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This Day Tonight: Lake Pedder's future, 1972

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Man stands in front of lake
This Day Tonight: Lake Pedder's future, 1972

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  9–10


How do you measure the worth of a beautiful natural site — in terms of the hydro-electric power it can produce or the beauty, stillness and grandeur that it affords people who visit?

This 1972 clip from 'This Day Tonight' focuses on the physical and aesthetic attributes of Tasmania's Lake Pedder.

Reporter Peter Ross stands on the pink quartzite beach noting that the lake was formed 700 million years ago.

Listen to Ross describe two opposing positions on the issue of flooding the lake.


Things to think about

  1. 1.How important is it to you that authorities conserve wilderness areas, even if it means missing out on chances for mineral riches or power generation? Can there be compromise between these two very powerful needs in our society? When you have decided where you stand on this issue, ask friends and families for their views. Are there widely differing views, or is there a close similarity of thoughts?
  2. 2.Where is Lake Pedder? What does the Hydro-Electric Commission intend to do to Lake Pedder? Exactly why does the Hydro-Electric Commission intend to do this to Lake Pedder?
  3. 3.On the surface, reporter Peter Ross hints that he is side-stepping the issue of ecological disaster versus electricity production to make comment upon Lake Pedder as 'a unique piece of nature.' However, Ross clearly sympathises with one side of the argument. List the clues you can find in the clip to show which side of the ecology/electricity issue he supports.
  4. 4.Research what actually happened at Lake Pedder and how it became the spur for a well-organised environmental movement that continues to oppose the destruction of Tasmania's natural beauty. Express your findings in a clearly written explanation.



Date of broadcast: 7 Apr 1972


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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