Quentin Beresford’s book ‘The Rise and Fall of Gunns Ltd’ will be launched at Fullers Bookshop in Hobart tonight at 5.30pm by former Greens leader Bob Brown.
Brown says Beresford’s 400 page story of Gunns is a compelling analysis of the failure of Tasmania’s old-guard business and political elite to come to grips with the modern world. “Tasmania is moving towards a future full of potential in which business, employment and our pride in place will come from capitalising on natural beauty and the island’s agricultural and lifestyle advantages. Yet while the days of mega-mines, pulp mills and dams are done, the simplistic idea of a one-solution fix, based on crony capitalism, lives on.”
“This book is a must-read for anyone who wants an insight into why the Tamar pulp mill and Gunns Ltd failed. This was an economic disaster overrun by high-handed political blundering and the inability to keep trust with the people in a modern, democratic society. Current government plans, veiled in secrecy, to abandon Tasmania’s globally high-profile brand of wilderness at the behest of short-sighted developers, have all the hallmarks of repeating the same mistakes,” Brown said.
“‘The Rise and Fall of Gunns Ltd’ should be read and absorbed by every state and federal member of parliament. It is a compelling analysis of how Gunns got it so wrong. The book is a guide for Tasmania’s power elite if it wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and it is a brilliant analysis of what holds Tasmania back for the wider populace frustrated by the failure of the power-brokers to capitalise on Tasmania’s natural advantages.”
Quentin Beresford was born and educated in Tasmania and is now professor in politics at the Edith Cowan University in Perth.
Steven Chaffer, The Bob Brown Foundation
