Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson recalls pulp mill furore
A Tasmanian Greens Senator has recalled the fight over the “giant, dodgy pulp mill” as his family wine business officially winds up this week.
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TASMANIAN Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has recalled the fight over the “giant, dodgy pulp mill” as his family exits the wine industry.
The Launceston-based Senator said the family wine business Three Whishes had been officially wound up this week.
“It’s a weird mix of sadness and celebration when you close such an incredible chapter in your life,” he said in a post on Facebook.
The Senator said the farm had been sold two years ago and the family had not made wine under the Three Wishes label for some time.
Senator Whish-Wilson paid tribute to his mother Rosemary who largely ran the wine business after he entered politics.
A former economist with a career in international finance, Senator Whish-Wilson moved to Tasmania around 20 years ago seeking the quiet life.
However he became a prominent figure in the debate over the Gunns’ pulp mill as he joined other Tamar Valley tourism businesses in opposition to the mill.
Senator Whish-Wilson said he had no interest whatsoever in politics until the fight over the “giant, dodgy pulp mill”.
“I have no regrets looking back, although I do wonder what life I would have lived had the pulp mill not come along … My vineyard and family was the hook that got me to Tassie, I got to run a small biz with all its challenges, I became ‘earthed’ and connected to the land, I made amazing friends and was part of an incredible community, I got to bring up my kids on this special island surrounded by loved ones, and I was forced to stand up and fight for what I believed in, for a different vision, a different possible future,” he posted.
He resigned as a director of the family company when he was elected to federal parliament in 2012.
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