Your tax dollars could prop up Gunns' pulp mill

Australian Forestry Minister Tony Burke has told Parliament that he wants to see the Gunns pulp mill built. This opens up the risk of your tax dollars being used to prop up this destructive project.

In the Rudd government’s first parliamentary statement on Australia’s forests, the Minister for Forestry, Tony Burke, said:

The Tasmanian Government has signed away 20 years access to public native forests, promising the pulp mill 1.5 million tonnes of woodchips each year. The Upper Florentine. Photo: Rob Blakers

Mr Burke also announced the setting up of a Ministerial Roundtable to review the forest industry and look at ways to “secure industry investment and jobs at a time of global recession”. This raises the prospect of handouts for the industry, which could include ensuring that the pulp mill is built.

Gunns has been having difficulty raising finance or obtaining a joint-venture partner for the pulp mill. Twenty leading banks from around the world have committed not to fund it, and recently a potential joint-venture partner released pre-conditions which make their involvement highly unlikely. Swedish company Södra stated that it would only be involved in a pulp mill in Australia if it was Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, totally chlorine-free (TCF) and 100% plantation-based.

If the Rudd government does provide further financial assistance to Gunns, it will have ignored evidence that the pulp mill will cost jobs in tourism, agriculture and fisheries, and harm Tasmania’s economy and environment.

The Ministerial Roundtable is supposed to develop a plan to encourage innovation in the industry. This is an ideal opportunity for the government to recognise the real value of Australia’s forests and come up with genuinely innovative ways to change the forest industry into one that is truly sustainable. This would mean taking into account the role of native forests in storing massive amounts of carbon, and mitigating the effects of climate change.

Read more here:

Astonishing science findings add yet another reason to protect Australia's forests
The Wilderness Society - 19 June, 2009
According to new research conducted by scientists from the Australian National University, it is not the tropical rainforests but Australian forests that store the most carbon per hectare. The findings are due to be published in one of the world’s top science journals - "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences". More >>

Labor backs Gunns mill with handouts to follow
The Australian - 25 June, 2009
TAXPAYERS appear certain to fund a multi-million-dollar bailout of the pulp and paper industry, with the controversial Gunns Ltd Tasmanian pulp mill a likely beneficiary. More >>

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