The sad thing about this farce is that eventually the mill if it is ever built will become a white elephant and the so-called economic benefits are a mirage.
We are in entering the final phase of peak oil and as it tightens its grip so will the world economy fall off a cliff starting with the US.
Food prices are in lock step with the price of oil and will shoot up with the oil price.
http://prudentinvestor.blogspot.com/2011/01/chart-of-day-oil-prices-vs-food-prices.html
It will mean the end of the dinosaur logging industry here in Tasmania, which will not survive skyrocketing fuel prices, and it means that there will be no market for millions of tons of pulp either.
The investment and effort that has and is still going into this environmental disaster would be better spent preparing Tasmania for the downturn we are going to face.
A properly working and perhaps faster rail system, to replace the constant stream of trucks shuttling backwards and forwards would be a start. It would also provide employment for some of the displaced forestry workers.
Also it would provide affordable travel to replace the private car.
Some of the workforce could be retrained to work in agriculture because it is going to become a lot more labour intensive as fuel supplies are priced out of reach and we will need the food.
Some might be diverted to the alternative energy industry, which is the only option to hydro as the dams dry up.
We have ample wind for some of this and more than our fair share of sites for wave power.
We will not be able to depend on tourism as an income earner unless we can find tourists that will brave a Bass Strait crossing by sea. The present inane shuttling to and fro at a ridiculously low cost will change to rich and government travelers only.

So, it didn't sink completely, this sorrowful decison that points at everything rotten and corrupt that is the cancer killing our culture.
What servile filth to the masters, the ALP have become.

When will online opinion stop publishing poorly researched articles from this author? This one is riddled with errors; a flawed claim is made in just about every paragraph.

But let’s just look at one: that "Tony Burke bent over backwards ... and approved a pulp mill that will pollute the Bass Straight and destroy the fishing industry."

The original Commonwealth permit conditions ensure that there effluent will not contain significant pollution; Minister Burke's current approval reduces this insignificant level to a minute % of the treated waste water.

He knows this because the developer was forced to undertake two years worth of modelling and testing overseen by an Independent Expert Group. This group issued its report to the Minister available at http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/gunns/pubs/attachment-f.pdf . The experts advised "The results of the modelling showed that the effluent would be expected to be diluted by a significant order of magnitude over the limits provided for in the approval conditions. In these circumstances there is little risk of unexpected environmental impacts particularly on the Commonwealth marine environment."

This independent expert group includes Professor Helene Marsh, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University. Helene was also a member of the wilderness society's Wildcountry panel and is internationally renowned for her work on the conservation of dugongs.

Not only will there be no adverse impact on the marine environment, there will be no impact on commercial fishing, as the ABC made similar false claims. The ABC published at http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1943347.htm this correction:
‘In October 2007, the video with this item was removed after it was found the original broadcast gave the false impression that there is a current scallop industry operating in Bass Strait that may be at risk from the proposed pulp mill. Although scallop fishing has taken place in the area in the past, there are currently no commercially viable scallop beds available in the area. The situation is being regularly monitored. A graphic labelled ‘Dioxin Contamination Theory’ was also found to be inaccurate. This note on corrective action was updated in July 2008”

Will OLO also offer a correction?

CINDY: It all depends on your view of 'facts': it is a fact that the mill will have less impact on commonwealth waters than state, therefore Burke could accept it as he was only assessing commonwealth waters. It is also a fact that as the project bypassed all state assessments, we have no idea what full impact of the effluent will be on state waters.

For a fact that even Gunns don't dispute, this mill will put "endocrine disruptors" into our ocean. They cause infertility and make males change to females. To me, that rates as serious pollution as it could result in survival problems for some species. Also, as big fish eat the little fish, they get a higher concentration - ending up with the species which is highest in the food chain which is often human. As these chemicals are banned in other more intelligent countries, this means our export market will shrink.

So just because a minister has approved a project, does not mean that project will have no impact, or even no significant impact. It just means we have shortsighted ministers, only concerned about today, who think tomorrow can look after itself.

I note that the writer is both a Film Maker ( fantasy, I assume ) and a "novellist" a fiction writer in other words.

This piece is exactly that ..FICTION.

He claims "ownership" of all Tasmanians with the first paragraph.. treats the Timber Workers as Idiots.. chucks around any old ( fictional) statistics he likes.. 90% , 25% etc as well as the emotive 294 jobs to people mainly from overseas.Further , he abuses the Minister, because the Minister did not agree with the writers views.

This article is NOT of the standard that one normally hopes to see in OLO.

The writer should stick to his fantasy and fiction calling.. leave non-fiction to the Grown Ups.

Incidentally I am oppsed to the Mill, I strongly detest the Timber Trucks AND I live in Northern Tasmania.

As for his statement wherein Green MHA for Bass, Kim Booth has threaten that the Greens will bring down Tassie Labor if the original Bill isn't repealed... Oh Please, Kim , go for it !

It's just that this type of Article serves no useful purpose whatsover .

"The health risk assessment has identified that the pulp mill effluent will have a negligible impact on seafood and human health" Gunns Ltd

"The plan now specifies that Gunns will only use plantation timber for the pulp mill and a bleaching process that uses less chlorate than first was proposed. " Tony Burke's press release 10-3-11

Oh that's OK then, it's only going to be a "negligible" amount of dioxin, one of the most toxic substances known. Cinders and Burke will put all our minds at ease by administering a "negligible" amount of dioxin to themselves and the fruit of their loins to prove how safe it is?