page_title: Bell Bay Pulp Mill
section_title: Opposition
hierarchical_section_title: Bell Bay Pulp Mill / Opposition
context_page_description: 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.
  Gunns Limited went into voluntary administration in 2012, and on August 30, 2017, the permits for the proposed building lapsed, signalling the end of the project. A Gunns spokesperson said they will not contest the lapsing of the permits.
context_section_description: Opponents of the mill include a number of environmental, social activist and political groups including The Wilderness Society, and TAP into a better Tasmania (formerly Tasmanians Against the Pulpmill).
  There have been numerous rallies, public meetings, actions and protests around the entire state and especially in the north since the pulp mill was proposed. In September 2006, a protest rally against the proposed pulp mill was held in Launceston with speakers, included Greens politician Christine Milne and TV gardener Peter Cundall. In June 2007, an opposition rally to the mill attracted a crowd estimated at 10 000 and Richard Flanagan made a speech at a rally in the state's capital, Hobart, in November 2007. In August 2008, approximately 5 000 people attended a protest rally in Launceston and in March 2011, a "No Pulp Mill" rally was held at the iconic Batman Bridge in the Tamar Valley. In May 2011, another rally was held in Launceston opposing the pulp mill where Greens MP Kim Booth stated he would move a no confidence motion in the government if any more money was spent to support the pulp mill project. Protesters listened and watched outside parliament as the Tasmanian Greens attempted a last-ditch bid to revoke a law allowing Gunns to build the $2.3 billion pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. It failed when Labor and the Liberals joined to vote down the bill to repeal the Pulp Mill Assessment Act, which was fast-tracked through Parliament in 2007.
  In addition to these, there have been numerous community meetings in Launceston including one regarding concerns surrounding the pipe line in 2008 a pulp mill information night in 2009 and No Pulp Mill public meetings in December 2010 and March 2011.  There have also been protests outside the ANZ bank, at Gunns' AGMs at their headquarters in Launceston and at the offices of state and federal politicians.
  In April 2007, allegations were made that a Gunns lawyer was involved in preparing new legislation introduced by then Premier Paul Lennon which bypasses the Resource Planning and Development Commission and replaces it with a government-appointed consultant which raised questions about Gunns influence over the current State Labor government. There are other allegations of collusion and co-operation between the company and Tasmania's political leaders. Professor Quentin Beresford from Perth WA has written an academic paper citing the Lennon government's approval of the Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania as a case study to illustrate the notion of institutional corruption.
  Gunns sued 20 environmental organisations and individuals for some $6 million in the days preceding the announcement of its plans to build a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley.
  The proposal had been criticised for not using accepted technology for the bleaching process and instead involved the presence of elemental chlorine at an intermediate stage (rather than hydrogen peroxide or methanol) in the production of the main bleaching chemical chlorine dioxide. This particular criticism could only refer to Gunns' original preferred chemical plant design termed and 'integrated' chemical plant, which was one of three chemical plant designs presented for assessment. The integrated process as then described by Gunns had not been approved by the United Nations Environment Programme as Accepted Modern Technology (AMT) for this purpose and therefore was inconsistent with Tasmanian guidelines. By comparison, the two alternative chemical plant designs, presented by Gunns as "merchant chemical plant alternative 1" and "2" were AMT. According to, Dr Warwick Raverty, a chemist with over 20 years experience in the Kraft pulping and paper, a hiccup with a waterspray within an "integrated" process could cause the bleaching chemical chlorine dioxide to be contaminated with elemental chlorine. Elemental chlorine contamination of the chlorine dioxide bleaching chemical could in turn lead to the release of persistent organic pollutants (dioxins), potentially causing environmental harm and a subsequent breach of the Stockholm Convention. The "inte
caption: Anti-pulpmill rally (April 2007)
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