Rainforest Action Network

SUE NEALES
Chief reporter

June 19, 2007 12:00am

PREMIER Paul Lennon has admitted to a parliamentary committee that he knew environmental information supplied by Gunns Ltd about its $1.7 billion pulp mill plan was inadequate for it to be given the green light.

Mr Lennon told the estimates committee inquiry into his own department's affairs yesterday that he knew there remained a problem with the information supplied by Gunns in February to the state's main planning body, the Resource Planning and Development Commission.

It was reported last week that Mr Lennon knew the Gunns information had problems.

But Mr Lennon said he did not think the inadequacy of the Gunns' environmental and scientific information was a relevant fact to tell Parliament.

One day after Gunns announced it was withdrawing its pulp mill project from the formal RPDC assessment process, Mr Lennon announced he was preparing legislation for an alternative fast-track approval process within Parliament.

The Premier said he accepted Gunns' explanation that it had been forced to withdraw from the RPDC because the process was taking too long.

"You can use all the colourful language you like in just another attempt to create a conspiracy theory, but my concern was always that we (the state) were in danger of losing the project altogether," he said.

Mr Lennon refused to answer questions about why his departmental chief Linda Hornsey had become so entangled in the pulp mill assessment process.Ms Hornsey did not give any explanation herself at the hearing, even when Greens leader Peg Putt asked her a question directly.

Mr Lennon said the hearing was in danger of being tuned into a "kangaroo court" and advised Ms Putt to write to Ms Hornsey -- despite the two women sitting just a metre distant across the table -- if she had any queries.