Coroner & Legal
Something rotten in the Apple Isle
Bevilacqua
GUNNS Ltd’s pulp mill could be axed because it breaches an international treaty on chemical pollution. A pulp mill expert said yesterday Gunns’ proposal was likely to breach the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The opinion comes in the lead-up to crucial debate in the Legislative Council which will decide the fate of the Lennon Government’s new laws designed to fast-track assessment of the $1.4 billion project. CSIRO pulp and paper research scientist Warwick Raverty said the Federal Government would have little choice but to reject Gunns’ proposal as Australia was a signatory to the Stockholm convention. “The risk of producing unacceptable levels of deadly and persistent chemicals known as organochlorines is too high,” Dr Raverty said.
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And:
Expert writes off Long Reach
Denholm
While the Premier was whooping it up with the Tigers, across town a group of 14 leading University of Tasmania academics was issuing a statement. ( Academics lash Lennon ethics ) All experts in fields such as law, ethics and planning and public policy, they took the unusual step of releasing a statement expressing “increasing concern” at “an apparent decline in ethical standards within the Tasmanian Government”. They cited the dumping of Wright’s independent process as the “latest and clearest example” of this (Wright was the third panel member to quit or threaten to quit over alleged Government undermining of their independence).
And:
Lennon denies pressure on ex-Judge
Neales
The Legislative Council must also point out very clearly to the Lennon Labor Government that proper process does matter; that formal and independent inquiries involving public consultation and scientific rigour are more than just red tape. And that rushed, badly written legislation which attempts to deprive the Tasmanian public of core natural justice principles is not the way to go.
Crawford
However, if concerns about pollution and other environmental issues are not resolved, the Federal Government will need to consider the impact any decision might have on voters in environmentally conscious Melbourne and Sydney electorates.