Rick Pilkington
But since when have the CFMEU cared about all that stuff. Self-interest is their game.
HOW much contempt for proper process the CFMEU are showing by asking for more tax payer dollars for the unviable and socially unacceptable Gunns Pulp mill from a government whose approval process for the mill is incomplete.
It is an understatement to say that this latest stunt is true to form for the CFMEU who enthusiastically supported the Tasmanian governments very dodgy abandonment of the RPDC process in favour of a low-bar fast track assessment. No doubt the CFMEU celebrated that one with a carton or two of beer and ciggies.
But Gunns are of course still a long way of from completing their assessment modules.
Therefore how could the Feds on the one hand give Gunns taxpayer funds to build the mill and on the other hand expect the public to believe that Garrett’s assessemnt is unbiased?
If the Rudd government were stupid enough to go down this path there is no doubt it would face from many quarters, not least the union-hatin’ Liberal opposition allegations of government corruption and cries that the Labour Party is once again being run by the unions.
The Rudd government would also face the inevitable loss of the Tasmania’s most marginal seat – Bass. That is likely anyway with the creation by locals of a 25,000 strong voters block which pledges to vote against incumbents (thats you Jodi!) who support the mill. That’s already been used to good effect. Just ask Ivan Dean and Slick Mick Ferguson.
Dick Adams in Lyons, a traditional shoe in even had a slight swing against him at the last election despite a massive national swing to Labor. There will inevitably come a time when voters tire of the loggin’ lovin’ Dick, so he might potentially be only a decent Liberal candidate and a preference or two away from losing his seat.
The CFMEU’s grovelling for more public welfare dollars to prop up the unviable and unwanted private Gunns pulp mill project will inevitably be regarded by Tasmanians and national observers as another sleazy attempt by the CFMEU to extract a freebie from the taxpayer.
To paraphrase the advice given to government by its environment depts economic unit, ‘if the pulp mill project is unviable enough to require taxpayer dollars to kick it off then there is a very real risk of substantial losses to the community’. In the context of this advice the Feds should also consider that since Turnbulls approval Gunns have of course slashed construction job estimates by over 50%. This was another direct hit to the already tenuous overall ‘net economic benefit’ of the project to the taxpayer.
But since when have the CFMEU cared about all that stuff. Self-interest is their game.
When one considers the inevitable explosion of community outrage from Tasmanians who might justifiable argue that Gunns is getting another government favour using taxpayer dollars at the expense of businesses and property owners of the Tamar Valley who are being screwed to the wall (not to mention the recent polls that have shown the electorate hate the idea of more public money for Gunns Pulp Mill – even in the name of jobs Mr Rudd) it is hard to see Federal labor going down this path. It is one thing to increase spending on public infrastructure in tough economic times, but quite another to subsidise a private project that the community is clearly saying it doesnt want or believe in and a project whose employment credentials are highly contested and looking more and more likely to cost the taxpayer much more than it will give.
The Feds should simply adopt the position of our Premier David Bartlett’s which is that the Government has done all it can for the Gunns Pulp mill and the mill’s future is now a matter for Gunns and their financiers.
To do otherwise would be bad government policy and tantamount to voluntarily placing a millstone round its own neck.
