Environment
The mill, the battle, the house
John Lyons Australian
A running sore with many Tasmanians was the fact that at the height of the push by Gunns for the pulp mill, Mr Lennon’s heritage home north of Hobart was renovated by a company owned by Gunns. ( First raised by Tasmanian Times: HERE. What the Premier says … the saga backtracks from HERE) This week he refused to tell The Weekend Australian how much he paid for those renovations or whether he had sought other quotes. Welcome to the Battle of the Millionaires — the multi-millionaire Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull being stalked by the multi-millionaire businessman Geoffrey Cousins arguing about a pulp mill being driven by the multi-millionaire chief executive of Gunns, John Gay, who is supported by a former premier of Tasmania, Robin Gray, a key figure on the Gunns board. The Whish-Wilsons, meanwhile, are stepping up their fight. Tasmanian establishment to the core, the patriarch, Tony, is a former general manager of mining giant Rio Tinto with impeccable connections on all sides of politics. His son, Peter, has returned to the family farm after a career in the financial markets with Merrill Lynch in New York and Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong. From the kitchen of their family farm, father and son are running a campaign against what they see as a very dubious project.
And, Apple Isle’s core dilemma:
But in attempting to sell important arguments, Lennon hasn’t helped himself. He showed poor judgment when he allowed a company owned by Gunns to renovate his home when the state Government was trying to push through the $2 billion pulp-mill project for Gunns. This week he would not say how much the renovations cost. “I’ve said all those things before.” In March 2006, Lennon said that “so far” his renovations had cost more than $150,000, and the Gunns share of the work was worth “well over $100,000”. A building industry source estimates that by now the cost is closer to $400,000. The poor judgment adds to the climate. The collapse of the independent vetting process for the mill by the Resource Planning and Development Commission that was then taken over by the state Government only added to that climate. It was Gunns that walked away from the RPDC. Says Gay: “We’d spent three years and a large amount of money — something like $30 million — in a process that had ended up with no decisions at all. We’d spent $6 million on an environmental impact statement … we took 700 submissions and answered all those with scientific people.”
And, Greens lose faith in Garrett:
AUSTRALIA’S two most prominent environmentalists have fallen out over the Tasmanian pulp mill, with Greens leader Bob Brown saying he has lost respect for Peter Garrett. A key figure in the Wilderness Society, Geoff Law, is also upset with the former Midnight Oil frontman, who is now Labor environment spokesman. “We are certainly disappointed in Peter Garrett’s inability to stand up for the environment,” Mr Law said. Senator Brown yesterday rejected the suggestion that people needed to wait until after the coming federal election to see what position Mr Garrett would hold on the pulp mill, should he become environment minister. “My view is ‘no, you be open and direct with the people’,” Senator Brown told The Weekend Australian.
And, Matthew Denholm, Trouble at the mill is spreading: Extract below …
TASMANIA – STATE OF THE NATION [The Weekend Australian – 15-16 September 2007]
Trouble at the mill is spreading
Matthew Denholm
THE best efforts of both major parties to quarantine the Tamar Valley pulp mill debate south of Bass Strait continue to fail dismally. This week, national television audiences (ABC’s Difference of Opinion) heard calls for a royal commission into the state Government’s handling of the mill and forestry.
Voters in Malcolm Turnbull’s Sydney seat of Wentworth had the front page of the local paper plastered with the issue.
And Liberal rebel Ben quin pushed party powerbrokers as step closer to disendorsing him by telling The Australian that forests to feed the mill might be worth more left standing than as carbon offsets.
Many on both sides of politics believe federal Environment Minister Turnbull brought focus on himself by allowing the state to make its decision before his own.
Premier Pal Lennon’s closeness to the timber industry, an in particular the pulp mill proponent Gunns Ltd, continues to be an issue in the debate.
It started with his dinner with Gunns executive chairman John Gay some years back, when the pro-logging Premier apparently proposed the mil plan. Many were suspicious when Lennon chose a Gunns company to renovate his country home (although both insist all was above board.)
More recently, Lennon was accused by a planning judge of trying to “lean on” him to dump public hearings about the mill. Lennon has meantime refused to say wether he discussed with Gunns the option of fast-track assessment before the company withdrew from the normal planning process.
The Lennon Government allowed a Gunns lawyer to help draft the subsequent fast-track laws and later allowed the company to successfully suggest 11 changes to the mill operating permit, some watering down emission limits and time frames.
The Liberals under will Hodgman initially ran hot over Lennon’s conduct but suddenly went quiet when it came to the crunch. Hopelessly wedged, they have since supported Lennon every step.
While the Liberals don’t have the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union to them dancing to the timber industry’s tune, they do have former premier Robin Gray.
Gray who unsuccessfully championed the previous mill proposal in 1989, is no a Gunns director. Criticised by the Carter royal commission into a 1989 bribery scandal, Gray retains influence in the conservative establishment of northern Tasmania.
Hodgman has recently begun demanding a fully independent and well-funded Environment Protection Agency plan to police the mill’s emissions. This is partly in response to the concerns of Tamar tourism, wine and fine-food small businesspeople who feel betrayed by the Liberals’ acquiescence.
Both major parties deny a long history of generous donations from Gunns has played a role in their backing of the mill against the polls showing public opposition.
However, it is worth recalling the experience of former Liberal leader Bob Cheek. Cheek secretly developed a plan to end old-growth clear-felling in the lead up to the 2002 state election, only to be frightened off by the violent reaction from his colleagues and the industry.
He has told of a meeting with Gay at the time: “I felt like a contestant in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, with Eddie McGuire. Dangled in front of him was a cheque for $10,000 and another $20,000 to come if I locked in the right answer to the following question: ‘Will you continue to support the existing forestry policy?’ I took the $10,000 with no strings attached.”
Gay has said Cheek’s recollection differs from his, but has not elaborated.
Both parties claim to be putting the interests of jobs and investment first in backing the mill. While some MPs on both sides genuinely hold this belief, many Tasmanians no longer trust them.
Meanwhile, Crikey : 6. Tips and rumours:
Brian Burke, former WA Premier and leading lobbyist was seen last night dining in a Launceston restaurant with John Gay, Exec Chairman of Gunns Ltd. A comfortable fit with the existing Gunns’ Board!