The Gunns
20 Defendants

 

Who are the defendants
("The Gunns 20")?

(Click on any of the above names for more
information on the organisation / individual)

 

(1) Alec Marr (The Wilderness Society)

(2) Geoff Law (TWS)

(3) Russell Hanson (TWS)

(4) Leanne Minshull (formerly of TWS)

(5) Heidi Douglas (TWS)

(6) The Wilderness Society Inc.

(7) Adam Burling (Huon Valley Environment
Centre)

(8) Louise Morris

(9) Simon Brown

(10) Greens Senator Robert (Bob) Brown

(11) Greens MHA Margaret (Peg) Putt

(12) Helen Gee

(13) Ben Morrow

(14) Lou Geraghty

(15) Neal Funnell

(16) Brian Dimmick

(17) Huon Valley Environment Centre Inc.

(18) Peter Pullinger

(19) Frank Nicklason

(20) Doctors for Native Forests Inc.

 

Who are the plaintiffs?

 

Gunns Ltd; Robin Simons and Heather Simons, trading as T&H
Investments.

CURRENT Solicitors for the Plaintiffs: Clayton Utz

CURRENT Barristers for the Plaintiffs: Paul Santamaria SC and Ian Waller SC

FORMER Solicitors for the Plaintiffs: EMA Legal (Dec 04 - Jul 06) Hunt & Hunt (Jul 06 - Oct 06)

FORMER Barristers for the Plaintiffs: Stephen Howells and Mark Irving (Dec 04 - Oct 06)

 

The Gunns 20 Defendants:

Alec Marr
Former bricklayer Alec Marr took a break from the building site back in 1983 to become involved with the ultimately successful campaign to save Tasmania's Farmhouse Creek and the Lemonthyme Forest from being woodchipped.

Alec never went back to the trowel and cement-mixer, and is now the National Campaign Director for The Wilderness Society Inc.

The fight for Australia's wild places and remaining forests sometimes requires straight talking and clear thinking, and these have been Alec's great gifts to the environmental movement.

These days Alec and his partner Virginia Young are based in Canberra, returning to Tasmania regularly for campaign work and to enjoy the wilderness they have fought so hard to save from the woodchip corporations.

For more information on the Wilderness
Society see: www.wilderness.org.au

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(2)
Geoff Law

Geoff is one of Tasmania's foremost environmentalists, intimately involved in campaigns that have saved thousands of hectares of Tasmania's remaining wilderness areas. Geoff started bushwalking in Tasmania in 1975 and began his environmental career in 1981 through the Franklin River campaign.

He has discovered caves, eagles' nests and other natural features in threatened forests and bushwalked and rafted through many areas of Tasmania's natural heritage that no longer exist, such as the Hydro dam flooded areas of Murchison gorge, the Anthony valley and the King Valley as well as logging coupes in the Styx Valley and North-East Highlands. Geoff won Wild Magazine’s ‘Environmentalist of the year’ in 2002.

He also played a significant role in the creation of the Douglas-Apsley, Savage River and South Bruny National Parks; the 1989 expansion of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area to protect the Lemonthyme, Little Fisher, Upper Mersey, Wayatinah, Cole Creek, Upper Weld and Farmhouse Creek forests; and the 1989 expansion of the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.

His partner, Amanda Sully, is also one of Tasmania's most prominent environmental defenders and they have a 3 year old Elliott who is always on the move! Geoff is currently the director of The Wilderness Society Inc in Tasmania.

For more information on the Wilderness
Society see: www.wilderness.org.au

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(3) Russell Hanson

Russell was approached to join The Wilderness
Society, as the CEO, in 1996, to be responsible for the finances,
fundraising, membership and all administrative functions of the
Society.

Prior to his appointment he held various
management roles over many years with Myer and Fitzgeralds Department
Store chains, culminating as the Finance Director with Fitzgeralds.

While The Wilderness Society did not expect
Russell to remain for an extended period, it is now 8 years and
he has been an integral part of the rapid growth in the Society.

