Junk for Code : Gunns stand for environmental destruction

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September 02, 2007

You'd think that the federal ALP could actually find some points of differences from the Coalition over the proposed Gunn's pulp mill in the Tamar Valley, given the recent corporatist history of showing democracy into the recycle bin.

As Sue Neales points out Tasmania's 45 parliamentarians have been exposed to extreme pressure of the past three months to facilitate a quick-fix Tasmanian parliamentary approval process without public hearings or public input, after Gunns withdrew from RPDC assessment on behalf of both the state and federal governments combined. Gunns withdrew because the commission indicated that the mill's environmental standards remained "critically non-compliant" in several key areas.

Weldon

Gunn's pulp mill is another infrastructure project that is being promoted locally in the name of progress and economic growth -- such as the Gordon-below-Franklin hydro-electricity dam --and so is increasingly becoming a national symbol of environmental destruction.

Still the federal ALP remains silent. Garrett has "lost his voice" on the pulp mill issue. Yet there is a section of the Tasmanian legislation that makes it impossible for any member of the public or organisation to mount a legal challenge or action against the pulp mill, once it is being built and/or operating.

| Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 09:22 AM | Permalink

| Comments (6)

Comments

I'd like to see him depicted by cartoonists with bolts in neck stomping through the forest pushing over trees. Funny!

Posted by: Les | September 2, 2007 09:04 PM

Les,
yes the cartoonists have been rather tame. Garrett is coming across as a political show poodle of Rudd and Labor strategists, and he is being kept on a tight leash.Reporters who cover the environment say Garrett is hard to get hold of, much harder than Turnbull, and that his minders generally steer him away from tougher journalists and towards gentler ones.

Posted by: Gary Sauer-Thompson | September 4, 2007 12:55 PM

Les,
Garrett has found himself in a situation of supporting policies that involve cutting down forests and building a Tasmanian pulp mill to help Labor get elected.

On the first one--- logging--he supports Rudd's forest policy, which is identical to that of the Coalition. This supports existing regional forestry agreements, allows more old-growth forests to be logged and promises no new protection areas.

On the second, Gunns' proposed $2billion pulp mill destined for the Tamar Valley, Garrett has again followed Rudd's line, which is essentially the same as the Coalition's. Although Garrett criticises the assessment process, he has made it clear that if Labor is elected the mill will go ahead if it has been approved by federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull before the election.

Posted by: Pam | September 4, 2007 01:00 PM

Pam,
what suprises me about Garrett is that he will not commit to three key policies that would make the mill more acceptable to the environmental movement. These are that the mill would have access to only plantation timber,that a full environmental impact assessment was carried out before granting federal approval, and the mill's location is shifted to Hampshire.

Posted by: Gary Sauer-Thompson | September 4, 2007 01:04 PM

Yes Pam,
He did put himself on a pedestal as Captain Environment so he was always going to fall quickly back to earth when he joined Labor.
But he still has a lot to offer if he gets the job.

Posted by: Les | September 4, 2007 04:14 PM

Les,
you need to factor the ALP Right into the equation and the forestry union men in Tasmania.They hate greenies and cannot see beyond subsidies so they can keep their jobs. The information economy is not for them. They walk backwards into the future with eyes closed to the trail of destruction.

Posted by: Gary Sauer-Thompson | September 4, 2007 07:45 PM