United Tasmania Group
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The United Tasmania Group (UTG) is generally acknowledged as the world's first Green Party. The party was formed in March 1971, during a meeting of the Lake Pedder Action Group (LPAG) at the Hobart town hall in order to field political candidates in the April 1972 state election. They received 3.9% of the statewide vote and came within 200 votes of winning a seat1. They also contested the 1976 election, this time receiving 2.2% of the votes.
The party's first President was Dr Richard Jones.
The UTG lasted for five years, and was briefly reformed in 1990 for the federal election. Most of the original candidates, including Bob Brown went on to form the Tasmanian Greens, who enjoyed considerably more success. It has since been eclipsed at a national level by the Australian Greens and now officially exists only as a post box.
External links
- History of Green Politics in Tasmania (http://www.globalgreens.info/literature/dann/chapterfive.html)
- The UTG 'New Ethic' Charter (http://www.global.greens.org.au/charter/UTGnewethic.html)
References
Note 1: Brown, B. (1987) 'Greening the conservation movement'. In Hutton, D. (ed) Green politics in Australia. Australia: Angus & Robertson Publishers. ISBN 0207156247