1. law, govt and politics
2. government

11.5 Green politics: Bob Brown
The term ‘green politics’ refers to the issues that ‘Green’ parties throughout the world
focus on:
sõ protecting the environment for future generations
sõ supporting human rights and social justice.
Green politics became a global phenomenon in the late twentieth century. Today, Green
parties exist in over 100 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific region and in the
Americas. They play significant roles in a number of parliaments and city councils.
Senator Bob Brown (born 1944) is the leader of the Australian Greens and represents
the state of Tasmania in the Senate. People know him for his commitment to and
championing of environmental issues.
Bob (Robert James) Brown grew up in Oberon in rural New South Wales and later
attended secondary school at Blacktown Boys’ High, where he was school captain. He
graduated in Medicine from Sydney University in 1968 and practised as a GP until
1980, mainly in Launceston. Brown’s move there in 1972 began his great love of the
Tasmanian wilderness and his increasing awareness of environmental issues. He
became involved in protests against the damming of Lake Pedder and entered politics as
a means of campaigning for environmental protection.
Brown made an unsuccessful attempt to gain a Senate seat in 1975 and from 1979
to 1984 was director of what was then the Tasmanian Wilderness Society. It was in this
position that he became a leader of the successful 1982–83 campaign to prevent the
Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) from damming the Franklin River.
SOURCE 11.23
Photograph showing
protesters blockading
the site of the proposed
Franklin Dam, 1983
SOURCE QUESTION
Identify the groups to
which the protesters in
source 11.24 are looking
for support. What do
you think they mean
by ‘Think globally act
locally’?
374
Retroactive 2
The Franklin Dam issue
In 1974 the Commonwealth Government ratified the international Convention
Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. This meant that
Australia accepted responsibility for identifying, protecting and conserving areas within
its borders that are important to world heritage.
In December 1982, the World Heritage
Committee accepted the Commonwealth
Government’s nomination of the Western
Tasmanian National Parks for entry into the
World Heritage List.
Before the parks could be listed, the
Tasmanian Government intervened by
passing the Gordon River Hydro-Electric Power
Development Act 1982. The Act allowed the
Tasmanian HEC to construct a dam on the
Franklin River within the nominated heritage
area. This would assist the HEC in supplying
Tasmania’s electricity.
Environmentalists throughout Australia
began protesting against the actions of the
Tasmanian Government.
Bob Brown and the Tasmanian Wilderness Society campaigned to increase public
awareness of the beauty of the proposed heritage area. They informed people of the
negative impact that excavation, building work and ongoing use of the dam would have
on this unique wilderness. There were already at least 20 dams in Tasmania. The area
that would be flooded to create the Franklin Dam contained caves that had been used by
Aboriginal people for thousands of years and were therefore of significant cultural value.
Early in 1983, the Tasmanian Wilderness Society led a blockade of the proposed
construction site. More than 2000 people took part in this action; 1500 were arrested
and 600, including Bob Brown, went to jail.
The Labor Party won the federal election in March 1983. It came to government with a
commitment to prevent the construction of the Franklin Dam.
The High Court case
SOURCE 11.24
A photograph of Bob
Brown and loggers during
a protest against forest
clearing at Farmhouse
Creek in the Tasmanian
wilderness in 1986
First, the Commonwealth Government used existing legislation to prevent any work
occurring on the dam without its approval. Second, the government passed the World
Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983. This Act classified the whole area as ‘natural
heritage’ and some of the areas closest to the site as ‘cultural heritage’ as well. The
heritage classification of these areas meant that they could not be built on.
The Tasmanian Government claimed that the Commonwealth Government was acting
outside the powers granted to it in the Constitution and took this issue to the High
Court. The High Court supported the Commonwealth Government’s right to introduce
legislation to stop construction of the dam.
Bob Brown and the impact of green politics
The Franklin Dam issue made Australians aware of the
importance of their natural environment and the need to
protect it. Bob Brown spent 19 days in jail, emerging in time
to be elected as the first Greens member of the Tasmanian
Parliament. He put forward Bills on freedom of information,
euthanasia, the need to decrease politicians’ salaries, the
maintenance of Tasmania as a nuclear-free zone, the banning of
battery hens and, in 1987, a Bill to ban semi-automatic weapons.
This Bill — nine years before the Port Arthur massacre (see
page 411) — failed. Brown also led a successful campaign to
have another 650 000 hectares added to Tasmania’s World
Heritage Area. He continued his participation in non-violent
protests against threats to Tasmania’s environmental heritage.
Bob Brown served in the Tasmanian Parliament until 1993.
He gained a seat in the Senate in 1996 and was re-elected in
2001 and 2007.
Bob Brown has gone on to campaign for many other green
issues: he protested against Australia’s involvement in war in
Iraq, against the United States Government’s detention, without
charge, of two Australians at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and
against what he saw as the negative impact of the Commonwealth
Government’s 2004 Free Trade Agreement with the United States.
In the Senate, he introduced Bills concerning forest protection,
greenhouse gases and the dumping of radioactive waste. He
put forward a Bill leading to the end of mandatory detention
of children for petty crimes in the Northern Territory, and he
delivered the casting vote leading to the establishment of a
convention on Australia becoming a republic. Although he is the
leader of a small party, Brown is committed to providing a viable
alternative to Australia’s two main political parties.
SOURCE QUESTION
What is happening in the
photograph shown in
source 11.24 and what
does it indicate about
the attitudes of those
involved?
ACTIVITIES
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
1 Define ‘green politics’ and list the indications that this is a significant movement.
2 Account for Bob Brown’s interest in green politics and explain how he pursued this interest.
3 Describe Bob Brown’s role in the Franklin Dam protests.
4 Outline the other contributions he has made in support of ‘green issues’.
CHAPTER 11
| People power
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