Rejecting a phony choice

In 1979, environmentalists in Tasmania launched a campaign to protect pristine wilderness rivers in the state's south-west from plans by the Hydro Electric Commission to construct a dam on the lower Gordon, which would have flooded parts of that river and also the Franklin.

Under increasing political pressure, the state Labor government proposed a “compromise”, which involved damming a different part of the Gordon. This plan was rejected by the activists, and blocked in the Legislative Council, which supported the original proposal.

A referendum in December 1981 asked people to choose between the two dam proposals. However, environmentalists called on voters to reject this false “choice” by writing “No dams” on their ballot papers. More than 38% of voters did so.

While the “No dams” vote had no legal standing, it was a crushing political blow to the government's plan. The Liberal Party, which won state office the following May, revived the original Gordon-below-Franklin dam proposal, but this produced big protests in Hobart and a blockade of the dam site in December, drawing massive media attention and involving more than 2500 people from across Australia and overseas.

A federal Labor government was elected in March 1983, having made a commitment to stop the dam. It did so after the High Court rejected a challenge by the Tasmanian government.

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