Is Gunns Pulp Mill dead or just laying doggo?

Question

All the Tasmanians and most Aussies will know about the Gunns pulp mill and the war that has gone on to try to stop the mill proceeding. It now looks as though the pipeline will never be built(?) and that Gunns has not been able to raise international finance so are going to try to bleed the shareholders for monety to throw at the now seriously dubious venture. Every is declaring it dead, but until its dead AND buried I worry that the sod (yes I dont want it) may resurect itself. So is the thing really dead or are they trying to quieten the public protest and get rid of the negative publicity while they try to breathe new life into it?

Answer 1

As of 1st July 2008 when the federal government now relies on The Greens to get legislation passed in the Senate, the Gunns proposed pulp mill was dead!

Answer 2

I honestly dont think that it will get off the ground but until it is as you said dead and buried... we cant be certain and I think it was very premature for people to be declaring the pulp mill "pulped" as the local paper put it. I dont think that gunns were able to raise the finance due to the strength of the Oz dollar which made the project less viable, the incoming carbon trading scheme which was likely to have a negative impact financially, and finally the negative publicity and protests that the financier may also be the target of.

As far as I am concerned, the mill is not dead, it may be breathing its last gasps but we all know how long shots win races against the odds and how circumstances can change resulting in unexpected upsets.  

The pulp mill section 11 is a disgrace as it removes all right of any person to in anyway seek compensation for any loss or harm on them or their property arising from the operation of the mill. So when you have a government that went against the will of the poeple threw away 1 mill on promoting the project which nirmally should be the expense of the proponent while at the same time our hospitals were admitted to be seriously underfunded with highest waiting times in the country.

So a govt that trashed the right of its citizens, fast tracks the monstrosity against the will of the people and the authority created to assess it, and wastes $1 mill promoting the thing while public health is compromised from lack of funding...    I cant help but believe that sucha  govt cannot be trusted and may once again go against the public will, wasting even more money to try to prop up this insidious proposal.

As such I wouldnt trust any of them and that d**n mill isnt dead until Gunns comes out and says so.  

I agree that there is s risk that this premature declaration of the mill proposal being "dead" may tend to bring about complacency in the general public resulting in a great reduction if not elimination of protest actions and political pressure, which in turn would make it so much easier for Gunns to try to raise funding for the mill and also to put a bigger bite on the goverment.

I am hoping the at the Oz strenghtens back to the mid 90 mark and that the public remain vigilant and vocal until we can be certain that the mill is officially dead and buried.