Russell has three children, one now in
Melbourne while two remain in Tassie.

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(4) Leanne Minshull

Leanne worked as the Corporate Campaigner
for The Wilderness Society for 6 years, where she was instrumental
in the all important corporate campaigns including the Jabiluka
/ North Ltd. campaign, and the Gunns Ltd. corporate campaign.

Born and bred in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs,
Leanne now lives in St. Kilda (Melbourne), and has one adult
daughter - Amy, who lives in the hills behind Byron Bay with
her partner and her dog 'Catdog'.

Admitted to practice as a solicitor in
NSW, Leanne holds a Masters in Labour Law and is currently employed
as an Environmental Business Analyst for a ratings agency.

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(5)
Heidi Douglas

Heidi Douglas is an internationally awarded young film-maker and Audio Visual Producer for The Wilderness Society.

Heidi studied Communications and Media Arts at the University of Newcastle and Environmental Journalism at the University of Tasmania, and is passionate about and committed to filmmaking.

Heidi adores Tasmania for its light, landscapes and creative community. She believes Tasmania can capitalise on these assets, and her long term goal is to help establish Hobart as one of the filmmaking capitals of the world.

Heidi's also works on producing Indymedia publications, organising community events with Terraphonic Sound System, and is currently writing her first feature length film script

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(6)
The Wilderness Society

The Wilderness Society is a national, community-based,
environmental advocacy organisation whose mission is to protect,
promote and restore wilderness and natural processes across Australia
for the survival and ongoing evolution of life on Earth. It works
through the avenues of public education and empowerment, advocacy
and negotiation, political lobbying, and desk and field research.
The Wilderness Society is politically unaligned, but uses the
political process to maximise wise conservation decisions, and
is one of Australia's largest environment campaign organisations.

Since its formation in 1976 The Wilderness
Society has achieved the secure protection of over seven
million hectares of wilderness and other high conservation
value areas in Australia, including:

* Kakadu

* The Daintree

* Kangaroo Island

* South West Tasmania

* Australia's sub-Antarctic

* Victoria's malle woodlands.

For more information, see www.wilderness.org.au.

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(7)
Adam Burling

The ancient and wild forests of Tasmania inspire and nurture Adam's spirit. He has campaigned for a number of years with the Huon Valley Environment Centre for their protection from the woodchip companies. It was the threat of industrial forestry near his home and the impact on the local community that pushed Adam and other local residents to take a stand for their small rural valley. It was this stand for the wildlife, forests and people of Lucaston, that has resulted in him being sued by Gunns Ltd.

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(8)
Louise Morris

Louise Morris initially came to Tasmania in 2001, after campaigning for the protection of Western Australia’s forests, for a short summer vacation and to see the natural beauty of the island. From that point on Louise fell in love with the landscape and lifestyle that Tasmania offers and become heavily involved in the campaign to protect Tasmania’s forests.

Louise spent much of 2005 coordinating the Friends of Forest and Free Speech national tour with Luke Chamberlain. The tour moved through major regional centres and capital cities around Australia highlighting the campaign to protect Tasmania’s forests and the impact laws suits such as this one can have on free speech and civil society in Australia.

Louise is currently working on the Anti-nuclear campaign with Friends of the Earth while continuing to campaign for the protection of Tasmania’s forests. She is also dealing with her two law suits from Tasmanian logging companies Gunns Ltd and Harback Logging. In between that she is completing a degree in Politics and International Studies.

On World Environment day 2005 Louise was honoured with the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Peter Rawlinson Conservation Award.

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(9)
Simon Brown

Simon was born and raised in Tasmania but did not become involved in forest activism until he moved to New South Wales in 2000.

Returning to Tasmania in late 2001, Simon spent much of the next two years campaigning in Tasmania and Victoria against the woodchipping of Tasmania's forests.

