Franklin Dam
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The Franklin Dam or Gordon-below-Franklin Dam project was an attempt to dam the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, for the purposes of hydroelectricity. This would have subsequently destroyed the environmentally sensitive Franklin River, which joined the Gordon nearby. During the campaign against the dam, both areas were World Heritage listed.
The campaign that followed led to the consolidation of the small green movement that had been born out of the campaign against the Lake Pedder Dam in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Over the five years between the announcement of the dam proposal in 1978 and the axing of the plans in 1983, there was vigorous debate between the pro-and-anti-dam lobbies, with large protests from both sides.
In December 1982, the dam site was occupied by protesters, leading to widespread arrests and greater publicity. The dispute became a federal issue the following March, when a campaign in the national print media, assisted by the pictures of photographer Peter Dombrovskis, helped bring down the government of Malcolm Fraser at the 1983 election. The new government, under Bob Hawke, had promised to stop the dam from being built. A legal battle between the federal government and Tasmanian state government followed, resulting in a landmark High Court ruling in the government's favour.
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Announcement of the plans
In 1978, the Tasmanian Hydro Electric Commission announced their intention to build the dam. The idea polarised the Tasmanian community. It gained support from some sections of the community for generating jobs in an area of the state that was struggling economically. It was suggested that the construction of the dam would assist in bringing industry to Tasmania, on top of the jobs that it would create directly. The initial opinion polls showed around 70% support for the dam.
However, the protest movement which had gathered to fight the construction of the Lake Pedder Dam earlier in the 1970s began to reassemble in response to the announcement. The Tasmanian Wilderness Society, under activist Bob Brown, which had formed from the anti-Lake Pedder Dam groups, the Tasmanian Conservation Trust and the Australian Conservation Foundation began to mount a public interest campaign concerning the river. The photographs of Dombrovskis and his colleage, Olegas Truchanas, attracted significant attention. The campaign generated 30,000 letters of support in a fortnight. A film, The Last Wild River, was shown on Tasmania's two commercial television stations.
In June, 1980, an estimated 10,000 people marched through the streets of Hobart, demanding that the government not proceed with construction. This was the largest rally in the history of the state.
Attempts at compromise
The Labor state government, under Premier Doug Lowe, backed down from the original proposal, and agreed to place the Franklin River in a new Wild Rivers National Park. Instead of the original proposal, Lowe now backed an alternative - the 'Gordon-above-Olga' scheme. While this was above the Gordon's junction with the Franklin, it still would have destroyed a large chunk of wilderness. This compromise did not appease the environmental groups, who maintained a policy of no dams in southwest Tasmania.
In July, both the pro-dam and anti-dam groups (the former of which also included the union movement) initiated an advertising blitz in Tasmania. The HEC claimed that up to 10,000 potential jobs would be lost if the dam was not built.
The Liberal-controlled Legislative Council then blocked the Labor government's 'Gordon-above-Olga' compromise, instead insisting that they proceed with the original proposal. The two parties could not agree on a solution, which lead to a deadlock between the two houses of parliament.
Inquiry, referendum and election
In 1981, Australian Senator Don Chipp initiated a Senate inquiry into "the natural values of south-west Tasmania to Australia and the world" and "the federal responsibility in assisting Tasmania to preserve its wilderness areas of national and international importance".
In early 1981, Aboriginal caves were discovered, in the area which would be flooded if the dam were to be built. The area contained important Aboriginal hand stencils, as well as remnants of campfires and stone tools that were between 8,000 and 24,000 years old. Concerns also began to be raised about habitat loss for endangered species.
On December 12, 1981, the state government called a referendum in an attempt to break the deadlock. The referendum gave voters only two choices: one for each dam proposal. 47% voted in favour of the original scheme, 8% for the compromise, and 45% voted informally. There had been a significant campaign for voters to write 'No dams' instead of either sanctioned option, and it has been said that more than a third of voters did this.
The ongoing crisis resulted in the replacement of Lowe as premier by Harry Holgate, a Labor politician who was markedly more supportive of the dam proposals. In response, both Lowe and Mary Willey, another Labor MP, resigned from the party and sat in the parliament as independents. This resulted in the loss of a Labor majority in the lower house. Norm Sanders, an Australian Democrats MP and anti-dam campaigner, moved a no-confidence motion, and a state election was called for May 15.
