Thanks to you, a great day for our forests and free speech

You might have heard our fantastic news – on 16 March, Gunns Ltd’s four-year long legal action against The Wilderness Society ended with Gunns offering to pay us $350,000.

Above is a quick video update from The Wilderness Society's Strategic Campaigns Coordinator, Virginia Young, as a thank you from us to you.
*Trouble viewing video clip, click here >>

This is an incredible result, considering the logging giant originally claimed we owed them $3.5 million in damages!

In the settlement, Gunns will pay The Wilderness Society $350,000 in costs and discontinue its legal action against The Wilderness Society and individuals either currently or formally with The Wilderness Society – Alec Marr, Leanne Minshull and Heidi Douglas.


"This is a significant win for free speech in Australia. The fact that Gunns now has to pay money to The Wilderness Society after claiming for the past four years that The Wilderness Society owed it $3.5 million demonstrates that the legal action was an empty case from the beginning," former defendant and The Wilderness Society's Executive Director Alec Marr said.

Thank you for your amazing support during this turbulent time. Whether you took action online, made a donation, took part in peaceful protests, you made a difference.

The Wilderness Society has given no undertakings to Gunns and is free to continue to campaign to protect Tasmania’s forests. We will continue to stand up for the most magnificent forests on Earth, and stop Gunns from trying to force its polluting pulp mill on the Tasmanian community.

Thank you for your support,
from all at The Wilderness Society

Further Reading:

• Read more about the history of the Gunns 20 case >>
• Gunns protest claim collapses
  (The Age online - 16 March 2009)
• The Wilderness Society wins 'David and Goliath' battle against Gunns
  (ABC online - PM on Radio National Transcript)
  
• Gunns Law Suit Against The Wilderness Society & Others
• Missing their mark
  (The Age - 19 March 2009)