Mr Gay was very chuffed after his day yesterday ... said it was much better than the day the greens had.

I wonder if he is so sure today - last night there was a run on Chinese banks. A world-wide recession/depression would certainly affect the demand side of the pulp market.

It was also revealed that all the major Australian banks (which I assume includes the ANZ) were going to be affected by the trade (or lack of it) in Credit Default Swaps (a derivative based on loan defaults). There are trillions of dollars tied up in these increasingly worthless concepts. The Australian banks may not hold them in any great quantity, but they will have to raise money from those big international banks, to finance local loans like a pulp mill. I wonder if John Gay will be happy with the interest rate he has to pay?
Sales go down, interest costs go up .... a great business proposition. but I guess he will have a way to make the taxpayer cover any mismanagement.

I attended the protest at the Gunns AGM yesterday.
I witnessed many of Tasmanias ‘sliver bodgies’ and “mates” who rule Tasmania along with the “uberbogan” Paul Lennon. They hurried past us looking like a cavalcade of “mutton birds dressed up as lamb chops” tarted up in very expensive suits, driving big black expensive 4WDs with tinted wondows which although totally out of step with the local transport fashion now seems to be the look de jour of the rich and powerful in the gangster havens like Melbourne and Djakarta.
These are the people, along with groups like the very dubious TCA who are dividing and conquering our island Tasmania via their mega pulp mill. These are the people for whom Tasmania is being asked to give up so much. Goodness gracious me.

On a coupe near us there is a large notice that says:

DANGER - KEEP OUT
SHOOTING IN PROGRESS

GUNNS

I wanted to fix it to their HQ gate, but the security guard wouldn’t let me.

There were many more wonders at the AGM. 

When asked about the “Manna” clause 7 of the Wood Supply Agreement, which seemingly provides for the transfer of an indefinite expanse of Forestry Tas roads and land to Gunns on terms to be agreed in 2008 between Gunns and Bob Gordon, A Gunns manager speaking for Gay brushed it off, claiming that Gunns already owned 5000 km of Tasmanian forestry roads, more than the Gov itself. (This would seem to make the roading part of clause 7 redundant)

5000 km is a lot of road, something like 200,000 ha worth it would seem, to give to or get from anyone without it showing up on any sort of account. That’s not to say it couldn’t happen in Thuggo’s Tas.

Most of us probably assumed that all those logging roads through State Forest belonged to FT.  But if you stop and think, FT’s financial performance over the years should have alerted us to the fact that there must be a whopping leak in the system. The Wood Supply deal could possibly turn that leak into an almost total shunt into the private sector. 

In Tas, “private” means just that- none of our business. They make it look so easy.

John Hayward

I went to a Gunns AGM a few years ago as a proxy shareholder to highlight the liability that Gunns Ltd has with respect to chemical drift into drinking water from the monoculture tree plantation operations.

That too was an extraordinary meeting.  It’s difficult to openly describe the aura and happenings at that meeting.  Not the least because Gunns Ltd has made it clear that ordinary people who engage in open discussion about the company risk being sued by it.

Screech. In posting #4 above, area of road apparently gifted to Gunns for roads should be 2000 ha+.  Area given to Gunns after the 2008 will probably be well in excess of 200,000ha.

John Hayward

Gunns receives over $200 million each year in subsidies and cost relief from our governments. In return they post profits in the order of $80 million.

If we deduct the $200 million from that we get an annual operating loss of about $120 million.

It really appears that the Gunns ‘winners’ are actually ‘losers’ that are converted to ‘winners’ by the Australian taxpayers. The real losers are the taxpayers.

Small wonder Gunns want close relationships with government.