Politics and a pulp mill
October 2007
After the media turbulence of the past two weeks, WFCA members and friends must be wondering what on earth is going on. Well I am setting the record straight. Until I confirm to run as an Independent Candidate in Wentworth, which is still under consideration, it is business as usual. Which means anti pulp mill campaigns to continue, and a joint venture ACF Soiree to attend, if you are in Sydney.
Tasmanian Trip - Beauty and the Beast
Nicholas and I have just spent the most amazing 6 days in the Tamar Valley, staying with the beautiful Anna and Rick Pilkington. Thanks to the wonderful Pilkington’s, Bob McMahon, Peter Whish-Wilson, Frank Strie, to name just a few, I had the most incredible sensory and educational experience in Tasmania’s north east.
To sum it up in a few brief words, the beauty of this place and its people is second to none, if not one of the most special places I have ever visited. The warmth, sophistication and generosity of the vignerons, restaurateurs and locals is astounding. The physical beauty of the region is breath taking. These people have created a sophisticated world class tourist destination, which is now being totally threatened, to the such an extent that many will face financial ruin and a loss of their livelihoods.
This is not an over exaggeration, there is much at risk here, with the potential for Gunns’ pulp mill to be built in the most INDUSTRIAL place I have ever seen and with the potential impact to force many of the Tamar Valley’s 100,000 population to relocate.
Words can not start to describe the scale of devastation I witnessed in the logging areas, where native forests rich in some 250 to 300 year old Eucalypts and in areas where 400 year old myrtles grow, huge rainforest tree ferns and a multiplicity of vegetation make up the understorey , have been decimated in the rush to create woodchips for pulp. This is what was described as Forest Mining. No thought or consideration is given to managing the forest or water resources properly. Area rotation is replacing the species mix and diversity in age with uniformity, is unnatural and unsustainable. The scale of native deforestation is immense, if Gunns can they will clear fell every native forest within a 100km radius of the pulp mill site, Longreach.Only setting aside minimal streamside buffers, depending on the size of the stream’s catchment from 0 to 30 metres.
There is not enough plantation feedstock for the mill. Worse still the forestry practice is so unsustainable that the “Super sucker” trees that are planted and take 15 years to grow, are the most voracious water users, especially in the dryer summer month. In essence wood equals water.
What I saw was the most unsustainable and abominable devastation of forests and land. Not only will it take over 500 years for this land to recover if it is never touched again, it is being so degraded that the soil will only accommodate two plantation cycles, i.e. supply 30 years of timber. By which time the soil organic matter, the soil carbon has been largely degraded.
By then there will be no feedstock for the 500.000 to biomass power plant that is supposed to be run on the waste wood from forestry , no water in the critical weeks and month , as the Tasmanian Climate, like ours is changing and becoming drier, and a valuable carbon sink will have been largely eradicated. Conservative estimates of 10million tonnes of CO2 will be emitted each year, although the ACF suggests it could be as high as 20million tonnes or 4.5million new cars on the road each year in emissions, considering the loss in soil carbon.
We as citizens of Australia can not stand by and let our politicians, banking and financial institutions let this go ahead. The mill itself will only employ directly 280 to 300 people, and the labour for the mills construction will have to be imported as there is a labour shortage.
This is one of the most appalling business models I have ever seen and a Climate Change disaster. Only last week another pulp mill layed off 40 workers because the pulp has become uncompetitive internationally with the higher Australian dollar. One could argue that the demise of the 600 existing direct pulp and paper jobs (in Wesley Vale and Burnie) over the next year or two could benefit Gunns in it’s search for pulp and paper chemist and engineers.
My speech at the Low Head Beach Rally in Tasmania can be seen on YouTube.
SEE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B25LKoZXlng
It is time for all of us to act and be engaged. This is in our backyard and our country. It is a climate change disaster, and institutions that are funding this project must be held to account. Please take action and email dani@wfca.org.au with your signature to the ANZ letter campaign. Email Perpetual if you are a shareholder or invest with them, they are Gunns largest shareholder and have been buying more shares. Email Equities Boss at Perpetual John.sevior@perpetual.com.au and express your disapproval and come to Perpetual’s AGM on October 30th at 11am at The Westin Hotel, Sydney.
It is time we all expressed our views as concerned citizens.
Thank you all again for your support and for caring.
Danielle Ecuyer
President WFCA
