Bob Brown And Green Politics Case Study

Bob Brown and the Greens Politics
Bob Brown is a controversial and keen petitioner for environmental issues, and a human rights activist. He was a senator in federal parliament and the foundational leader of the Greens Party. The idea of Green parties, parties that fight for environmental protection and the preservation of the environment, came about throughout the seventies. This idea led to the creation of the Australian Greens Party in 1992 and their four core beliefs: ecological sustainability, social justice, peace and non-violence, grassroots participatory democracy. The issue of the environment and human rights led Bob Brown and green politics to be influential in Australian society through the United Tasmanian Group (UTG), the Franklin River campaign and Bob Brown and the Greens contribution to politics.
The Plan to dam
The Tasmanian government planned to build a dam on the Franklin River flooding 800 000 hectares of land. This proposal sparked extensive protests all over Australia. Bob Brown and thousands of other protesters blockaded the construction site on the Franklin, resulting in 1500 arrests including Bob Brown 's. Despite this the campaign continued to stop the Franklin River Dam construction and in 1982 the area was placed on the World Heritage List. The Hawke government (federal) was on the side of the conservationists and a large debate between the Hawke government and the Tasmanian government on the dam resulted in a Hawke Victory. The overruling of the federal government over state was allowed due to its signing of the World Heritage Organisation. The dam was never built, a large victory for Bob Brown and people alike. On Bob 's release from prison he was elected into Tasmanian State government due to his work with the Tasmanian Wilderness