TASMANIA'S PULP MILL    

Investors in the failed Great southern plantations have voted to appoint Gunns Plantations to manage their forestry schemes.  Informed and respected commentator Robert Gottliebsen of the Business Spectator comments on what this appointment might mean for the company and the approved pulp mill.

This article raised concern on carbon emissions from deforestation in developing tropical countries, the down stream processing pulp mill will reduce emissions by value adding locally. You can check the facts on The Pulp Mill, Forestry and Greenhouse Gas in this briefing note.

Whilst a minority of vocal protestors remain community division appears to be ending over both forestry and domestic value adding of pulpwood. At local Government elections held in October 2009, the high profile anti pulp mill candidate in Georgetown where the mill is approved to be built received only 270 votes from an electorate of over 5,000. Whilst voting is not compulsory this low vote is only 8% of the votes cast, a far cry of claims that 80% are opposed to the pulp mill.

Anti forest protests are also being rejected by the Community at large with a latest ERMS survey showing that 64% of Tasmanian do not agree with international protests that trash the State’s reputation and destroy jobs in tourism and forest sectors.

Tasmanian communities are also appalled at the destruction of the forest by protesters when they turned their protest camp in to a rubbish trip. View photographs depicting the trashing of the forest.

The ABC's 7.30 report ended the financial year with another story on the pulp mill, that made outrageous claims about odour issues that have already been addressed over the last four years. This program seems to have yet to learn the lesson of testing the opponents to the mill’s claims prior to exposing its viewers.

Vocal opponents, the “TAP” group, produced a brochure written by former RPDC panel member Warwick Raverty in May about 2005 concerns on Odour. Its production was at the same time as the Windermere Legislative Council election where high profile anti pulp mill and Greens party candidate Peter Whish Wilson failed to get elected after receiving only 16% of the vote.

Both Warwick Raverty and Peter Whish Wilson appeared on the ABC’s 7:30 report alleging odour will impact on surrounding vineyards.  However the report failed to tell its audience that Mr Whish Wilson was a Green candidate or that Dr Raverty has been running a public campaign against the pulp mill since he resigned from the RPDC panel because the Greens accused him of bias.

His resignation was because ENSIS (CSIRO), his employer, had said in 2005 in relation to odour “The only time that these gases escape to the atmosphere are during periods of process upset. In a mill using Accepted Modern Technology odour should only be detected beyond the mill boundary for 2 – 3 days per year at most, during the time the mill is being started up or being shut down for its annual maintenance program. The emission limit guidelines for odour established by the Tasmanian Government are the most stringent in the world.”

This Question and answer sheet can be accessed at the ENSIS odour management web site. 

This debate comes after the completion of the upgrade to Australia Paper’s pulp mill at Maryvalle in regional Victoria where Dr Raverty worked almost a decade ago.  The $340 mill upgrade was to bring the mill up to "Accepted Modern Technology" in odour management and bleaching technology.  The Victorian Premier said, when opening the redevelopment this was “great news for the environment with the redevelopment mill to feature a new elemental, chlorine-free bleaching plant that delivers world-class environmental performance".

This upgrade was deemed not to have any adverse impacts on Commonwealth Environmental Values under the EPBC Act, and is set amongst a population of 72,000 people within 20 km. This is similar to the modern Kraft mill at Biganos 40km to the west of Bordeaux, France , the 'wine capital' of the world!! Modern ECF Kraft mills happily coexist with vineyards and other rural industries around the world.

In a final surprise, the ABC’s leading current affairs section failed to report on the Odour management requirements of the State Permit (Sections 35.1 to 42.1) [accessible from the Department of Justice on links page] that includes an odour monitoring panel of at least 10 local residents and the detailed Design report released (see below), Section 5.2.18.10 that deals in detail with Fugitive emissions.

The New Year started with the Federal Environment Ministers Release of his approval in principle of the Environment Impact Management Plan (see The Approval Page).

This caused a flurry of media reports and opinions.

These include a response from Gunns Sustainability Manager in the Age where he outlines the Company’s vision “What Gunns wants to do is stop shipping woodchips to less environmentally friendly mills in Asia and process them in Tasmania, creating 1600 jobs during operation and injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy.”

The Canberra Times also carried an informative opinion piece by the Chair of FIAT and the CEO of TCA that showed the environment was safe and the pulp mill would be good for jobs.

The Institute of Public Affairs also provided their opinion at  the ABC Unleashed Forum. So too did the Tasmanian State Manager of Timber Communities Australia have an in depth analysis.

The Age also contacted this web site to get back ground information on the Mill’s approval and operation for an article in its weekend edition. It is a pity that the reporter did not check his own news paper as a Naomi Edwards is also quoted.  Whilst the Age correctly identified her as, “a critic of Gunns” they failed to alert readers to an earlier story that she was a confidant and supporter of the Greens Senator Bob Brown, who has conducted a political campaign against the mill.

