Canada and Australia - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 152

The institute questions the creation of the Pilliga-Goonoo National Park,
arguing that 150 years ago the thick cypress forest was grassland and that
the cypress was suppressed by Aborigine fires. It notes that establishing
a park will decimate the logging industry and suggests a better method
would be mixed use. The institute maintains that the scientific case for
global warming has not been proved and that the costs of trying to control
it would be too high.
The Australia Institute, established in 1994, counters that probusiness
groups give too much priority to a narrow definition of economic efficiency
over community, environmental, and ethical considerations. It opposes
the waste of consumerism, believes the government is not doing enough
to protect biodiversity, and favors controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
Besides its ecological views, the institute supports health care, income
redistribution, and gay rights.
Issues: Besides official governmental action, the 1970s were notable
for private actions, notably the Green Bans, whereby environmentalists
cooperated with trade unions to stop construction of buildings or proj-
ects that threatened neighborhoods or natural sites. The Builders Laborers
Federation became radicalized with the election of a reform ticket. Under
its new leadership, the union simply refused to build undesirable projects.
An early success was saving Kelly's Bush, a natural area in the Sydney
suburb of Hunter's Hill. The local municipality had approved constructing
a number of high-rise apartments. Local housewives enlisted the coopera-
tion of the Builders Union. 14 The consequence was to halt construction.
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the natural wonders of the world.
Extending 1,200 miles along the northeast coast, the reef is unique in the
world for its delicate marine life. It is composed of more than 2,800 indi-
vidual reefs and is 400 feet thick in places. Four hundred types of coral,
1,500 species of fish, and 30 species of whales and dolphins are found
there. The threat first became apparent in the 1960s. At first the danger
was from overeager tourists and shell collectors. Scuba diving was becom-
ing popular, and the divers damaged the coral. Then a mining company
proposed to dig out limestone from the reef for fertilizer. The Preservation
Society was able to block this, but another threat appeared when the state
government leased 20 million hectares for oil exploration.
During the 1950s, the commonwealth (i.e., national) government
had done nothing to protect the reef. After Australia signed the United
Nations Convention on the Continental Shelf in 1958, it had a legal basis,
and enacted the Continental Shelf (Living Natural Resources) Act but did