Pulp Friction

Tasmanian logging (Photo: The Wilderness Society)The latest edition of the Tasmanian Business Reporter waxes lyrical about the importance of building a massive pulp mill proposed by the controversial logging company Gunns. Writing about the positive coverage in The Australian, D.D. McNicoll notes that the Reporter does not quote "a single voice of dissent to the project," despite widespread opposition by local small business owners. The editor of the Reporter is Ingrid Harrison, who's also the Executive Director of the PR firm Corporate Communications Tasmania (CCTas), an affiliate of Porter Novelli Australia. Ingrid's husband, Tony Harrison, is a PR advisor to Gunns. "Mere coincidence, perhaps," quips McNicoll. The Reporter is a joint venture between CCTas and the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a small business lobby group.