Forest management has been in the news lately, including comment on the ‘pristine’ Styx and Florentine valleys of southern Tasmania.  See here how the Media used to report timber harvesting in these areas. (Zoom in)

A story that divided a community, a story that claimed Tasmanian green clean image was at risk, a story that pitted workers in one industry against workers in another, a story that damaged public confidence in the pulp mill and its assessment process has been found to be flawed.

The Independent Complaints Review Panel has recommended an on-air correction to be made on 16 Dec 2008 on specific serious breaches of ABC’s Code of Practice over a pulp mill story broadcast last year.

The ICRP has concluded a review of a complaint about the broadcast on the fifth of June 2007, Pulp mill could taint catch: fishing industry, it found that these breaches constituted a serious misrepresentation of the situation, which could well have resulted in influencing public attitudes against the pulp mill development. The panel recommended that ABC management must ensure that any misunderstanding is properly and fully corrected.

It was found the story gave the false impression that there is a current scallop industry in Bass Strait that may be at risk from the mill. Even though no Scallop fishing had taken place in the area since 1999.  It found there are currently no commercially viable scallop beds in the area.

The ABC admitted that Government and Fishing Industry Reports indicated that there was no commercial scallop fishing industry in Bass Strait at the time the story went to air. This information was known to the reporter before the story was broadcast.   

A graphic in the story showing the location and operation of the outfall going into the Tamar River was found to be inaccurate. The ABC acknowledged the  report should not have gone to air in the form that it did.

More details can be found at the web site of Timber Communities Australia who first raised the issue immediately after the flawed program went to air.

Creative writer Bryce Courtenay has joined the chorus of ill informed critics of the mill.  Despite extensively researching his novels, Bryce forgot to look at the power of one; in this case, one grain of rice, when he told a Hobart audience, the Pulp is to pump thousands of tonnes of dioxin into Bass Strait or “what ever it is”.

In fact the maximum total weight of all dioxins in the treated effluent is calculated to be no more that the equivalent weight of one grain of rice.

National Senior Journalist, Piers Akerman, has also attacked the award of Victoria’s top journalism award to a fiction writer for an essay that is riddled with errors. Mr Akerman identified that “TRUTH has suffered a major setback with the awarding of a 2008 John Curtin Prize for Journalism to Tasmanian polemicist Richard Flanagan.” Read his full article Standards take a king-hit

The Article

In June 2007 the ABC's current affairs program the 7:30 report aired sensational allegations that the Pulp Mill could taint fish.

Investigation behind the Headline

The vision of this story related to the Bass Strait scallop fishery and a model of the treated effluent pipeline.  This vision was in direct contrast with the facts published in a report from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA)  that shows that there has been no commercial scallop fishery in the vicinity of the pipeline location in over a decade.

Following up the Headline

 After receiving a number of complaints on the accuracy of the story, the ABC removed vision of the report from its web site stating: "The video of this story has been removed from the site, as it contained visual elements that were potentially misleading".

Environmentalist and Media gardener Don Burke, has been appointed to provide expert advice.  Mr Burke, will act as a special environmental advisor to the Board of integrated forest products company Gunns Limited who are the developer of the approved ECF pulp mill. (see the developer's media release)

Don has been interviewed by the Business Spectator, the report is linked here. Don recently stepped down as chair of the Australian Environment Foundation, and is a former NSW President of the Australian Institute of Horticulture and a former board member of Landcare Australia and a co-founder of Greening Australia. Don has already suggested the production of Biochar as a bonus by product from the mill.

However former ABC celebrity gardener, Peter Cundall has slammed the appointment.  Mr Cundall has been a vocal opponent against Tasmania’s forest industry for a long time, now opposes the mill as he lives in the Tamar Valley. 

But is the pulp mill in his backyard? This presentation examines the location and compares the distances and travelling times to well known areas in three of South East Australia’s major cities.

On September the 1st the judges of the  Victorian Premier's Literary Awards  announced that an essay written by a fiction writer who is a vocal opponent of Tasmania's forest sector and the pulp mill had won the major prize for journalism.

When the winning article was published last year, then Federal Minister for Forests highlighted the weakness of the articles and its lack of facts  in a speech to the Institute of Foresters of Australia.

A briefing paper on this award that examines the judges reasons is included in Hot Topics.

With ironic timing the award to the fiction writer coincided with the public release on Forestry Tasmania's vision and values that will make it a globally trusted source of forest products.

