Taxpayers will take a $239,008 hit after the collapse of Gunns for roadworks, but above that there is also the cost to social services from the increased level of unemployment and subsequent hardship. Source: The Mercury
The State Government will not seek repayment from Gunns of $239,008 in costs it incurred on behalf of the timber company for roadworks under the Batman Highway in 2008.
The Government paid for the under-road crossing designed to contain a pulp mill water pipeline after Gunns said it was under “extreme financial pressure”.
The Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources officials feared a three-month delay in Gunns agreeing to pay for the culvert would delay work on the $70 million East Tamar Highway upgrade in 2008.
A department spokeswoman said yesterday Gunns had not paid the money for the culvert.
“The agreement was that this would only be due once the culvert was used by Gunns. As this has not occurred, reimbursement has not been sought,” she said.
“The administrator will be notified that he should make any future proponents aware of this obligation if they were to use it.”
The spokeswoman said about $15,000 owed to the department in relation to private forests would be pursued.
Premier Lara Giddings conceded it was highly likely the Government would be a Gunns creditor.
Social services in Tasmania have seen a 300% increase in people seeking help and are bracing for worse to come, but not all are due to Gunns demise.
Tasmania has watched jobs disappear with the failed super-trawler venture, the closure of King Island’s meat processing plant and the collapse of Gunns.
Tasmania already had the highest unemployment rate in Australia, at 6.8 per cent.
The state’s Liberal opposition says 6700 full-time jobs have been lost in the last 12 months.
Plenty in Tasmania are quick to point their finger at the state’s environmental movement and the power sharing Greens.
The banned super trawler ran into a storm of protest from green groups and recreational fishers, while the opposition to Gunns’ proposed $2.3 billion pulp mill has been blamed for the company’s eventual failure.
When the Gunns decision was announced last week, federal Greens leader Christine Milne declared the solution for Tasmania was clean, green and clever industries.
