Peter Thompson, ABC broadcaster and educator, and environmental campaigner for saving Tasmania’s Franklin River, died peacefully this morning in Hornsby Hospital in Sydney. Peter, who was 73, had suffered Parkinson’s disease and, in recent days, pneumonia. He is survived by his partner Jane Rowe and his daughter, Alexa.

Lifelong friend, environmentalist Bob Brown said “Peter made his mark as the Australian Conservation Foundation’s campaigner to stop the Franklin River dam in the early 1980s. He was an early advocate and media star who had a pivotal role in saving the Franklin River wilderness. Appalled by the flooding of Lake Pedder, he won public debates with advocates for damming the Franklin River, including former Labor Premier ‘Electric’ Eric Reese.”

Wikipedia: Thompson began his career as a sports broadcaster on radio at 2LF in Young in 1970. He moved to Tasmania in 1972 and worked as a presenter on various commercial stations, including 7EX, 7LA and TNT9. He also presented the ABC TV current affairs program This Day Tonight in 1978 Thompson presented ABC Radio Sydney’s Drivetime in 1987 and then the ABC morning current affairs program AM from 1988 to 1993. He was presenter of Radio National Breakfast from 1994 to 1999 and again from 2003 to 2004. He also hosted a series of 35 “Wisdom Interviews” for Radio National from 2002 to 2004. Thompson was the presenter of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Talking Heads, a weekly biographical television program about the lives of prominent Australians, which began on ABC1 in 2005 and ended in 2010 after 238 episodes.

Peter authored seven books including ‘Power in Tasmania’.