Simon now has a weekly current affairs program on Edge Radio 99.3FM in Hobart, and is working on a career in Journalism while studying at the University of Tasmania. Simon's Website

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(10)
Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown

Bob Brown has been a life-long campaigner
for Tasmania's forests and wilderness areas. He rose to national
prominence in the early 1980s when he left his job as a family
doctor to spearhead the successful campaign to save the majestic
Franklin River from being dammed.

The price of defending Tasmania's wilderness has been very high.
Bob was shot at and assaulted during protests against logging
at Tasmania's Farmhouse Creek in 1986-7. In 1995 Bob was arrested
and jailed twice for demonstrating peacefully to protect Tasmania's
Tarkine Wilderness from roading and logging.

After 10 years in the Tasmanian parliament, he was elected to
the Australian Senate in 1996.

In 1990, Bob Brown established the highly influential Australian
Bush Heritage Fund to buy land for conservation.

Bob has a house on the Liffey River beneath snowy Drys Bluff
in central Tasmania.

For more information see: www.bobbrown.org.au

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(11)
Tasmanian Greens MHA Peg Putt

Peg is from Tasmania’s Huon Valley, south of Hobart. A popular and effective Member of Parliament, so much so that she topped the poll in her electorate of Denison (a multi-member five-seat electorate) at the last State election. Peg is the leader of the Tasmanian Parliamentary Greens in the House of Assembly, Tasmania.

Peg has been a forests campaigner since 1978 and was first elected to parliament in 1993.

Her portfolios are: Treasury, Employment and Small Business, Health and Human Services, Tourism, Parks, Heritage, Antarctic Affairs, Forest Conservation, Aboriginal Affairs, and Women

HPeg was previously Director of the Tasmanian Conservation Trust, and prior to this was responsible for the establishment of the Threatened Species Network in Tasmania.
Peg has two children and her partner works in the conservation movement.

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(12)
Helen Gee

Tasmanian born, Helen Gee lives on the
East coast of Tasmania. One of Tasmania's foremost environmentalists,
authors and educators, Helen is a founding member of the Wilderness
Society, Convenor of the Lake Pedder Restoration Committee, Convenor
of the South East Forest Protection Group and an Australian Conservation
Foundation Councillor.

Among her publications, she has written
two definitive works on Tasmania's wilderness heritage, "The
South West Book: a Tasmanian wilderness", and the ultimate
history of Tasmania's forest campaigns, "For the Forests".

Helen and husband Bob Graham run a grazing
property where their children Thomas and Alice developed a love
of the bush.

Helen's latest book is "River of Verse:
A Tasmanian Journey 1800 - 2004" and is published by Back
River Press, 2004.

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(13)
Ben Morrow

30 year old Ben Morrow, originally from Newcastle NSW, spent most of 2004 in the threatened forests of Tasmania’s Styx Valley at the Global Rescue Station, helping to raise awareness of the plight of Tasmania's ancient forests.

Ben completed an Environmental Science degree in 2000 after returning from a four month trip overseas and Ben realized it was time to start looking for a career.

Since then Ben has worked with various environmental and grassroots organisations for the protection of forests throughout Australia.

Since he moved high into the trees in The Styx Valley Ben has not really returned from Tassie’s forests and tries not to think too much about the warm water and waves waiting for him in Newcastle. Instead he focuses on the important work of protecting Tasmania’s high conservation value forests.

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(14)
Mrs Lou Geraghty

Like many Tasmanians, Lou never for a minute considered that one day she would become involved with an environmental campaign, nor be in danger of losing her home and life savings over a court case bought by Tasmania’s largest logging corporation. Married with children and grandchildren, Lou and her husband were in the process of developing their property for eco-tourism when the magnificent forests next to her Lucaston property became an industrial logging zone. All plans were put on hold while she and her neighbors fought for the peace, safety and amenity of their families and the surrounding wildlife and forests. This struggle became a ground breaking documentary entitled ‘The Battle of Bakers Creek’ (see Brian Dimmick, Defendant number 16) and Lou ended up as one of the Gunns20. She currently runs a café in Huonville.

