Lake Pedder Action Committee

The Lake Pedder Action Committee was a Tasmanian environmental organization established in 1971 to oppose plans to dam the upper Gordon River and flood and enlarge Lake Pedder in south-west Tasmania. The proposed hydroelectric development was advanced by the Tasmanian government under Premier Eric Reece and the Hydro-Electric Commission. The original Lake Pedder was valued by conservationists for its distinctive beach, wilderness setting, and scientific and recreational significance, while the proposed scheme was presented as part of Tasmania's program of hydroelectric expansion. The committee emerged from a period of growing public concern about the proposed inundation. An earlier organization, the Save Lake Pedder National Park Committee, had operated in 1967. In early March 1971, approximately one thousand or more people visited the lake during an event that became known as the Pedder Pilgrimage. The Hobart Walking Club subsequently called a public meeting, after which the Lake Pedder Action Committee was formed. A related Pedder Pilgrimage committee also began in 1971. The committee used public advocacy, publications, meetings, vigils, and cooperation with conservationists outside Tasmania to challenge the dam proposal. In 1972 it worked with mainland state branches and organized or supported vigils at Lake Pedder and other locations. Its campaign could not prevent the project: the lake was flooded and enlarged as part of the Gordon River hydroelectric scheme in the early 1970s. Nevertheless, the campaign helped establish a durable conservation movement in Tasmania and contributed to the political and organizational development of later environmental groups. The origins of the United Tasmania Group have been associated with a Lake Pedder Action Committee meeting and with the South West Tasmania Action Committee, also known as the South West Tasmania Action Group. In 1976, the people and organizations associated with the South West Tasmania campaign evolved into the Tasmanian Wilderness Society. That organization later played an important role in opposing the proposed Franklin Dam in the early 1980s, a campaign that became one of Australia's best-known environmental conflicts. The Lake Pedder Action Committee itself is no longer an active organization. Its legacy continues through archival collections, historical writing, documentaries, and the Lake Pedder Restoration Committee, which has pressed since the early 1990s for restoration of the original lake. Many senior members of the restoration organization had previously been involved in the Lake Pedder campaign. The committee is therefore remembered less as a continuing brand or institution than as an important precursor to modern Australian environmental activism and wilderness-protection politics.

The Lake Pedder Action Committee was part of a widening Tasmanian conservation response to plans to alter Lake Pedder and the surrounding south-west wilderness for hydroelectric generation. An earlier Save Lake Pedder National Park Committee had already appeared in 1967, reflecting concern that the lake's natural form and landscape values would be lost. The issue intensified when the Tasmanian government and the Hydro-Electric Commission pursued a scheme involving the damming of the upper Gordon River and the flooding and enlargement of Lake Pedder. A major mobilizing event occurred during the first weekend of March 1971, when approximately one thousand or more people visited Lake Pedder. This gathering became known as the Pedder Pilgrimage. The Hobart Walking Club called a public meeting after the visit, and the Lake Pedder Action Committee was formed. A separate Pedder Pilgrimage committee also began in 1971. The committee's work combined public meetings, printed advocacy, cooperation with conservationists in other Australian states, and direct symbolic actions. Its publications argued that the original lake and the wider south-west region deserved protection rather than conversion to an industrial water-storage and power-generating landscape. In 1972, the organization collaborated with mainland state branches and supported vigils at the lake and elsewhere in connection with the impending flooding. The campaign involved a broad network of Tasmanian environmentalists and public figures. Brenda Hean, a prominent opponent of the flooding, died in 1972 when a light aircraft taking her toward Canberra disappeared; she had intended to stage a protest event. Her death became part of the later historical memory surrounding the Lake Pedder campaign, although it was not an action of the committee itself. The committee was unable to prevent the hydroelectric project. The original Lake Pedder was flooded and enlarged in the early 1970s. The defeat nevertheless had consequences beyond the immediate dispute. Meetings and networks associated with the Lake Pedder Action Committee and the South West Tasmania Action Committee contributed to the origins of the United Tasmania Group. In 1976, the South West Tasmania network evolved into the Tasmanian Wilderness Society. The movement later became central to the successful opposition to the proposed Franklin Dam in the early 1980s, demonstrating how the Lake Pedder campaign helped build organizational capacity, public communication methods, and political awareness within Australian environmentalism. The committee is now a historical organization rather than an active operating group. Its records and associated personal papers are preserved in archival and folklore collections, including materials connected with Stuart Graham, Sam Lake, I. A. E. Bayly, and Alan Missen. From the early 1990s, the Lake Pedder Restoration Committee continued the demand that the lake be returned to its original form. Books and documentaries produced from the mid-1990s onward further revisited the flooding, the campaign, and the people involved. The Lake Pedder Action Committee's lasting importance lies in its role as an early, highly visible Australian wilderness campaign and as a formative precursor to later Tasmanian conservation organizations.

• 1990

  Restoration campaign begins

  [1]Lake Pedder Action Committeeen.wikipedia.org

  The Lake Pedder Restoration Committee began continuing advocacy for restoration of the original lake, involving several former campaign participants.

• 1976

  Tasmanian Wilderness Society emerges from the south-west campaign

  [1]Lake Pedder Action Committeeen.wikipedia.org

  The South West Tasmania Action Committee network developed into the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, carrying the conservation movement into later campaigns.

• 1972

  National coordination and protest actions

  [1]Lake Pedder Action Committeeen.wikipedia.org

  The committee worked with mainland branches and organized or supported vigils opposing the flooding of the original lake.

• 1971

  Pedder Pilgrimage and formation of the action committee

  [1]Lake Pedder Action Committeeen.wikipedia.org

  A large public visit to Lake Pedder was followed by a Hobart Walking Club meeting that led to formation of the Lake Pedder Action Committee.

• 1967

  Earlier Save Lake Pedder campaign organized

  [1]Lake Pedder Action Committeeen.wikipedia.org

  The Save Lake Pedder National Park Committee operated as an earlier organizational expression of opposition to threats facing the lake and its national-park setting.

A grassroots conservation campaign focused on protecting Lake Pedder and opposing hydroelectric alteration of south-west Tasmania.

• 1972Vigils and mainland coordination

  Tasmania · Australia

  The organization collaborated with mainland state branches and conducted or supported vigils at Lake Pedder and other locations as the flooding threat became imminent.

  Outcome. The protests did not prevent inundation but strengthened links between Tasmanian and mainland conservation activists.

  Source
• 1971Pedder Pilgrimage

  Tasmania · Australia

  A large public visit to Lake Pedder during the first weekend of March 1971 demonstrated the depth of public interest in the threatened landscape and helped catalyze the formation of the Lake Pedder Action Committee.

  Outcome. The event led to a public meeting and the formation of the committee, but did not stop the later flooding.

  Source
• 1971Lake Pedder preservation publications

  Tasmania · Australia

  The committee published arguments for preserving Lake Pedder and challenged the justification for its transformation through hydroelectric development.

  Outcome. The publications helped build the historical and public case for conservation, although the development proceeded.

  Source

• 1971

  Adopt public campaigning against the hydroelectric schemeStrategy

  Background

  The committee was formed after a large public pilgrimage and meeting at a time when the Tasmanian government and Hydro-Electric Commission were pursuing plans to flood and enlarge Lake Pedder.

  Action taken

  It used publications, public advocacy, cooperation with mainland groups, and vigils to argue for preservation of the lake and surrounding wilderness.

  Aftermath

  The immediate campaign was unsuccessful, but it helped create networks that later contributed to the United Tasmania Group and the Tasmanian Wilderness Society.

  Source

1. 1Lake Pedder Action Committeeen.wikipedia.org