Gunns Limited was a major
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
enterprise located in
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. It had operations in
forest management,
woodchipping,
sawmilling
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
and
veneer production. The company was placed into liquidation in March 2013.
History
Founded in 1875 by brothers John and Thomas Gunn, it was one of Australia's oldest companies. It had over 900 square kilometres of plantations, mainly
eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...
trees. In 2001 Gunns paid $335 million for Tasmania's biggest woodchip company, North Forest Products, making it Australia's biggest exporter of
woodchips. At one stage it became Tasmania's largest private land-owner. The company employed over 1,200 people and had suffered a dramatic turnaround in revenue in its final years, going from a turnover in excess of A$600 million in 2006, to a loss of over $350 million in 2011.
Gunns was one of the largest export woodchip operation in the
Southern Hemisphere, and one of two chip export companies sourcing raw materials from
Tasmanian forests Forestry in Tasmania Australia has been conducted since early European settlement.
Early history
Forest conservation and reservation in the nineteenth century Tasmania was controlled under the title of the Waste Lands Act.
* Imperial Governments ...
, the other being
Neville Smith Forest Products through their
SmartFiber branch in
Bell Bay.
Gunns announced a $900 million loss for 2011–12 and debts of $3 billion. On 25 September 2012, Gunns announced to the
Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
(ASX) that its board had decided to put the company into voluntary administration after its financier withdrew its support, and in March 2013 the company was placed into liquidation.
New Forests purchased the assets and employed former staff of the old company.
Operations
The move to expand its base into mainland operation began with the acquisition of Auspine in 2007.
In September 2010, Gunns announced that it would end logging of
old growth forests and move to
plantation timber
A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...
. In November 2011, the Gunns Mitre 10 stores were re-branded as Beck's Home Timber and Hardware, after being sold to Danks Brothers Hardware Group, a subsidiary of
Woolworths Limited.
Gunns was placed into voluntary administration on 25 September 2012, and later liquidated, after it was unable to raise further capital or restructure the business.
Tasmania
Gunns operated sawmills across the state, as well as three woodchipping mills:
Longreach, near Bell Bay;
Triabunna, on the east coast; and Hampshire, near
Burnie. The company was forced to close all three woodchipping mills and most of its sawmills in 2011. After being placed into voluntary administration in 2012, the Longreach mill was reopened and began exporting woodchips for a time.
In 2008, operations at a sawmill in
Scottsdale were restructured, resulting in the loss of 70 jobs.
The sackings broke an agreement with the federal government, leading to the cancellation of substantial funding assistance.
In the same year, around 135 workers at another Auspine sawmill at
Tonganah lost their jobs after a softwood timber contract had gone to a competitor.
Victoria
In 2009, the company was awarded a contract to operate a new woodchip processing facility at
Portland.
The woodchipping mill was later sold off to Australian Bluegum Plantations in 2012, for $61.8 million.
South Australia
In South Australia the company managed
blue gum
Blue gum is a common name for subspecies or the species in '' Eucalyptus globulus'' complex, and also a number of other species of '' Eucalyptus'' in Australia. In Queensland it usually refers to '' Eucalyptus tereticornis'', which is known els ...
plantations on
Kangaroo Island.
In
Jamestown Gunns was a major customer of Morgan Sawmill.
Gunns bought the Tarpeena softwood sawmill from the now failed Forest Enterprises Australia, and which was later sold on to Timberlink.
Western Australia
Gunns operated three hardwood sawmills in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...
. Their nationwide product line of timber flooring included the hardwood,
jarrah
''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with r ...
, found in the southwest of the state. The timber is reddish-brown when hewn and is, "renowned for its beauty, warmth and durability". Their environmental initiatives included achieving
certification under
International standard
international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organization, standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization ...
ISO 14001:2004. Gunns supplied local trade and retail markets from its distribution yard in
Welshpool, near
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
.
