Canada and Australia - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 151

fishing contributed $90 million, less than a third as much. WWF sees itself
as more active than the Conservation Society.
The Wilderness Society was established in 1976 as an outgrowth of the
campaign against the Lake Pedder dam. It was originally the Tasmanian
Wilderness Society but expanded to the mainland to work to protect the
wet tropical forest at Daintree on the Queensland coast. In the federal
election of 1987, the Labor Party agreed to list the forest as a World
Heritage site in order to stop logging. Ties between the Party and the
Society were strong. Some observers credit the margin of victory for Labor
to its pro-environmental stance. 13
Greenpeace came to Australia in 1977, a few years after its founding in
Canada to protest the American nuclear test in Amchitka, Alaska. The
Australian affiliate became concerned about the French nuclear testing in
its colony of Moruroa in the South Pacific. Opposition intensified when the
French secret service bombed the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior ,
in the harbor of Auckland, New Zealand, killing one man on board. Back
in Australia, the group campaigned against uranium mining. Greenpeace
vigorously supports the Kyoto Protocol and advocates phasing out fossil
fuels to replace them with solar, wind, and water power.
Business interests are powerful in Australia. Their main organization
is the Business Council of Australia, an association of chief executives of
the biggest corporations organized in 1983. It believes the country is not
paying enough attention to economic growth, especially exports, and that
water and electricity are not managed efficiently. The Australian Chamber
of Commerce and Industry is the peak council of business associations
indirectly representing 350,000 businesses. It advocates self-regulation,
a minimum role for the federal government, and technological innova-
tion. The mining industry is strong, too. The Australian Coal Association
promises that its members will restore the land and that electric gen-
erators will minimize air pollution. Coal exports are worth $50 billion,
more than any other commodity. Other exports are gold, iron ore, alumi-
num ores, nickel, copper, and zinc. The total mineral exports amount to
200 million metric tons, more than four times the comparable American
figure. Although the market for uranium is depressed, the continent has
the largest reserves in the world. All this mining is hard on the land.
Two think tanks stand on opposite sides of environmental issues. The
Institute of Public Affairs, established in 1943, is a conservative think
tank advocating free enterprise. To ensure adequate water supply, it pro-
motes developing a market for buying and selling water as a commodity.