Compo for Gunns if supply fails
Matthew Denholm; 6/5/08
Taxpayers will pay timber company Gunns up to $15million if further forest protection affects the supply of wood to its proposed pulp mill. The compensation is promised to Gunns in a 20-year deal signed four months ago but only made public late yesterday by the Tasmanian Government. State Treasurer Michael Aird said the compensation, part of a “sovereign risk” agreement between Gunns and the state-owned Forestry Tasmania, was “accepted practice”. However, conservation groups said the deal was “dodgy” and would make it harder for federal and state governments to protect further forests as national parks or as carbon sinks.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23652116-5013404,00.html
Tags: Australia, Environment, Trade