Franklin Dam

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Gordon River

The Franklin Dam (also Franklin Dam or Gordon-Franklin Dam ) was a power generation project in Tasmania that, if completed, would have flooded the original Franklin River and Gordon River area . These river landscapes are among the most important nature reserves in the world. A protest movement prevented the construction of the dam, one of the greatest successes of the environmental movement in Australia .

prehistory

The plans for the construction of the dam were made public in 1978, six years after the construction of three Lake Pedder dams in a nature reserve had been pushed through by the Tasmanian government, despite violent protests.

The Tasmanian Wilderness Society , the Tasmanian Conservation Trust and the Australian Conservation Foundation were involved in the new protest movement . These organizations, which had experience dealing with the construction of the Lake Pedder Dam, managed to send 30,000 letters of protest and a film, The Last Wild River , to be shown on private Tasmanian television. In June 1980 about 10,000 people protested the construction in Hobart .

The ruling Australian Labor Party sought a compromise in this dispute. The Tasmanian energy company HEC pointed out that without the Franklin Dam, a loss of 10,000 jobs on the island of Tasmania could be expected.

The Liberal Conservative Party of Australia had a majority in the Legislative Council and prevented the ruling Australian Labor Party from pushing through this compromise . To end the political stalemate, the Labor government held a referendum on December 12, 1981. Since the vote only provided for two alternatives, both of which supported the construction of a dam, 45 percent of the voters voted against it by handwriting with No Dams , although they were aware that their vote was thus invalid. The opponents of dam construction took numerous initiatives and campaigns, such as B. Information events, music performances, distribution of a photo calendar by well-known photographers in both Tasmania and the rest of Australia and raised public awareness.

protest

Due to the continued resistance of the dam opponents and the stalemate, the government crisis in Tasmania continued until new elections were finally held. In May 1982 the Labor government lost the Tasmanian election to Robin Gray's liberal-conservative party . The new Prime Minister Gray wanted to reverse the designation as a World Heritage Site and began to implement the original building concept. In November 1982, Bob Brown , one of Australia's best-known environmental politicians, threatened to occupy the building site on December 14, 1982. On that day, the areas of the Franklin and Gordon Rivers were to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO . Brown's call was followed by 2,500 anti-dam opponents who occupied the area at Warner's Landing . Bob Brown was imprisoned for three weeks for organizing this protest.

Tasmania, however, was politically divided on this issue, because on the other hand 2,500 dam supporters organized a demonstration in Hobart.

The Tasmania government tightened laws against the right to demonstrate, which resulted in around 1,440 arrests during the protest . This made the world public aware of the Franklin Dam. Australian bands Goanna and Redgum co-released the song Let The Franklin Flow , which became a protest song, and in February 20,000 people took part in a demonstration in Hobart. By March 1983, about 1,200 protesters had been arrested. On March 1st, which was proclaimed Green Day , 231 people were arrested while they were sailing the Gordon River in boats dressed as ducks.

All of this ultimately led to the issue of great importance in the election campaign at the federal level in Australia. The Labor Party won the election on March 5, 1983 against the Prime Minister of the Liberal Conservative Party of Malcolm Fraser and the new Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Labor Party ordered the construction freeze. Although the federal government was against further construction, referring to the nature conservation legislation of Australia and the UNESCO-declared world natural heritage, the Tasmanian government had the building continued and a lawsuit was brought before the High Court of Australia .

Today the disputed area has been declared Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park .

Compromise

A political compromise was ultimately found and the King River and Henty River in Tasmania were dammed to meet Tasmania's electricity needs from hydropower.

literature

  • Bob Connolly, Robin Anderson (1981) The fight for the Franklin: the story of Australia's last wild river . North Ryde, NSW: Cassell Australia. ISBN 0726914134
  • Roger Green (1984): Battle for the Franklin: conversations with the combatants in the struggle for South West Tasmania photographs by Geoffrey Lea. Sydney: Fontana and the Australian Conservation Foundation, ISBN 0006367151
  • Thompson Peter (1984): Bob Brown of the Franklin River. Sydney: George Allen & Unwin, ISBN 086861596X

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on curriculum.edu.au , accessed on January 12, 2010
  2. ↑ wilderness.org Franklin River Campaign, Part 1 , accessed January 12, 2010
  3. ↑ Information on parliament.tas.gov.au , accessed on January 12, 2010
  4. ^ The Franklin River Campaign, Part 2 , accessed January 12, 2010
  5. ^ Power referendum on December 12, 1981 , accessed on January 12, 2010
  6. ^ Franklin River Campaign Part 4 , accessed January 12, 2010
  7. ↑ Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at parks.tas.gov.au , accessed January 12, 2010

Coordinates: 42 ° 22 ′ 39 ″  S , 145 ° 45 ′ 38 ″  E