The Holgate Labor government was defeated by the strongly pro-dam Liberal Party under Robin Gray. The new Premier immediately ordered the original plan to go ahead and passed the necessary legislation. Gray attempted to dissuade the federal government from intervening by threatening to secede from the Commonwealth if they did so. Perhaps as a result, the federal government initially declined to intervene in the dispute.
Blockade
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As a response to this announcement, rallies were held in a number of cities around Australia. Bob Brown toured the country attempting to raise support for the anti-dam campaign, in order to convince Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to intervene and override the state legislation allowing the dam's construction.
In November 1982, the conflict stepped up a notch when Brown announced that a blockade of the dam site would begin on December 14. On the same day, the UNESCO committee in Paris was due to list the Tasmanian wild rivers as a World Heritage site. The blockade drew an estimated 2500 people, from not only Tasmania, but also from interstate and overseas. This resulted in the subsequent proclamation of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, which covered both the Franklin and Gordon Rivers. However, Tasmania itself was still divided, with a pro-dam rally in Hobart also attracting around 2500 people. While the blockade was ongoing, Norm Sanders resigned from the House of Assembly to contest a Senate seat. He was replaced in the assembly by Bob Brown, who had only been released the previous day after spending three weeks in jail for his role in the blockade.
Throughout January, around 50 people arrived at the blockade each day. The government made things difficult for the protesters, passing several laws and enforcing special bail conditions for those arrested. Bulldozers were unloaded at the site from a barge under the protection of police. A total of 1217 arrests were made, many simply for being present at the blockade. Protestors impeded machinery and occupied sites associated with the construction work. Nearly 500 people were imprisoned for breaking the terms of their bail. This caused an overflow of prisons in the region. British botanist David Bellamy was jailed, which gave the dispute international attention. The author John Marsden, after being arrested at the blockade, was placed in the high-security Risdon Prison for a night, as there was nowhere else to hold him.
Members of the bands Goanna and Redgum put together the song Let The Franklin Flow, which became an anthem of the campaign. In February, a Hobart rally against the dam drew approximately 20,000 people. On March 1, the movement launched a day of action, which they labelled 'Green Day'. 231 people were arrested as a flotilla of boats took to the Gordon River. In Hobart, the Wilderness Society flag was flown above the HEC building.
March 2 saw the publication of full page ads in Australian papers of what would become an iconic photo - Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River by Peter Dombrovskis. It was accompanied by the caption "Could you vote for a party that would destroy this?"
Resolution
On March 5, the Australian Labor Party won the federal election. The new Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, had vowed to stop the dam from being constructed, and it has been suggested that the controversy over the dam helped to bring down the Liberal government of Malcolm Fraser. The new government passed the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act, which overrode the state legislation.
However, the Tasmanian government appealed the decision to the High Court, claiming that the federal government had no powers under the Constitution to pass the legislation. They claimed that as the right to legislate for the environment was not named in the Constitution, and was thus a residual power, that the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act was unconstitutional. The federal government, however, claimed that they had the right to do so, under the 'external affairs' provision of the Constitution, as by blocking the dam's construction, they were fulfilling their responsibilities under an international treaty.
The resulting court case became known as Commonwealth v Tasmania. On July 1, 1983, in a landmark ruling, the High Court ruled by a vote of 4-3 in the federal government's favor. This ruling gave the federal government the power to legislate on any issue if it were necessary to enforce an international treaty, and has been the subject of controversy ever since. The High Court ruling ended the dam's construction, and the plans have never been revived. The demise of plans for the dam also largely ended the building of dams for the generation of hydroelectricity in Australia.
References
- Thompson, Peter. Power in Tasmania. Australian Conservation Foundation, 1981.
- Thompson, Peter. Bob Brown of the Franklin River. HarperCollins Publishers, 1984.
- The Franklin Blockade. Wilderness Society, 1983.
- Connolly, Bob. The fight for the Franklin: the story of Australia's last wild river, 1981.
External links
- History of The Franklin River Campaign (http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/wildrivers/franklin/franklin) - (from the Wilderness Society)