[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Laborials Block Lennon & Gay Before Bar Call_N McKim MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

LABOR USES NUMBERS TO BLOCK MOVE TO CALL LENNON & GAY BEFORE BAR OF THE
HOUSE

All MPs Should Want Answers on Whether Parliament Was Deliberately
Misled and Conned

Nick McKim MP
Greens Opposition Leader

Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today said both the Labor Government and the
Liberal Opposition abrogated their responsibility to the Parliament by
voting to defeat moves to have former Premier Paul Lennon and the CEO of
Gunns Ltd to be brought before the Bar of the House in an attempt to
ascertain whether the Parliament was mislead over the removal of the
pulp mill process from the RPDC and the creation of a fast track
Parliamentary approval process.

Greens Opposition Leader Nick McKim MP said that it appears that many
Members of Parliament, including Cabinet Ministers, had been kept in the
dark about the decision to remove the pulp mill from the RPDC, but by
Labor and Liberal voting to defeat this motion they signalled that they
think it is OK for Parliament to be treated with such grave contempt.

Mr McKim also said that it was disappointing that neither Labor nor
Liberal gave their members a conscience vote on the issue, despite them
being the very people who were misled.

 "I have no doubt that there are many MPs who are outraged over the
recent revelations made before the Legislative Council Select Committee
that the then leadership team of Mr Lennon and Mr Kons were discussing
in February last year expectations that the pulp mill would be approved
by the end of May, but for some reason they voted down our attempts to
expose the truth," Mr McKim said.

"The Parliament and the Tasmanian people deserve to know what the
'Broadmarsh conspiracy' entailed, and providing the House with an
opportunity to question Mr Lennon and Mr Gay would have been an
important step in revealing the truth of the matter."

"The passing of legislation is a serious responsibility, and all MPs
must feel they can trust the information provided to the House when they
undertake their legislative responsibilities, which makes these
revelations of a deliberate distorting of the facts so alarming, and
would constitute a grave contempt of Parliament."

"Given that this contempt of Parliament has cast a shadow over the
debate of the Pulp Mill Assessment Act 2007, and would be raising
serious doubts in those who participated, it would only have been fair
for a conscience vote to be granted to all MPs this afternoon."

Timeline of Relevant Events:

** New Information** - 4 February 2007, Deputy Premier Steve Kons driven
to a meeting held at the then Premier Paul Lennon's Broadmarsh home.
Following the meeting Mr Kons allegedly tells the ministerial driver
that the mill would be approved by the 31st of May (2007).

22 February 2007 - At a RPDC Directions Hearing, Christopher Wright QC
(Chair of the RPDC Pulp Mill Panel), criticises Gunns for blowouts to
the assessment process timeline due to continual missing of deadlines.

27 February 2007 - Premier Lennon meets with Christopher Wright QC to
discuss whether the RPDC process could be shortened.  Mr Wright refuses
to commit to an end date.

14 March 2007 - Gunns informs the ASX that they have withdrawn the pulp
mill proposal from the RPDC.

14 March 2007 - Premier Lennon holds emergency Cabinet and Caucus
meetings to canvas other options for the pulp mill.

15 March 2007 - Premier Lennon informs Parliament that pulp mill
assessment legislation would be introduced, and Parliament recalled in
order to debate it.

22 March 2007 - Christopher Wright QC releases a sworn Statutory
Declaration detailing the meeting held on the 27th of February with the
Premier, Paul Lennon, which contains the RPDC's proposed timeframe for
the pulp mill assessment which outlines the process taking until early
2008.

22 March 2007 - Labor tables the Pulp Mill Assessment Bill 2007

23 March 2007 - final vote taken on the Pulp Mill Assessment Bill 2007
in the early hours of the morning.

** New Information** Monday 27 October 2008 - sworn evidence before the
Legislative Council Select Committee, from a former ministerial driver
that Mr Lennon told Mr Kons (4th of February 2007) that the pulp mill
would be approved by the 31st of May 2007.




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