Friends of the Tamar Valley released the statement below on January 24.
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ANZ branches around the country will be targeted tomorrow by the community seeking to halt Tasmanian logging company Gunns Ltd’s controversial Tamar Valley pulp mill.
ANZ Bank is due to make a decision about extending a debt facility to Gunns at the end of the month.
Rallies will be held by the No Pulp Mill Alliance, (of which Friends of the Tamar Valley is a member), outside major ANZ Bank branches in Launceston, Hobart, Sydney and Melbourne. Information about the bank’s financing of Gunns will be given to bank customers as ANZ is put on notice that an ongoing nationwide campaign will result should it continue to provide financial support for Gunns.
Friends of Tamar Valley spokesperson Anne Layton-Bennett said: “Gunns’ proposed pulp mill development will be environmentally disastrous. It will pollute our marine environment, threaten iconic wildlife, and emit large volumes of toxic foul gases. This proposed pulp mill will never receive a social licence from either the Tamar Valley, or wider Australian communities, and ANZ should withdraw all funding for Gunns immediately.”
No Pulp Mill Alliance member groups have warned they will revive the strong 2008 campaign opposing ANZ’s funding of the project, and will undertake direct actions, petitions and other initiatives if the bank facilitates an extension of Gunns’ debts, and prolongs the uncertainty Tasmanians have been forced to live with for the past eight years.
[Protests will take place outside ANZ Bank branches in Launceston, Hobart, Sydney and Melbourne from 1pm – 2pm on Wednesday, January 25.]
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