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No Dams


mclaine

In 1982 and 1983, the Tasmanian community was almost torn apart by Australia's most spiteful and contentious environmental controversy; the proposed flooding of the Franklin and other rivers. The catch-cry of the conservation movement was "No Dams", usually presented in this triangular format. This is a heli-pad carved from the wilderness by the dammers in 1982. Conservationists managed to get the No Dams logo painted on the heli-pad during those bitter days and it lingers to this day, as one of the few extant reminders of the battle. With many others I was arrested for trespass in March 1983 at Warner's Landing on the Gordon River. With arms linked, we stood peacefully before the bulldozers that had been floated upriver into the heart of the wilderness. I was ordered by the magistrate not to lurk, loiter, hide or secrete myself in the South West of Tasmania. In winter of '83, the dam construction was stopped by order of the High Court. My trespass charges were dropped. That's my son doing the handstand. No DamsShot from atop my Land Rover.


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Is this purely of personal interest? Does it resonate beyond those

involved, at all?

 

Thank you for your thoughts.

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Good work, John. Peaceful protest is fine but i sometimes wonder, in the spirit of Edward Abby, whether or not monkey wrenching is what is called for when greedy developers are destroying the environment.
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