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4. Gunns, profits, mates and the National
Trust
By Stephen Mayne A publisher who does not need dead trees to tell stories CRIKEY had quite a good little scoop on Sunday with this story Another grubby Gunns deal... by Gretel Green about the outrageous deal which sees the National Trust, an organisation supposedly interested in conservation, handing over the historic Entally House in Northern Tasmania to world record tree-loppers Gunns to run as a wine venture. We spoke to ABC Tasmania's Tim Cox yesterday morning and he confirmed that it was true, as Gretel Green reported, that National Trust President Patricia Woods did indeed have Gunns executive chairman John Gay as the other best man at her wedding more than 30 years ago. Gunns shares continue to go from strength to strength and rose another 7c to a record high of $15.09 yesterday. This values Gunns at a whopping $1.278 billion and John Gay's stake is now worth more than $70 million. Historians should note now that John Howard's legacy will include helping create a world leading logging giant which is today twice as valuable as our biggest listed IT company, MYOB, which is only capitalised at $548 million, even after the merger with Solution 6. To understand how dominant Gunns is in Tasmania, you only had to look at the way it could muster all those trucks and timber workers at short notice during the final week of the election campaign. And consider the size of the next two biggest Tasmanian companies after Gunns: 1. Gunns Ltd, tree lopper: $1.287 billion 2. Tassal Ltd, salmon and tobacco: $78 million 3. Websters, commercial services and supplies: $42 million. No single company dominates another Australian jurisdiction quite like Gunns rules the roost in Tasmania. Gunns shares have now risen by 8 per cent since voters returned the Howard Government and this has added $94 million to its value in the eight trading days since the election. Much of this value comes from the ability of Gunns to slaughter the mighty Tasmanian forests with the express permission of Labor Premier Paul Lennon, his like-minded Liberal mate in The Lodge and their thuggish mates in the CFMEU. Oh, the share price might also be up a few cents courtesy of this latest sweetheart deal on Entally House, which is so emblematic of all that is wrong with Tasmania. CRIKEY... |
