SUBJECTS: History
YEARS: 9–10
How far would you be prepared to go in defence of a principle you felt strongly about?
Enter a tent on the shores of doomed Lake Pedder in 1972 and listen to three determined people explain why they are protesting against the plan to flood Tasmania's Lake Pedder.
The clip includes environmental activist Brenda Hean who died in the same year in a light-aeroplane accident on her way to take the protest to Canberra.
Things to think about
- 1.Strong feelings about issues in society can cause people to take protest action. Which Australian environmental issues can you think of that have caused ordinary people to take action, and what types of action have they taken?
- 2.What are the protesters aiming to achieve by their vigil? What progress do the protesters claim to have already achieved? What organisations do they currently have supporting their protest?
- 3.Despite the confidence of the three protesters, Lake Pedder was flooded in the same year as this interview took place. Do you think that the protest was worthwhile? What positive outcomes do you think there might have been from this protest? Find out more about issues that cause people to take protest action. For example, explore other environmental protests in the 1970s and early 1980s, such as Terania Creek in NSW and the Franklin River campaign in Tasmania.
- 4.Research the history of the Lake Pedder protest — the reasons for and against raising the lake level, and the final outcome. Design a poster for one side of the argument, aimed at gaining support from the general public. How important was this protest and its impact on the Australian environmental movement?
Date of broadcast: 7 Apr 1972
Copyright
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