Criticism
The company has been the focus of criticism from
environmentalist
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
s, primarily for its four woodchip mills which produce 4 million tonnes of chips for export annually. Green groups claim that native forests are harvested specifically for
woodchipping, whereas Gunns claim that the majority of their chips come from residue from their sawmilling and veneer operations. Gunns' major customers are paper producers in Northern Asia, mainly
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
, including
Mitsubishi,
Nippon and
Oji Paper
is a Japanese manufacturer of paper products. In 2012 the company was the third largest company in the global forest, paper and packaging industry.
The company's stock is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the stock is constituent of the Ni ...
. Gunns has also been criticized for its logging operations in the
Styx Valley
The Styx Valley is a valley located adjacent to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site on the island of Tasmania, Australia. The Styx River is the main drainage system of the valley that lies about northwest of Hobart, with the nearest to ...
and for its use of
1080 poison
Sodium fluoroacetate is an organofluorine chemical compound with the formula FCH2CO2Na. This colourless salt has a taste similar to that of sodium chloride and is used as a rodenticide.
History and production
The effectiveness of sodium fluoro ...
br>
to kill wildlife including protected species (baiting and particularly aerial spraying of forest prior to clearfelling
).
In 1989, the chairman of Gunns,
Edmund Rouse
Edmund Alexander Rouse (2 February 1926 – 28 July 2002)
Don Woolford, ''AAP Gene ...
, unsuccessfully attempted to bribe a
Labor Party member,
Jim Cox, to cross the floor, which would have allowed the pro-logging Tasmanian government of premier
Robin Gray and the
Liberal Party to resume power. A Royal Commission followed and convicted Rouse.
Robin Gray became director of Gunns Limited on 21 February 2000. He retired from the position in 2010.
Further allegations of corruption appeared when
Paul Lennon, Premier of Tasmania, had his heritage home renovated by a Gunns-owned company at the height of Gunns' push for the
Bell Bay Pulp Mill
The Bell Bay Pulp Mill, also known as the Tamar Valley Pulp Mill or Gunns Pulp Mill, was a proposed $2.3 billion pulp mill in which the former Gunns Limited was planning to build in the Tamar Valley, near Launceston, Tasmania
Launce ...
. Lennon refused to disclose how much he paid for the renovations.
Bell Bay Pulp Mill
The company was planning to build a $2 billion
pulp mill
A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...
in the
Tamar Valley, near
Launceston. The proposed mill would have used the
Kraft process, Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleaching, and been fed with plantation eucalypt forest timber. The project was supported by the
State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...
for the perceived economic and employment benefits which were said to include $6.7 billion in spending over 25 years and 2000 temporary jobs created during the construction phase, but was opposed by environmental and social activist groups.
Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull gave approval for the project on Wednesday 3 October 2007. This decision was however challenged by The Wilderness Society and later overturned on appeal due to alleged flaws discovered in the approval process.
Gunns 20
In the 2005 ''Gunns Limited v Marr & Ors'' case,
Gunns filed a
writ in the
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state.
The Supreme Court compri ...
, against 20 individuals and organisations including Senator
Bob Brown, for over A$7.8 million .
The original list of defendants were:
*
Bob Brown - federal
Greens senator (dropped December 2006)
*Simon Leo Brown - settled following certain undertakings not to protest
*Adam Burling - Huon Valley Environment Centre - dropped
*Brian Dimmick
*
Doctors for Native Forests Inc. (Split off into separate action in November 2006 and settled as part of Nicklason apology)
*Heidi Douglas -
The Wilderness Society (TWS). Settled in 2009 following certain undertakings not to protest.
*Neal Funnell. Settled in 2009 following self representation and limited undertakings not to protest.
*Helen Gee (dropped November 2006)
*Lou Geraghty
*Russell Hanson - TWS. Settled in 2007 following certain undertakings not to protest.
*the
Huon Valley Environment Centre Inc.
*Geoff Law - TWS. Settled in September 2008 with damages of $15,000 awarded to Gunns.
