Woodworker
Much media debate continues regarding the Federal Government’s tentative approval for the pulp mill, and on Thursday we learnt that the Canberra Times entered the debate with a very one sided editorial that just repeated most of the previous anti mill claims. It was very disappointing to see a newspaper like to Canberra Times present such a one sided and ill-informed editorial opinion. The following is a link to Thursday’s negative and inaccurate editorial:

Canberra Times
The issue of the century is the environment and the state we leave it in for our grandchildren. But another pressing concern in Australia is creating jobs to counter the impact of the global financial crisis. Those two factors are on a collision course in Tasmania as the Gunns company doggedly persists with its plan to build a pulp mill. Read more here

In order to set the record straight for readers of the Canberra Times, (it is the major daily newspaper for the ACT), and following a discussion with the papers’ Deputy Editor, FIAT and TCA joined forces in accepting the papers’ offer of space for a countering opinion article. Consequently, the following more positive article was published in Friday’s edition of the Canberra Times:
Julian Amos and Jim Adams
The proposed pulp mill in Tasmania has attracted much opposition from anti-pulp mill activists, who have foretold doom and gloom should the project proceed. But they are wrong, and it is time to put the arguments into proper perspective. Pulp mills in Australia and around the world no longer have any adverse impact on the marine environment. The adoption of Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) technology for bleached kraft pulp mills in the early 1990s has ensured this. Read more here

What a difference a day makes! At least the Canberra Times has shown that it responds to criticism, and that it is prepared to give space to a contrary point of view. It is also pleasing to see that the industry is learning how to better engage with the media. I am looking forward to more of this…

I also attach a copy of a press release from Dick Adams, Download: Hon_Dick_Adams_release_re_Forestry_8_Jan_200911.doc