both for the pulping process and for the mill’s plantations; and loss of wildlife, including rare and threatened species, resulting from the above impacts. Logging activities to feed the pulp mill will release massive amounts of greenhouse gas pollution.