Economy
The State: Community opposition to the pulp mill will never stop; Chinese buyer? ‘Hands off Hydro’
Following KordaMentha’s announcement it is seeking Expressions of Interest in Gunns Limited’s remaining assets ( TT here ), community group Friends of the Tamar Valley confirms community opposition to the pulp mill project did not disappear with the Tasmanian logging company’s demise in September 2012.
In addition to 175,680 hectares of freehold land and road infrastructure, 96,850 hectares of hardwood and softwood plantations, assets include an “opportunity to develop the proposed Bell Bay pulp mill”.
“It doesn’t matter who wants to build it, the pulp mill will never receive community acceptance or a social licence, and any potential buyer should be aware that opposition remains just as entrenched and ongoing now as it did ten years ago,” said FTV spokesperson Anne Layton-Bennett.
“The issues of road deaths and respiratory illnesses created by a pulp mill, for example, which have previously been acknowledged by parliament, are now carefully ignored by both major parties. It sadly appears that money wins over community safety and welfare, and Section 11 of the highly controversial and fast-tracked Pulp Mill Assessment Act 2007 prevents compensation.”
Friends of the Tamar Valley also disputes the economic benefits of a pulp mill that are claimed by both premier Lara Giddings and Liberal Opposition leader Will Hodgman.
“If the pulp mill was as economically viable as is being suggested by both Ms Giddings and Mr Hodgman, then surely it would have attracted the necessary finance when Gunns was seeking investment in the project,” said Ms Layton-Bennett.
“The last potential joint venture partner, Richard Chandler Corporation, was swift in its assessment. The company’s team did the due diligence, found it seriously wanting, and rejected it.”
“Instead of continuing to talk up this unsound project that has mired Tasmania in controversy, and caused years of unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty for the community, Labor and the Liberals could – and should – have been pursuing a variety of cleaner,smarter and safer economic alternatives that are more suited to Tasmania’s size, population and natural assets,” Ms Layton-Bennett concluded.
References:
AMA submission to the RPDC 2007 http://www.amatas.com.au/assets/ama_position_statement_pulp_mill_25_sep_2006.pdf
TasRoundtableSustainableIndustriesProjectreport1(Aug07).pdf – pages 18 & 54
Gunns Draft IIS, Vol. 15 Appendix 43.
• ABC: Wilderness Society warns ‘toxic’ pulp mill project will fuel forest feud
• Fairfax: Chinese entrepreneur mooted as a possible buyer of failed Tasmanian forestry company Gunns
One of China’s wealthiest people has bought a Toorak mansion for more than $20 million amid claims the businessman regularly flies into the country in a private plane carrying suitcases of cash.
Entrepreneur Wang Hua is China’s 790th richest person, with a net worth of $400 million that the 54-year-old is seeking to sink into residential developments, wineries, timber companies, golf courses and luxury homes in Australia.
I am very rich, I have my private airplane, all my wealthy friends know I have bought a golf course in Melbourne… I cannot lose face.
Mr Wang, a former People’s Liberation Army Navy serviceman, is the mystery buyer who spent at least $20 million in September for the sprawling Toorak estate owned by Peter Devitt, the director of construction company LU Simon.
In 2003, Mr Wang and Mr Sun founded residential development company Kingsland Group, which has built small-scale townhouse and apartment developments in Melbourne.
Mr Wang’s wife also bought a mansion on Irving Road, Toorak, for $3.4 million that year.
Mr Wang’s Kingsland Timber has been mooted as a possible buyer of failed Tasmanian forestry company Gunns. He also owns a winery that exports to China.
Read more: Read the full story here
• Kim Booth: Hands off the Hydro: Lease Proposal Would Cost Taxpayers, Deliver Nothing
Kim Booth MP
Greens Energy Spokesperson
The Tasmanian Greens said the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s proposal to lease Hydro Tasmania’s generation assets would cost taxpayers dearly, and make little difference to power prices.
Greens Energy spokesperson Kim Booth called on Labor and Liberal to also commit now to not selling the Hydro after the state election.
“The TCCI is effectively proposing to let big energy companies cherry pick the best parts of the state’s integrated generation system, and leave taxpayers with the crumbs,” Mr Booth said.
“It means taxpayers would get all the downside, and none of the upside, of owning an electricity generator.”
“The TCCI has little interest in bringing down power prices for Tasmanian households, and seem far more interested in giving big business a free kick at taxpayers’ expense.”
“Mr Bailey needs to go back and read the Expert Energy Panel report, which makes it clear that the only real way to bring down power prices is to introduce wholesale energy market competition.”
“The Greens’ trading room proposal for Hydro Tasmania would not only keep the assets firmly in public hands, but would introduce real competition into the wholesale energy market and bring down prices.”
“The TCCI’s intemperate response to the Expert Panels advice effectively killed off lowering power prices and condemned the Aurora retail sale to failure, as predictably potential entrants walked away.”
“This latest uninformed and impractical outburst from the TCCI is just a desperate cry for relevance from an organisation that has been shown to be unable to manage its own affairs and that nobody listens to.”
“The TCCI is usually a whipping boy for the Liberals and this looks like them softening up the electorate for privatisation of Hydro.”
“I call on the Liberals to categorically rule out selling Hydro,” said Mr Booth.