Professor Andrew Wadsley

My concerns over dioxin contamination are not idle scaremongering. I am an adjunct associate professor of Petroleum Engineering at the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia, and I have acted as Umpire and Expert Witness in dispute resolutions in the petroleum industry. It is outrageous that the Bill disenfranchises me and all other Tasmanians from participating in the assessment process, from challenging the Proponent’s expert witnesses, and removes any legal right to take civil action over any breach of Tasmanian law. Sir, I realise that withholding assent is not a step that you would take lightly. Nevertheless, I urge you to do this in order to preserve the Rule of Law in Tasmania.

23 March 2007

His Excellency The Honourable William Cox,
Governor of Tasmania,
Government House,
Lower Domain Road,
Hobart,
Tasmania

Your Excellency,

I urge you to withhold assent from the “PULP MILL ASSESSMENT BILL 2007” currently before Parliament until it has been subject to constitutional and judicial review. This bill, if enacted, removes any right of appeal to take civil action against the Pulp Mill Project for any breach of Tasmanian law (S.11); in particular, breaches of emission standards, health regulations &etc.

I have spent considerable time preparing detailed submissions to be put to the RPDC on the Pulp Mill project. My work demonstrates that the Proponent for the Pulp Mill has made significant errors in their calculation of the toxic effects of dioxins released into Bass Strait. These errors were noted in my submission to the RPDC of September 2006, yet have not been corrected in the Supplementary Material recently released by Gunns Limited and available on their website. These errors are such that dioxin concentrations may have been underestimated by a large factor, potentially leading to serious health issues for both adults and children eating fish from near the effluent outfall. Under the Pulp Mill Assessment Bill, I have no way of presenting my work for public scrutiny, no way to participate in the assessment process, and no way to take civil action against the mill owner should our worst fears be realised and dioxins contaminate the food chain thereby leading to developmental and other medical disorders in the Tasmanian population.

My concerns over dioxin contamination are not idle scaremongering. I am an adjunct associate professor of Petroleum Engineering at the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia, and I have acted as Umpire and Expert Witness in dispute resolutions in the petroleum industry. It is outrageous that the Bill disenfranchises me and all other Tasmanians from participating in the assessment process, from challenging the Proponent’s expert witnesses, and removes any legal right to take civil action over any breach of Tasmanian law.

Sir, I realise that withholding assent is not a step that you would take lightly. Nevertheless, I urge you to do this in order to preserve the Rule of Law in Tasmania.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Andrew W. Wadsley

Earlier:
Legal anarchy