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(15) Neal Funnell

Neal is the youngest member of the Gunns
20. One day he would like to make lots of money at the expense
of those around him and go on to become a powerbroker
in one of Australia's two major political parties. He would like
to thank Gunns for this invaluable legal opportunity.

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(16)
Brian Dimmick

A well known Tasmanian film and documentary
maker, Brian produced the ground breaking 2003 documentary "The
Battle of Bakers Creek".

Hailed as one of the most powerful environmental
films ever seen, the documentary covers the battle waged by members
of a small Tasmanian community against Gunns Ltd plans to log
the beautiful forests of the Lucaston Valley, 40 minutes south
of Hobart.

Brian knows only too well the high price
of telling the outside world about environmental destruction
in Tasmania. While filming traffic footage for the documentary
in a public place, Brian, and his camera equipment, were attacked
by a log truck driver. The attack was caught on film and broadcast
nationally giving a window for the rest of the country on the
realities faced by brave people trying to raise awareness about
logging in Tasmania.

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(17)
The Huon Valley Environment Centre Inc.

Located in Southern Tasmania’s woodchipping heartland in the town of Huonville, the Huon Valley Environment Centre stands against incredible odds and is a brave beacon to the community. The Centre is a meeting space for environmentalists and has a great range of gifts, books, plants and a lending library. It has become an oasis for many environmentally minded people.

It is staffed by a committed group of Tasmanians
volunteers, and has a great atmosphere, is a regular venue for
film, fundraising and music nights.

Established in 2001, the centre's activities include forest campaigns, herb health and organic expos, and coordinating public meetings about local environmental issues.

Huon Valley Environment Centre campaigns for Tasmania's threatened World Heritage value southern forests. It is spearheading the campaign to protect the Lower Weld Valley, an valley of ancient forests and wild pristine rivers.

The Centre has become a vital and popular landmark in the Huon Valley.
The Huon Valley Environment Centre is located at shop 3/17 Wilmot Rd, Huonville, and is open Tuesday - Friday.


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(18)
Dr Peter Pullinger

What's a mild-mannered Dentist doing sticking
his neck out for Tasmania's disappearing wilderness? It all started
when clearfelling near the family property in the Cam River Valley,
began in 1998. The Cam Valley, south of Burnie was one of the
North West's last forested valleys.

Astoundingly, the Cam River runs into the
water catchment for the Towns of Somerset and Wynyard. The Valley
has some magnificent forests and is in a steep, erosion prone
valley that was home to the endangered wedgetailed eagle and
giant freshwater crayfish. Peter is a founding member of HREF="http://www.doctorsforforests.com/">Doctors for Forests
and, and the Pullinger family are all now active with the HREF="http://tarkine.org/">Tarkine National Coalition, a
group trying to achieve protection for Australia's largest temperate
rainforest, located in the Northwest of Tasmania (click on links
for more information).

Peter is married to Leonie and has 4 children.

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(19) Frank
Nicklason

Dr Frank Nicklason is a Physician at the
Royal Hobart Hospital, and is a founding member of Doctors
for Forests.


A farmer's son from the far North-East of Tasmania, Frank first became concerned about public health issues associated with industrial conversion forestry (native forest and farmland to monoculture plantation) in the early 1990s when 2 massive plantations were established near his brother's organic beef farm.

The herbicides atrazine and simazine were applied with questionable occupational health standards and attention to preventing entry of chemicals into waterways during aerial spraying.

Frank is motivated by a strong sense for issues of inter-generational equity. He was asked 2 years ago by his daughter Aoife; "Dad will there still be scenery when I grow up?"

Frank was voted by doctors in training at the Royal Hobart Hospital as supervisor of the year 2004.
He is Chairman of the Medical Staff Association at the hospital.

His brother continues the family farming tradition and a sister is an enthusiastic publicist of the natural splendor of the North East Highlands and guides walkers on the trails marked out by the Friends of the Blue Tier.

"Doctor who spoke out on public health issue is sued"

Click here
to read the British Medical Journal article about Frank Nicklason.

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