An export award won by a Tasmanian timber company was a tribute to the industry, according to the company's CEO

From the Launceston Examiner (Thursday, 25 March 2004)
Gunns Ltd executive chairman John Gay said on Tuesday that his Australian Export Hero award was a tribute to the company and the Tasmanian timber in-dustry.

The head of Austra-lia’s largest timber busi-ness was one of 12 “heroes” presented with the 2004 award by Victorian Governor John Landy.

The export heroes programme is organised by the Australian Insti-tute of Export, backed by Austrade.

It recognises extra-ordinary contributions made by individual Australians to the growth of exports and in promoting Australia in the international mar-ket place.

Winners are nomi-nated biennially by their peers and selected through a competitive judging process.

“Forestry is an im-portant part of the fab-ric of our history and culture, but also of our future,” Mr Gay said.

“It is great that our role in exporting high- value products is recog-nised but much still needs to be done to redress the balance be-tween imports and ex-ports of forest products.”

Mr Gay said that Aus-tralia imported twice as much as it exported, and the challenge was to reverse that, value -adding all local products in Tasmania and Aus-tralia.

Gunns has said it will build a pulp mill and paper mill in Tasmania at a total cost of about $1.5 billion if environ-mental guidelines, now under independent re-view, can be met.