GUNNS CONSUMER FRAUD? – SELLING RADIATA PINE AS BLACKWOOD

While Trashing and Incinerating Thousands of Tonnes of Real Blackwood Every Year and Exporting Furniture-Making Jobs to China!

The Tasmanian Greens today questioned whether Gunns Limited is fraudulently selling so-called Blackwood furniture that is actually built out of Radiata Pine, made in China, and coloured with a blackwood stain.

Greens Forests spokesperson Kim Booth MP said Gunns fells, windrows, and then incinerates thousands of tonnes of Tasmanian specialty timbers every year, including Blackwood, in its quest for export woodchips, and the discovery that Gunns are falsely claiming imported Chinese furniture is made from Blackwood is a shocking indictment on the company’s business practices and priorities.

Mr Booth also said the Bartlett Government regularly justifies the clearfelling of old growth forest in Tasmania on the basis that it will be used to source specialty timbers including Blackwood for furniture-making, and called on Premier David Bartlett to explain why Gunns are importing Chinese-made Radiata Pine furniture and claiming it is made from Blackwood.

“Gunns’ Father’s Day pamphlet clearly advertises a range of timber furniture with the choice of “Country Cedar,” or “Blackwood,” but when consumers get home and open the packaging containing their furniture, they discover Blackwood-stained Radiata Pine, imported from China,” said Mr Booth.

“Year after year Gunns trashes and burns thousands of tonnes of Tasmanian Blackwood, and to now advertise imported Chinese furniture as Blackwood is hypocritical, utterly fraudulent and an insult to Tasmanian timber workers and their families.”

“Gunns have been mouthing platitudes of concern about Tasmanian jobs for years, but at the same time they have also been exporting Tasmanian furniture-making jobs to China. ”

“I will be lodging a complaint about this fraud and taking the evidence to the Minister for Consumer Protection, Lisa Singh, and I expect her to take action about this blatant misleading of consumers.”

“Premier David Bartlett must explain why he and his government use furniture-making to justify the destruction of high conservation value areas of Tasmanian forest, while the number one logging company in Tasmania is importing timber furniture from China, falsely advertising it as Blackwood, and effectively exporting Tasmanian timber workers’ jobs,” said Mr Booth.

Attached:

[1] Gunns Mitre 10 Fathers Day Catalogue, “Lachlan 3-drawer Bedside,” p14.
boothSep23_GunnsMitre10FathersDayCatalogue_P14.pdf
[2] Photo of packaging for “Lachlan 3-drawer Bedside,” taken 23 September 2009.
boothSep23_Lachlan3DrawerBedsideBox_ATTACH_K_Booth_MP.pdf
Kim Booth MP Greens Forests Spokesperson