The Franklin River Campaign In Australian history, to this day, the Franklin River Campaign is the largest and most successful non-violent direct action environmental protest. Over the nine years the campaign ran there was a total of 1440 arrests, which attracted national widespread media attention Timeline of Franklin River campaign events: *1972 Conservationists fought against the State Governments decision to allow the Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) to flood Lake Pedder to create hydro-electricty. Even though in 1972 the battle was lost and Lake Pedder was flooded, it was from this campaign that activists learnt about what methods of lobbying worked and what didn’t, which was influential in the methods used in the Franklin River Campaign *The world’s first Green political party was formed and named the United Tasmania Group *1976 The Tasmanian Wilderness Society (later known as The Wilderness Society) was formed *1979 The Tasmanian HEC proposed the damming on the Gordon below where it joined the Franklin River, which would have destroyed 35% of the remaining temperate wilderness in Tasmania’s South West The Tasmanian Wilderness Society and a number of other lobby groups started a campaign against this proposal. Many prominent people joined this campaign such as Dr Bob Brown, who led the campaign, internationally renowned botanist, author and environmentalist David Bellamy, writer James McQueen, poet Vicki Raymond, and photographic artist Peter Dombrovkis. This bought attention to a very large audience about the campaign The Commonwealth Government, worried about the state, national and international attention the campaign was attracting stepped in and proposed that the Dam be built on the Gordon River above the junction with the Olga River. However this did not slow down or stop the protests or attention on the issue (Tourism Tasmania, n.d.). 1981 A referendum was held, so that the Tasmania people could have their say on the issue. The choices in the referendum were either ‘Gordon-below-Franklin’, or ‘Gordon-above-Olga’. It was decided that the option ‘No Dam’ would not be included in the referendum. Despite this 44% of Tasmania’s cast an informal vote by writing “No Dam” on their ballot papers (Tourism Tasmania, n.d.). 1982 The Commonwealth Labor Government nominated three National Parks in Tasmania for World Heritage Listing. 16 Jun, 1982 A new liberal government gained power, and revoked part of the Wild Rivers National Park to make way for the Gordon-below-Franklin power scheme. Dec, 1982 The World Heritage listing which was accepted in December and named the Western Tasmanian Wilderness National Parks World Heritage Area. This area satisfied more of the criteria than any other World Heritage listed area on the whole planet, and as a result the World Heritage Committee raised concerns about the effect of the dam on this area of “outstanding universal value” (Tourism Tasmania, n.d.). After 7 years of protests: Dec 14, 1982 A peaceful, non-violent onsite blockade of the Franklin River started, which blocked the construction workers access to build the dam (The Wilderness Society, 2006). Jul 1, 1983 A historical day in Australian history the High Court of Australia made a ruling that gave the Commonwealth Labor Government the power to overrule the Tasmanian State Government’s decision and prevent the construction of the Dam on the Franklin River (New South Wales Government, 2010).

More on The Franklin *The Commonwealth Government, worried about the state, national and international attention the campaign was attracting stepped in and proposed that the Dam be built on the Gordon River above the junction with the Olga River. However this did not slow down or stop the protests or attention on the issue *1981 A referendum was held, so that the Tasmania people could have their say on the issue. The choices in the referendum were either ‘Gordon-below-Franklin’, or ‘Gordon-above-Olga’. It was decided that the option ‘No Dam’ would not be included in the referendum. Despite this 44% of Tasmania’s cast an informal vote by writing “No Dam” on their ballot papers *1982 The Commonwealth Labor Government nominated three National Parks in Tasmania for World Heritage Listing. *16 Jun, 1982 A newLiberal government gained power, and revoked part of the Wild Rivers National Park to make way for the Gordon-below-Franklin power scheme. *Dec, 1982 The World Heritage listing which was accepted in December and named the Western Tasmanian Wilderness National Parks World Heritage Area. This area satisfied more of the criteria than any other World Heritage listed area on the whole planet, and as a result the World Heritage Committee raised concerns about the effect of the dam on this area of “outstanding universal value” (Tourism Tasmania, n.d.). *After 7 years of protests: Dec 14, 1982 A peaceful, non-violent onsite blockade of the Franklin River started, which blocked the construction workers access to build the dam (The Wilderness Society, 2006). *Jul 1, 1983 A historical day in Australian history the High Court of Australia made a ruling that gave the Commonwealth Labor Government the power to overrule the Tasmanian State Government’s decision and prevent the construction of the Dam on the Franklin River (New South Wales Government, 2010).

Get the feel for The Franklin Watch these videos on youtube at home or at school. Use the links listed below: - The Franklin River Blockade 1983, Tasmania (Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGpy8_v3tmI - The Franklin River Blockade 1983, Tasmania (Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhCGFHkzifQ While viewing jot down all the reasons you see for the protesters wanting to SAVE the FRANKLIN.