David Bartlett should also be concerned with the $4,000,000 that Gunns copped as part of the takeover of the Scottsdale mills. That money was part of a $6,000,000 grant by the Federal Government for regional development, meant to create jobs and tourism, not remove them. John Gay’s plan to depopulate the region by 2020 is right on track. With the Tongangah Mill gone (Frenchpine next in his sights) Woolworths will possibly pull out, due to a population decrease… What’s next… turn all that prime dairy land into plantation? Heh! take a look, it’s already happening.

Interesting to note that Gunns’ share price peaked at 4.85 just over three years ago.  Since then, despite being spoon fed by all levels and sides in governments to build the bloody pulp mill, the price today hit 2.15.

This represents a 55% or 1.1 billion dollar demolition of shareholder value.  Whilst John Gay and Robin Gray are still brilliantly running the company,... into the ground, merrily supported by institutional holders.

Call me bitter but I do think it’s sweet!

Of course, what we need to remember (and the Premier needs to remember especially) is that when things are tough, Gunns can be relied on to look after themselves and conceal from their so-called partners what is actually going on.

They concealed the NE sawmill closure while convincing the Tasmanian government that they should be allowed to suck on the public teat for a little longer over the seemingly defunct pulpmill. This looks like a deeply incompetent company, and our politicians should learm from the past to decide how honest they are, and are likely to be, in the future.

They have been propped up by their friends in high places. Perhaps this has come to an end. Surely our water is worth more than our woodchipped trees? Will Gunns ever tell the truth? Will they ever do anything more than serve their directors’ personal financial ends? They certainly don’t seem to be working for their shareholders’ interests. The best indicator of future performance is past performance. Unless, I suppose, you score the right unexpected patronage to cover up your own incompetence…