Gunns Law Suit Against the Wilderness Society & Others

The Gunns 20 and supporters outside Melbourne Supreme Court, 2005. Photo: Peter Casamento

In December 2004, forestry giant Gunns Ltd sued the Wilderness Society, five of its staff, and 14 other conservation groups and individuals (including Green Members of Parliament, Bob Brown and Peg Putt) in relation to the campaign to protect Tasmania's forests. This is the so-called Gunns 20 case.

Somewhat bizarrely, the case about protests over Tasmania’s forests was brought in the Victorian Supreme Court where Gunns claimed some $6.3m damages alleging that the defendants had interfered with the company’s trade and business and contractual relations, and that the conservationists had conspired to injure Gunns by illegal means.

There were nine discreet actions in the claim which include media statements, what Gunns claim was unlawful lobbying of shareholders, customers and governments, and protest actions in the forests and at woodchip mills. And overlaying all these actions has been the notion of a broad campaign (or conspiracy) against Gunns which makes all defendants liable for all actions - even where no direct involvement in particular actions was alleged.

The “Gunns20” Defendants

1.  The Wilderness Society National Campaign Director, Alec Marr
2.  The Wilderness Society Tasmania Campaign Coordinator, Geoff Law
3.  The Wilderness Society CEO, Russell Hanson *
4.  The Wilderness Society former Corporate Campaigner, Leanne Minshull
5.  The Wilderness Society Audio-Visual Producer, and award winning film maker, Heidi Douglas
6.  The Wilderness Society Inc.
7.  Activist and Huon Valley resident, Adam Burling
8.  Activist and journalism student, Louise Morris
9.  Artist and musician, Simon Brown
10.  Senator Bob Brown *
11.  Greens Tasmanian MP, Peg Putt *
12.  Long time environmentalist and author, Helen Gee *
13.  Activist Ben Morrow
14.  Lucaston grandmother, Lou Geraghty
15. Sydney law student, Neil Funnell
16.  Independent film maker, Brian Dimmick
17.  Huon Valley Environment Centre
18.  Burnie Dentist, Peter Pullinger *
19.  Hobart physician, Frank Nicklason
20.  Doctors for Native Forests Inc. *

* indicates defendants no longer in the case.

In July 2005, an amended statement of claim was lodged but the claims were struck out by Justice Bongiorno, and a third version of the statement of claim was lodged in August 2005. The second and third versions claimed a further $500,000 for the alleged conspiracy/campaign against Gunns, but the third version was struck out in August 2006.

In November 2006 Gunns lodged the 4th version of their claims, dropping 4 causes of action including all the claims over the "corporate campaign" and discontinuing against 5 defendants, and bringing a separate case against Frank Nicklason so that there are now 2 cases - one over disparate forest protests and a separate case over 1 defamation claim. Defences in the original case were filed in May 2007.

For most of the rest of 2007 and 2008 the parties were locked in a battle over disclosure of documents. It was time-consuming and led to the waste of much paper, but the end result (on appeal) was that Gunns was denied access to a range of documents they were seeking from The Wilderness Society. The judge accepted that the documents, including minutes of meetings, finance, travel and phone records, and contact details of a number of people were irrelevant and confidential. Click here for the judgment.

During those two years settlements were reached between a number of parties to the case, leaving just 11 defendants by the time the original case went to mediation early in 2009. At mediation the Wilderness Society had a great victory and Gunns dropped the case. The details of the settlement were that:

• Gunns discontinued the case against the Wilderness Society and its (former) officers, Alec Marr, Leanne Minshull and Heidi Douglas
• Gunns released the Wilderness Society from liability from all actions in any version of the statement of claim
• Gunns paid the Wilderness Society $350K towards TWS’s costs in the case
• The Wilderness Society paid Gunns $25K in damages for a protest in the Styx Valley November 2003.

The case which had begun with Gunns claiming $3.5m in damages from the Wilderness Society and its officers ended with them paying us net over $300,000.

The case continues against the remaining 6 defendants, as well as the separate case against Frank Nicklason. They still need your support. Please donate directly to the defendants at http://www.gunns20.org.

Despite the great victory in the case, the defence of it was long and had substantial impacts on the Wilderness Society and threatened our right to free speech and our member’s rights to join together to protect the environment. For more details on the history and impact of the case, and its implications for the community’s right to participate in public affairs, see our submission to the Federal government’s national human rights consultation.

The implications of this case for free speech and the community's ability to protect Tasmania's forests are set out in full in the Wilderness Society report Gunning for Change: The Need for Public Participation Law Reform.

For a full chronology of the case and copies of court documents go to the Friends of Forests and Free Speech website.

Civil Liberties and Legal Reform

The Gunns20 case was launched at a time when the Tasmanian forest issue was the centre of major political controversy. Conservationists had long protested the logging and woodchipping of old growth forests, the burning and 1080 poison which were part of standard forestry practice, and the consequences of these actions for the forests and wildlife of Tasmania.

The campaign stepped up in mid-2004 with large rallies and public meetings across the country on World Environment Day. The widespread community concern led to Tasmania’s forests becoming a major issue in a Federal Election in October 2004 where both sides of politics committed to protect the forests (albeit to different degrees). When the case was launched, the arguments over the details of the government’s forest package had not been resolved. Just days after the writ was issued, Gunns announced the controversial proposal to build a major pulp mill in the north of Tasmania.

In response to the case, the Wilderness Society has repeatedly called for law reform to protect free speech and the community's ability to take action to protect environmental icons like Tasmania's forests. In April 2006, The Wilderness Society published a report on the issue: Gunning for Change: The Need for Public Participation Law Reform. That report played a vital role in getting Australia’s first legislation aimed at controlling litigation brought for the purpose of silencing public participation. Click here for more information on the ACT legislation.

Given our experience in the Gunns case, the Wilderness Society has also supported a Charter of Human Rights for Australia, although ultimately purpose built legislation is also need to protect public participation from the threat posed by civil law suits. The reasons are set out in the Wilderness Society submission to the national human rights consultation process.

Copies of Gunns statement of claims, transcripts of court hearings and more information on the defendants can be found at www.gunns20.org - the website of The Friends of Forests and Free Speech who are supporting of the defendants.

Advice for environmentalists facing similar law suits can be found at the website of the Wilderness Society’s former Legal Coordinator.