Gresham House can't say how many full-time jobs Tasmanian carbon plantation will create
news24.com.auUK investment firm Gresham House bought Rushy Lagoon, Tasmania's largest farm, for $142 million to convert it into a radiata pine carbon project. The federal Clean Energy Finance Corporation backed the deal with $69 million, and another $8.8 million came from a plantation grant program. The company says the 30-year pine rotation will support around 190 jobs, but its asset manager could not confirm how many are ongoing full-time roles, citing year to year calculations. It did say there are eight to ten full-time forestry management jobs. Planting is not expected until autumn next year, and the firm says cattle will stay on the land. Critics, including Tasmania's primary industries minister, question why public money was used to give a foreign buyer an edge over local bidders. The article matters for carbon market observers because it shows how project announcements and job estimates can be hard to verify before trees go in the ground.