Dams, Freeways and Aerospace : How Australian Environmentalists responded to Transnationalism and World Heritage, 1964-1984

Australian environmentalists have confidently staked a claim to leading roles in both activism at a global scale and in bringing transnational ideas to bear, successfully, on local environmental issues. Amongst these successes, World Heritage listing for south-west Tasmania stands out. But failures to comprehend Australia's metropolitan character and slowness in accepting Aboriginal rights to land meant that environmentalists have not made much use of this global recognition. In that light, the heroic self-image of environmental movements, 1964-84, deserves reconsideration. The activities considered here were all, in one way or another, reactions to a rapid industrial modernising of post-war Australia. Iconic events, the formation of the Australian Conservation Foundation, the struggle over south-west Tasmania and Green Bans in Sydney and Melbourne remained local in objectives and ideas. In contrast the anti-Concorde campaign was integrated into a transnational protest movement. Yet it is overlooked in adulatory histories of Australian environmentalism. In reacting to a modernising Australia, environmentalists took up some transnational ideas and responded positively to mediators in their transmission. In the long run, however, a limited acceptance of transnational expertise, especially as regards cultural heritage and urbanism, calls into question the self-ascribed vanguard role of Australian environmental movements. © 2015 Federation University Australia. Australian Journal of Politics and History © 2015 School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, School of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Queensland and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty