Environmental Conflict in Australia

r-èq5 Environmental Conflict in Australia By Liz Young Thesis submítted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Politics, University of Adelaide, May 1994. A.^o.d*J \ nq S Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Chapter One 5 Environmental Damage and Awareness: Defining a Context for Conflict Chapter Two 55 Australian Attitudes to the Land: A Historical Overview Chapter Three 80 A New Era of Environmental Politics: The Great Barrier Reef Chapter Four 720 Sand Mining on Fraser Island: Consolidating Trends and New Antagonisms Chapter Five. 165 The Franklin Dam Controversy: The Conflict Widens Chapter Six . 224 Conflict Over Coronation Hill and the Conservation Zone Chapter Seven . 279 Conclusion: Environmental Conflict in Australia Selected Bibliography . 312 1 Abstract The objective of this thesis is to analyse the character of environmental conflict in Australia. To provide an empirical focus for this investigation, four case studies of environmental conflict have been chosen. These are the Great Barrier Reel Fraser Island, the Franklin Dam, and Coronation Hill. In each of these studies an analysis is offered of the involvement of conservation grouPs, business and the state in the conflict. Particular emphasis is placed on the aims of each group of participants, the strategies they pursue and the claims that are made to achieve these objectives. While each of the case studies is treated independently, an account of the historical evolution of the conflict between environmental protection and resource development will be given. For this reason the second chapter of the thesis traces the emergence of these attitudes in Australia with the purpose of providing the context in which the case studies may be located. The theoretical framework that is developed is drawn from the insights and limitations of existing literature on the nature of environmental issues and the political action they mobilise. The tendency is for the literature to analyse environmental issues either as instances of environmental damage, or to concentrate on political mobilisation as a response to environmental awareness is of central importance. Underpinning the argument of this thesis is the notion that such a distinction inhibits the capacity to understand environmental conflict. The thesis argues that the emergence of environmental issues, and the subsequent conflicts, is the result of an awareness of environmental damage. The thesis identifies a number of accounts that deal with environmental conflict through recognising the role of both environmental damage and awareness. These evaluations, however, have marginalised the importance of ll political activity in shaping the contests that take place. The thesis aims to redress this deficiency by creating a framework of analysis that recognises the significance of each of these features in environmental conflict. It then seeks to demonstrate how this form of analysis enhances our understanding of a series of environmental conflicts in Australia. rf rt rÈ lv Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Greg McCarthy and Professor Doug McEachern for supervising this thesis and for their guidence, support and encouragement. I would like to acknowledge the assistance of my friends and collegues at the Universities of Adelaide and Tasmania who have also offered various forms of help, often when most needed. In particular, my thanks to Craig Bendle who provided some vital assistance in the final stages of writing this thesis. Finally, I wish to express my thanks to both my family and Simon Fry for their support. ,¡ rÉ :+ Introduction Since the 1960s, environmental conflicts in Australia have increased in size, fuequency and intensity. There have, however, been very few detailed analyses of these conflicts and the thesis aims to go some way towards redressing this deficiency. Its purpose is to provide a theoretical and empirical account of environmental conflicts, one that focuses on the character of environmental groups, business and the state and the roles they undertake when they engage in these contests. Furthermore, the thesis seeks to illustrate that environmental conflicts are unique and that this is the result of the particular character of environmental issues. The first chapter of the thesis argues that it is the character of environmental damage that is crucial in understanding environmental conflict. In particular, it suggests that there is a close relationship between industrial capitalism, its demand for economic growth, and environmental damage. The thesis also argues that while environmental damage creates conditions in which environmental conflicts may emerge, without an awareness of this damage mobilisation of environmental grouPs would not occur. Flence, it is the nexus between environmental damage and awareness that remains central to explanations for the origins of environmental conflict. In addition, the thesis points to the role that political issues play in the state's response to environmental issue. As a result, state reactions to the claims made by environmental or business groups is shaped by perceptions of the broader political implications of any particular government decision. Chapter One establishes the significance of environmental damage and then reviews the literature that currently exists to explain environmental awareness. It investigates the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of accounts that, by virtue of their claim to be able to theorise issue politics, ought to 2 provide the analytical framework capable of discussing environmental issues and the conflicts they generate. The starting point for this analysis is an assessment of the traditional debate between pluralism and Marxism and the dichotomy constructed between structure and agency. The analysis then turns to post-Marxism and its attempt to move beyond the pluralist/Marxist dichotomy. This is followed by an overview of the treatment of environmental issues in the new social movement and new values literature. One problem that is associated with these approaches to environmental issues is their failure to recognise the role played by environmental damage in creating the conditions in which conflict takes place. The first chapter assesses a number of arguments that recognise the impact of both environmental damage and awareness in their discussion of environmental issues. It is argued that the problem with these appraisals is their tendency to marginalise the importance of political activity in shaping the character of environmental conflict. The thesis aims to redress this deficiency by creating a framework of analysis that recognises the political nature of these contests. For this reason, the chapter concludes with a díscussion of Australia's liberal democratic character and its significance in defining environmental conflict. The aim of Chapter Two is to situate contemporary environmental conflicts within their historical context, by tracing the emergence of attitudes towards the Australian environment. A central focus in this chapter is the notion that two constructions of the environment's worth have developed in Australia since colonial possession. The first and dominant discourse associates the environment's value principally with its economic value, resulting in resource exploitation and environmental damage. By way of contrast, a second discourse has evolved that incorporates the notion of ecology into its conception of the environment and in doing so challenges assumptions regarding unlimited exploitation. In identifying the relationship between these 3 discourses, Chapter Two emphasises the idea that an awareness of ecological principles has been a response to environmental damage. Chapters Three to Six discuss four case studies of environmental conflict in Australia. These are the contests over the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, the Franklin River and Coronation Hill. With the first of these case studies beginning in the late 1960s, and the latest concluding in 1992, it is possible to consider the evolution of environmental conflict in Australia. The most outstanding feature in the historical development of environmental issues has been their growing significance. Environmental groups have generated increasing levels of popular support. As a result, both business and the state have come to take the claims of the environment movement, and the strategies required to deal with these claims, with a far greater degree of serrousness. The case studies also provide the opportunity to analyse the particular character of each of these disputes. Considerable emphasis is placed on providing a detailed account of the politics of individual conflicts, with the aim of explaining the objectives, strategies and claims of those groups that have engaged in political mobilisation. The choice of case studies is based on the authors view that, with the possible exception of the Great Barrier Reel they represent the most significant instances of environmental conflict in the historical periods that the thesis covers. It is possible to argue that the campaign to protect Tasmania's Lake Pedder was of equal importance to that of the Great Barrier Reef. The extensive research already available on Lake Pedder, however, meant that the Great Barrier Reef represented a more appropriate case study. The thesis discusses four instances where environmental groups were successful in achieving their particular objectives. There have been many 4 examples of environmental conflict

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