The Chief Scientist That Signed-Off On Gunns Pulp Mill Has Genetically Modified Eucalyptus Trees

Jim Peacock

The Chief Scientist who had the final say on Gunns pulp mill, including the dumping of 64,000 tonnes of dioxin contaminants every day into a fishery was Dr Jim Peacock.
Peacock was chief scientist at the time Malcolm Turnbull was Federal Environment Minister.
Few Tasmanians, against whom Peacock had unleashed years of conflict and bittereness realise that one of the supposed high points of his career was his key role in producing genetically modified eucalyptus trees. Peacock and his team chose the river red gum and made the tree herbicide-resistant to glufosinate and resistant to defoliating beetles. It achieved these insecticidal properties by expressing the Cry3A insecticide derived from a bacterium called bacillus thuringiensis or Bt. Peacock had created a veritable 'Franken tree' where the whole tree acted as a poison against most, if not all insects. Was his tree trialled in Australia? Was it grown commercially in Australia? Was it's exploitation covered-up at any stage? To many Tasmanians Peacock was part of a big conspiracy. The university superannuation fund Unisuper had funds invested in Gunns Ltd. So did other Commonwealth and State pension funds. The Howard government and the state government totally backed the project although it had never been before a planning scheme. The government wanted to use the MIS plantation 'ponzi schemes' to supply the pulp mill. These plantations were paid for with money that should have been used for hospitals and schools. It looked like a real gravy train where every 'two bit hustler' would make money. Instead it spent the next decade dragging down reputations and destroying careers.