Research Candidates

Thesis Title: The Role of Law Enforcement in Policing the Fight for Wilderness Protection

Abstract

Synonymous with Australian and Tasmanian politics is the ongoing ‘battle' to protect the wilderness. Concerted and organised clashes between protesters and authorities became apparent during the Lake Pedder dam debate in 1973, when it was proposed to flood the lake and surrounding valley in order to feed an hydro-electric scheme with dam water. The Pedder debate was followed by the Gordon below Franklin scheme, which according to the now national Wilderness Society, ‘precipitated a constitutional crisis'. Protest action was designed to raise awareness about the natural significance of the lower Franklin, and to urge Federal intervention to stop the scheme. The protest action was sustained and lively, and was described by one commentator as ‘a small guerilla war with police and local residents searching the wilderness for protesters to be arrested'.

The role of law enforcement in policing the fight for wilderness preservation has also evolved. Emerging out of the ‘daily battle of wit and tactics' which characterised the Franklin protest action, involving several hundred police and many more activists, is a responsibility to protect and respect human rights. One commentator argues policing, ethics and human rights ‘should be a major, if not the major, rationale for public policing'. The rationale is tempered by a broader expectation the rule of law will be upheld.

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