*
Alec Marr - TWS. Settled in May 2008 with damages of $45,000 and costs of $70,000 awarded to Gunns.
*Leanne Minshull - Settled with TWS 2008 agreement
*Louise Morris - Settled in 2009 following self representation limited undertakings not to protest.
*Ben Morrow. Settled in May 2008 with damages of $45,000 and costs of $70,000 awarded to Gunns.
*Frank Nicklason - Settled following written public apology from Nicklason withdrawing claims of legionella in woodchip piles.
*Peter Pullinger (dropped November 2006)
*
Margaret (Peg) Putt -
Greens MHA (dropped December 2006)
*
The Wilderness Society Inc.Settled in May 2008 with damages of $45,000 and costs of $70,000 awarded to Gunns.
Gunns claims that the defendants have sullied its reputation and caused it to lose jobs and profits. The defendants claim that they are protecting the environment. The defendants have become collectively known as the "Gunns 20".
Opponents and critics of the case have suggested that the writ was filed with the intent to discourage public criticism of the company, in a similar vein to a
Strategic lawsuit against public participation, commonly used in North America, and the English
McLibel case of
McDonald's Restaurants
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger st ...
against environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris over a pamphlet critical of the company. Gunns has maintained the position that they are merely trying to prevent parties enjoined to the writ from undertaking unlawful activities that disrupt their business. The statement of claim alleged incidents of assault against forestry workers and vandalism.
At a hearing before the
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state.
The Supreme Court compri ...
, an amended statement of claim lodged by the company and served on defendants on 1 July 2005 was dismissed.
However, the judge in the case granted the company leave to lodge a third version of their statement of claim with the court no later than 15 August 2005.
The application continued before the court, before being brought to a close on 20 October 2006.
In his ruling, The Honourable Justice Bongiorno, made an award of costs in favour of the respondents.
In November 2006, Gunns dropped the case against Helen Gee, Peter Pullinger and Doctors for Forests. In December 2006, it abandoned the claim against Greens MPs Bob Brown and Peg Putt. The other matters were all settled.
Redevelopment of Triabunna Woodchipping Mill
In 2011, online travel entrepreneur
Graeme Wood (Wotif.com) and outdoor wear entrepreneur
Jan Cameron
Jan Cameron is a New Zealand-Australian businesswoman and formerly Australia's fourth-richest woman. She made her fortune as the founder of the Kathmandu clothing and outdoor equipment company. She currently lives in Bicheno, Tasmania. She r ...
(Kathmandu) purchased the Triabunna Mill from Gunns for $10 million, out-maneuvering rival forest-related bids by providing prompt payment. Wood and Cameron, both wealthy environmentalists, planned to redevelop the site as an eco-friendly tourist resort or theme park. The instigator of the negotiations was Alec Marr, formerly head of the Wilderness Society. When
Tony Abbott later became Prime Minister, he and
Eric Abetz wanted to compulsorily acquire the mill for woodchipping. To forestall this plan, Alec Marr secretly recruited three ship welders and an electrician, and they smashed up the control room and other critical infrastructure, so that the mill could never be in operation again.
Insider trading
In August 2013, the former
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
John Gay, who had presided over much of Gunns' latter years (1986 to 2010) including its disastrous demise, was convicted of
insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...
relating to his sale of company shares in December 2009 just prior to a shock announcement of a half-year profit collapse of 98%.
See also
*
Forestry in Tasmania Forestry in Tasmania Australia has been conducted since early European settlement.
Early history
Forest conservation and reservation in the nineteenth century Tasmania was controlled under the title of the Waste Lands Act.
* Imperial Government ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Gunns Limited Pulp Mill ProjectGunnson SourceWatch
Gunns Limitedoverview from The Wilderness Society.
{{Authority control
Building materials companies of Australia
Companies based in Tasmania
Renewable resource companies established in 1875
Defunct forest products companies of Australia
Tasmanian forests
2013 disestablishments in Australia
Renewable resource companies disestablished in 2013
Australian companies established in 1875