Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
little more. Meanwhile, the Queensland government actively promoted
development. After the Japex-Ampol company chartered an oil drilling
ship and it set sail from Texas, the prime minister was able to block the
exploration. Parallel royal commissions at the national and state levels
reported on the dangers to the Great Barrier Reef, leading in 1975 to the
creation of the National Park. 15 Management is joint between the national
and state levels. The act established a Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Authority with primary responsibility. The State of Queensland Parks and
Wildlife Service manage on a day-to-day basis. A zoning plan prepared
in 1981 provides for multiple use, and has been considered successful. 16
Its  categories range from general to protective. The preservation zone is
to be undisturbed except for scientific research, while the general zone
allows fishing, shipping, and trawling. Mining, oil drilling, and spear fish-
ing are never allowed in the park. In 1993 the park authority imposed a
management charge of $3.50 per tourist, which met opposition at first but
is now accepted.
Two early threats to the Australian environment were in Tasmania. This
island state off the southeast coast has a reputation for natural beauty, but
also for isolation from the political mainstream. Lake Pedder is a glacial
lake with a spectacular beach of pink quartz sand three kilometers long and
nearly one kilometer wide. In 1955 it became the heart of a new national
park. Then in 1967 the Hydro Electric Commission proposed to build a
dam that would destroy the lake. To preserve it, the Lake Pedder Action
Committee organized. Despite its efforts and petitions, the Tasmanian
parliament did not stop the project. The attorney general refused to accept
a petition because it was “in conflict with government policy.” 16 Mainland
environmentalists demonstrated against the project in Melbourne, where
eight protesters were arrested. Neither Tasmanian political party showed
much sympathy for protecting Lake Pedder. The state government refused
an offer by the commonwealth government to fund an alternative project.
One consequence was that in the 1972 state election, the opponents orga-
nized the United Tasmanian Group, the world's first green party. In spite
of its efforts, the dam was built, raising the water level by fifteen meters.
A decade later, environmentalists were stronger when construction
of the Franklin River Dam in Tasmania sparked protests. Over the
Christmas-New Year season in 1982-83, the National South West Coalition
blockaded the site, taking advantage of the slow news period to gain pub-
licity. The dam became an issue in the federal election 2 months later when
the Labor candidate, Bob Hawke, promised to help the environmentalists.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search