Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has approved the first stages of the controversial Gunns pulp mill despite a recent report saying it is a high risk venture and may cost Tasmanians $300 million.
Mr Garrett signed two site clearing approvals as part of a 16 stage environmental impact plan for the $1.7 billion Tamar Valley mill.
If completed, the mill will be the largest infrastructure project in Tasmania's history and one of the biggest pulp mills in the world.
The approvals, announced from Mr Garret's office late Friday February 1, coincided with the equally late release of five approvals from the Tasmanian State Government.
The announcements came out of the blue and despite the release of a report earlier in the week that contradicted claims by Gunns and the Tasmanian Government that the mill will inject $3 billion into the community.
The economic report, commissioned by the Wilderness Society and compiled by the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR), questioned the study used by Gunns to make their $3 billion claim, saying figures in the Gunns study were "implausible".
The NIEIR report also identified costs that had not been factored into the Gunns study including loss of revenue in tourism, and environmental and health costs as a result of chlorine and gas emissions from the mill. It also suggested that the pulp produced by the Gunns mill will struggle on the export market.
The report estimated that at best the mill would boost the economy by $1.3 billion and at worst would cost Tasmania $3.3 billion. The most likely outcome, however, was a cost to Tasmania of $300 million until 2030.
"It's a high, very high risk venture because a lot of resources are going to go into it and the probability of substantial positives is less than 50 per cent," NIEIR report author and economist, Dr Peter Brain told ABC.
Both the Coalition and Labor avoided giving either the political advantage in Tasmania's marginal seats during the Federal elections last year, by agreeing to the mill before the polls (albeit pending certain conditions), but the issue continues to polarise the community in the pristine island state.
Pulp mill campaigner for the Wilderness Society, Paul Oost, says the NIEIR report shows that the pulp mill will not benefit the Tasmanian economy and has appealed to both State and Federal Governments to have the mill stopped.
The approvals released on Friday allowed for land to be cleared in areas that were home to a number of endangered species including the Tasmanian Devil, Green and Gold Bell frog and the Mt Arthur Burrowing crayfish, he said.
This alone was of concern without factoring in many other environmental issues surrounding the mill including the 64,000 tonnes of toxic effluent destined for Bass Strait every day, the 26–40 billion litres of fresh water required each year, and the strong odour and chemical constituents in the mill's gas emissions.
"Native forest logging needed to feed the pulp mill is conservatively estimated to add 2 [per cent to Australia's annual greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of an extra 2.3 million cars on the roads every year," Mr Oost added.
"Claiming to tackle climate change on one hand and approving the pulp mill on the other is the height of hypocrisy for the Rudd Government."
"As Minister Garrett has failed the people and refused to take into account the climate change implications of the mill, we call on Climate Change Minister Penny Wong to intervene."
Tasmanian Greens leader Peg Putt is concerned at the lack of transparency exhibited by both Federal and State Governments in the approval process.
"Both governments announcing pulp mill permits after hours on Friday and supplying zero details of the permits or supporting documentation is obviously an orchestrated strategy of evasion," Ms Putt said.
"This unacceptable secrecy comes on top of the Tasmanian Environment Department repeatedly refusing our FOI requests for vital information on how they have been conducting the environmental permitting process."
Former state member for Lyons, Ben Quin quit the Liberal party a few months before last year's Federal election over transparency concerns with the mill.
"There is no transparency about that wood supply agreement and I have asked the question consistently, to what extent is this mill being subsidised or its risk underwritten by the public working forest of Tasmania? And that question hasn't been answered," he told The 7.30 Report.
The chairman of Gunns Limited, John Gay, says the pulp mill will be very competitive and the Greens are the biggest threat. "Tasmania is continuing to suffer at this contractor level because the Greens are continuing to get the Government to shut down their forest areas," he told the ABC.
Mr Gay said Gunns would be posting information about the approvals on the Gunns website in the next few days.
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