Economic Assessment of the Gunns Pulp Mill 2004-2008

This paper outlines the process for evaluating the economic effects of Gunns proposed pulp mill in northern Tasmania. Removal of the project from the Resource planning and Development Commission had two important effects. First, assumptions underlying the proponent's impact statement could not be tested in public hearings. Second, important parts of the RPDC economic assessment criteria were never addressed. In the end, the review process was structured so that only one outcome, favourable to the proponents, was ever possible.