Tasmanian power referendum, 1981

The Tasmanian power referendum was a one-question referendum held on 12 December 1981, and intended to determine the location of a proposed hydroelectricity dam to be built on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia.

Background

In 1978, the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) proposed the construction of a hydroelectricity dam on the Gordon River. The location of the proposed dam was below the Gordon's junction with the Franklin River, and the flooding caused by damming the river would have destroyed the environmentally-sensitive Franklin River valley area. Responding to community concern over the proposal, Premier Doug Lowe ordered a moratorium on dam construction and an environmental impact study.cite book |last=Kellow |first=Aynsley |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Transforming Power: The Politics of Electricity Planning |year=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=UK |isbn=0521471222 ]

With the community polarised over the proposed dam's environmental impact and Tasmania's economic and employment needs, Lowe proposed a compromise: to construct the dam at a different point on the Gordon, above the junction with the Olga River (Gordon-above-Olga). Lowe was successful in getting the Gordon-above-Olga plan through the Tasmanian House of Assembly, however the more conservative upper house, the Tasmanian Legislative Council, voted to block the legislation and insisted on the HEC's original Gordon-below-Franklin plan.

With a parliamentary deadlock over the issue, Lowe was left with no option but to call for a referendum. When announcing the referendum to the media, he was questioned as to whether it would include a 'No Dams' option and he indicated it would. The President of the Labor Party in Tasmania wrote to all Labor MHAs instructing them to withdraw that option, and Lowe was forced into an embarrassing backdown.

About a month before the referendum was held, Doug Lowe lost a no-confidence motion, and stood down as Premier. He was replaced by Harry Holgate.

The 'No Dams' campaign

A determined campaign against a Franklin Dam by the Tasmanian Wilderness Society was underway, and Lowe hoped to get the support of the society's director, Bob Brown, for the Gordon-above-Olga proposal, also offering to set up a Wild Rivers National Park. Brown refused to support Lowe's alternative unless the "No Dams" option was reinstated on the ballot paper, and when Lowe was unable to comply with this request, the Wilderness Society encouraged its supporters to make their own option by writing "No Dams" on the ballot paper themselves. [cite book |last=Thompson |first=Peter |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Bob Brown of the Franklin River |year=1984 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Sydney |isbn=0868616737 ]

Results

Initial count

eat breakdown after recount

Turnout: 92.01%

Aftermath

Despite the success of the 'No Dams' campaign demonstrated by the significant protest vote, the original Gordon-below-Franklin proposal was carried with a majority in the referendum. Premier Harry Holgate pledged the government would proceed with the dam construction, however he and the Labor Party were swept from power by Robin Gray and the Liberal Party at the 1982 state election, with Gray also pledging to build the dam.

On 5 March 1983, Labor won government at a federal level, with new Prime Minister Bob Hawke promising to halt the dam project. The Commonwealth Government legislated to prohibit construction of the Franklin Dam, and the legislation was reinforced in the "Commonwealth v Tasmania" case before the High Court of Australia. [ [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1983/21.html Commonwealth v Tasmania] , High Court of Australia, 1 July 1983.]

References