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In
light of the current alarm about dredging and dumping in the Reef, it is worth
recalling how it was saved by union action which is now illegal under Fair Work
Australia.
Coral battleground 1970
After
tenders to drill for oil on the Great Barrier Reef went out during 1969, the
Queensland branch levied its members to bring a US expert to testify about the
threat to the Reef. In speaking for the proposal, secretary Delaney pointed out
that the Queensland Trades and Labour Council (T&LC) and the ALP were the
‘only working-class organisations to interest themselves in the [Royal]
Commission’ into the Reef. In July, the T&LC placed a total ban on
drilling. Until then, poet and activist Judith Wright had feared that the
conservationists had lost. She declared the union action ‘spectacular and
unprecedented’. That ban remains spectacular. It also set a precedent.
Henceforth, environmentalists hoped that unions would win their battles for
them.
Fraser Island - 1975
In
1975, the Bjelke-Petersen regime allowed mining on the world’s largest sand
island. The damage was inflicted by the US construction giant, Dillinghams, the
foe of BLs around the world. When Federal Council debated how to save this
natural wonder, Queensland secretary Dobinson feared the loss of its perched
lakes. Victorian assistant secretary Norm Wallace recalled enjoying the
‘crystal clear lakes above sea level which had outlets but no inlets. There is
pure water, clean white sand, good rain forests and beautiful timber. Fraser
Island must be preserved’. From Tasmania, Morgan pictured Fraser as the
southern anchor of the Reef. All
delegates opposed Dillingham’s vandalism. Gallagher urged them to gather
support from other unions. The Federation joined the BWIU in banning all
Dillingham projects until an official assessment had reported. After visiting
the island late in May, Gallagher observed: ‘Experience has taught us that when
the pressure is off, companies usually go for maximum profit’.
Extracted
from Humphrey McQueen, We Built This
Country, builders’ labourers and their unions, Ginninderra Press, 2011, pp.
290-1 and 293.
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