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Set the Record Straight
Set the Record Straight
Minister for Fisheries, Agriculture and Forestry, Tony Burke has been caught copying and pasting Gunns' promotional material for his Ministerial statements in Parliament.
To boot, many of the 'facts' Mr Burke borrowed from Gunns are outdated, discredited or unsubstantiated.
Can you tell Tony Burke to set the record straight with a statement of fact, not Gunns' pulp fiction?
Please include your name and postcode in your email to Mr Burke, and begin with "Dear Mr Tony Burke MP,"
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Copying and pasting from Gunns PR reports isn't good enough. Tell Tony Burke to set the record straight on the Gunns Pulp Mill.
We've pulled together some information you might like to use in your email, but it's always better if you put it in your own words (let's leave the copying and pasting to Tony Burke!).
The Minister quoted Gunns propaganda (based on a 2004 Monash University Centre of Policy Studies report) that ignored these facts:
The pulp mill will cost jobs in the local tourism, agriculture and fishing industries.
As the Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture, Tony Burke should be examining the impacts of the Bell Bay pulp mill on those industries in Tasmania.
The Tasmanian fishing industry may lose over 700 jobs and $693.5 million because of the pulp mill, according to research by The Tasmanian Roundtable for Sustainable Industries (TRSI)1.
In total 1220 may be lost in the fishing and tourism industries due to the mill, while Gunns has estimated that the pulp mill will only create 280 direct jobs1.
Recent studies show that the pulp mill will have a negative effect on the Tasmanian economy:
Gunns' figures have been discredited by a more recent study by Dr. Graeme Wells of Wells Economic Analysis. Gunns' consultants (Allen Consulting Group) made simple errors of calculation such as double-counting the pulp mill's tax benefit to the Tasmanian economy and omitting $847.3 million of taxpayer subsidies to the project2.
Dr Peter Brain from the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) found the most likely impact of the mill on the Tasmanian economy over 20 years would be negative $0.3 billion3, not the $6.7 billion the Minister and Gunns claim.
The proposed pulp mill has become significantly more expensive and less profitable.
Gunns’ share price has fallen by over 75% since 2004 when the pulp mill was first proposed4. In the same period the projected cost of constructing the pulp mill has more than doubled from the original $1 billion estimate to over $2.2 billion5.
The price of pulp has plummeted since 2004. Combined with changes in international exchange rates, this means the mill would be far less profitable than assumed. Financial analysts have found that the pulp mill will be unable to compete with fibres produced in South America at less than half the price6.
---Sources---
1 Tasmanaian Business Roundtable for Sustainable Industry Project http://www.lec.org.au/roundtable.html
2 Wells, G (September 2006) Report on Economic Impact Assessment Report Gunns Limited Pulp Mill http://www.wilderness.org.au /pdf/GraemeWellsPulpmillIISReport%2COct2006.pdf
3 National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (2008) A comprehensive economic assessment for the Tasmanian economy of the direct benefits of the proposed Gunns pulp mill. http://www.wilderness.org.au/files/nieir-jan-08.pdf /view?searchterm=nationalinstituteofeconomicandindustryresearch
4 Gunns’ share price was $4.85 when the pulp mill was publicly announced; it’s currently at $0.99 (July 23, 2009). http://asx.businessspectator.com.au/stock-quote?S=GNS&Range=5y
5 The Age “Gunns plants seed of $1bn mill” June 28, 2004
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/27/1088274627822.html?from=storylhs
6 Edwards, N (April 2008) Mill competitiveness falls while government subsidies rise. http://tapvision.info/files /naomiGNS_April_2008_Naomi_Edwards_0.pdf
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