Perpetual investors targetted at AGM

The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc
Media Release
28 October 2008

The Wilderness Society today held a protest at Perpetual’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Sydney to distribute information to Perpetual shareholders about their ownership of Gunns Ltd and the role they can play in reforming the company.

“We are calling on Perpeutal shareholders to lobby Perpetual to take immediate and decisive action to reform the destructive environmental, social and governance practices of Gunns Ltd,” said Paul Oosting, pulp mill campaigner for The Wilderness Society.

“Perpetual owns approximately 17% of Gunns and as such has the responsibility and power to act to reform Gunns, which has been responsible for so much damage to the environment and community in Tasmania,” said Mr Oosting.

“Gunns has turned out to be a terrible investment for Perpetual. In the past four years the majority of the shareholder value of Gunns has been wiped away by Gunns’ Board as it has tried and failed to build one of the most controversial and ill-conceived developments in Australia, the Tamar Valley pulp mill,” said Mr Oosting.

The Wilderness Society distributed a brochure to Perpetual shareholders which includes research by financial advisory firm Innovest Strategic Value Advisors which shows that $1000 invested in Gunns in September 2003 is now worth $450, whereas a similar investment in the broader ASX200 index would have netted $1,560. The research also shows Gunns’ poor performance on environmental, social and governance criteria over the same period.