Investigation behind the Headline

Recently the Media, both print and electronic, featured the opinion of a University Lecturer on issues impacting on the approved pulp mill.  Such an introduction as ‘a lecturer from the University of Tasmania’ gives standing to the person, so that the audience members are given the impression that person is qualified and expert enough to offer comment.  It also suggests independence from vested interests arguing about the issue.  So it is surprising to find at least one of these lecturers have strong links to the green movement that have not been declared by the media!

Following up the Headline

A simple check of the affiliations of a recent 'expert' reveals links to active groups opposing the approved pulp mill, including lobbying the World Heritage Commission. The linked report questions the media's duty to disclose these affiliations. 

The Article

The ABC’s World Today in September 2007 reported on the economic viability of the pulp mill and stated: "Reports prepared by the Commonwealth Bank's share broking service, CommSec, say Gunns pulp mill project is only viable if world pulp prices remain high". The reporter also interviewed a Naomi Edwards who is 'independently' investigating these claims.

Investigation behind the Headline

The ABC was asked if the CommSec reports were current and the relevant dates of these reports. In relation to the independent advice, the ABC was asked about her relationship to the Greens?

Following up the Headline:

The ABC has acted to correct the report by placing this editor’s note on its archived web site of the Current Affairs program broadcast in September 2007:

"Editor's Note: The ABC wishes to clarify that Naomi Edwards' financial assessment of the Gunns mill was written in September, 2006. The CommSec reports referred to in the story were written in May 2006 and October 2006 and the recommendation to shareholders included in the above The World Today report is no longer current. The reference to the cost of pulp production has also been amended for accuracy. Naomi Edwards is not a member of any conservation or environmental organisation but has actively contributed to the forestry debate in support of the views of those organisations."

The Article

A story reporting that "Environmental activists are calling for the Tasmanian Government to back up the Tasmanian devils' endangered status with new regulations to further protect their habitats from logging." was accompanied by vision of a Yellow “Dozer” on ABC TV News in Hobart on 21 May 08.

This Video of the dozer pushing over scrub and trees was shown to the accompaniment of the News report and words as above read, relating to the impact of current forest practices in Tasmania.

Investigation behind the headline

The video appears to be the same as that used by ABC Catalyst: Land clearing broadcast 11 August 2005 when it reported on “wiping out the last old growth forests”

Following up the investigation

The use of this ‘file vision' is covered by the ABC editorial policy 5.8, “File footage images or audio used in news or current affairs content should be clearly identified as such, when not to do so would confuse or mislead the audience”

A search has now started for the ‘dozer’

Latest - An apology from the ABC:

The Article

from The Mercury Nick Clark March 06, 2008 the Gunns Ltd pulp mill would use much more water than originally forecast if dry summers persist

Investigation behind the Headline

This article is one of a series by the journalist raising concern on the water supply to the Trevallyn Dam and hence to the pulp mill.

The articles ask the reader to ignore the water flowing from the Poatina power station and speculates that this might not be available in a severe drought.

Over 50% of the summer average inflow of the Trevallyn dam comes from Poatina

Following up the Headline:

The Mercury, after identifying the flaws in these articles made the following correction on 2 April 08, :

“ON Page 13 of The Mercury on Saturday, March 29, on water usage by the Tamar Valley pulp mill it was reported that in a dry year, if Great Lake releases into the South Esk river system had to be reduced, the mill's proportion of available water could be greater than 80 per cent. The figure of 80 per cent in fact refers to the possible proportion of water on a daily basis in the driest period of the summer and the Great Lake contribution being nil, not on an annual basis. Hydro Tasmania and Gunns state the pulp mill will use 1.3 per cent of the annual flow through the Trevallyn power station, this is based on 26,000 ML being supplied from an historic annual inflow of 2,048,000 ML.”

The Article

From the Mercury March 25, 2008: A survey of tourists found the Gunns pulp mill, "hit and miss" food, Port Arthur killer Martin Bryant, logging and mining are among the negatives interstate people attach to Tasmania. A survey of interstate visitors, released by the State Government after a Freedom of Information request, reveals "although perceptions about Tasmania are overwhelmingly positive, there are some negative associations".

Investigation behind the Headline

It is hardly surprising that the pulp mill debate has left a ‘negative’ impression on the State’s tourists.  The many claims made against the mill were alarming, and have been widely reported .  Some of these claims have proved to be false; claims that create negative images for our tourists.

Government studies made of the pulp mill show that it is an innovative design using the latest processes and technology to protect the environment. The approved permit conditions will protect Bass Strait and coastal waters, minimise air pollution and only use regrowth and plantation forests and to add value to a resource that other wise would be exported as a low value commodity.

Following up the Headline

Tourism and the mill's social and economic impact was studied by ITS Global, this report can be downloaded from the Tasmanian Department of Justice.

Timber Communities Australia have released a paper showing that a vibrant tourism industry can exist along side pulp mill in Tasmania and around the world.