Bob Brown rose to prominence Bob helped establish the Wilderness Society, leading the successful campaign to stop the damming of Tasmania’s Franklin River from 1982-83.
The blockade of Tasmania's' Franklin River saw 1500 people arrested and 600 jailed, including Bob who spent 19 days in Risdon Prison. The day after his release in 1983, he was elected as the first Green into Tasmania's Parliament.
During ten years in the Tasmanian Parliament, Bob led the five-member Green parliamentary team which held the balance of power with the Labor Government from 1989. This lead to achievements including saving 25 schools from closure, creating more than 1,000 jobs through the local initiatives job scheme and doubling the size of Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage Area to 1.4 million hectares.
In 1996, Bob was elected to the Senate, leading the national debate on issues including climate change, electoral reform, preventative healthcare, conservation and human rights. Bob was elected Leader of the Australian Greens in 2005, a position he held till he resigned from the Senate in 2012.
When Bob left the Senate in 2012, he founded Bob Brown Foundation to continue a lifetime of campaigning to protect the natural world. Bob is an acclaimed photographer and author of books including Lake Pedder, Wild Rivers, The Greens, Memo for a Saner World, Earth, In Balfour St and Optimism
Bob Brown Foundation is funded by the generosity of people like you. Your support powers our campaigns to protect wild nature and take Action for Earth.
We recognise First Nations as the custodians of land and water across Australia and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge sovereignty was never ceded.
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