The Rise of Environmentalism in Australia Essay

Introduction

In the past few decades, environmentalism has been a global term and one of the major issues of concern around the world. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, this issue has been a matter of public debate in Australia. Environmentalism can be considered as an environmental movement for protecting the environment by reducing human impact. This protection includes flora and fauna. In other words, this movement’s activities revolve around the human impact on the native flora and fauna (Pakulski and Tranter, 2004). Moreover, that environmental movement (environmentalism) is a public concern that has affected the town planning system in New South Wales and other Australian states is not an understatement. The rise of environmentalism in Australia is discussed in this essay, followed by focusing on its impact on environmental planning legislation in state and local government planning practice in New South Wales. This is demonstrated by focusing on the historic aspects of environmentalism and its stages.

Impacts of Environmentalism on environmental Planning Legislation

In terms of the rise of environmentalism in Australia, many have considered it an unusual movement. Pakulski and Tranter (2004) believe that Australian green activism, which focused strongly on conservations, was the main reason that made this movement unusual. In addition, there were various phases of environmentalism in Australia. Hutton and Connors (1999) divide the rise of environmentalism into two main waves. The first wave was from the 1860s until World War Two (the early twentieth century). This wave seemed to be a reaction to the environmental impact in that period.

At the end of the twentieth century the development in Australia recorded a remarkable increase, which required more land and extended urban sprawl over green lands. Accordingly, the environmental conflicts as a result of the foreign investment boom renewed the movement of environmentalism, which was the second wave after World War Two to 1972 (Hutton and Connors, 1999). However, after the second wave, environmentalism was still considered a groups activity. In other words, in the 1970s the public concern was weak (Pakulski and Tranter, 2004). Then, after 1972 several campaigns had appeared. Hence, according to Hutton and Connors (1999), the period between 1973 and 1983 was known as “the campaigning movement”. In addition, these campaigns were basically intended to boost protection of the environment and preserve flora and fauna (wildlife). Issues surrounding the environment became a major concern to the populace in the post-war public opinion (McAllister, 1994). The campaign initiated to protect Franklin River is an example of that movement. This campaign was against erection of hydroelectric power station schemes across the river. It intended to stop damming the Franklin River in the South-West of Tasmania (Pakulski and Tranter, 2004). After the success of some of these campaigns, environmentalism had wide extension acceptance across myriad Australian states. Therefore, there was widespread public concern and awareness that epitomized in 1989 (Pakulski and Tranter, 2004). Then, the environmentalism got more political support from the government. This was a major boost to this movement. Thus, environmentalism has impacted affecting various levels of livelihoods of citizens of Australia. Although some viewpoints believe that environmentalism is a positive movement providing beneficial factors to encourage development in many sectors, other dissenting opinions consider it as a type of limitation that would slow improvement in Australia.

Turning to the impacts of environmentalism on environmental planning legislation, there are several Federal Acts that were introduced because of it. For example, the Environmental Protection Act 1974, the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975, the Whale Protection Act 1980, and the Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 can be considered as part of environmentalism impact. In addition, according to Williams (2007, p.96) these federal Acts have been harmonized to become the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, which “regulates ‘actions’ of national environmental significance.” Environmental planning legislation and the development of state and local government planning practices in New South Wales (NSW) have been affected by environmentalism as well. In other words, increase in the usage of the term ‘environment’ seems to be the main impact of this movement. Additionally, according to Cole (1981) in the last two decades the term ‘environment’ has been used in all levels including Commonwealth and NSW levels and has become more of a household term in these territories. Moreover, the environmental law seems to be another part of the impacts of environmentalism. According to the former Australian Environment Council (AEC) (1986, cited in Williams, 2007) the environmental law includes four parts of legislation, which are the environmental planning and protection legislation (involve land-use planning legislation, environmental impact legislation, and pollution legislation), resource allocation legislation, development legislation and legislation concerning the conservation of natural and cultural resources. Moreover, national environment protection has received a major boost from other state legislation and the Environmental Protection Act of 1994 that enhanced the environment protection council’s efforts in managing pollution and proper disposal of wastes (Farrier and Stein, 2006, pp. 14, 15).

Impacts of Environmentalism on New South Wales

In terms of impacts of environmentalism on NSW, Farrier and Stein (2006) state that the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) was established by state government to protect and enhance the environment in NSW. As a matter of fact, (Farrier and Stein 2006, p. 12) NSW parliament is mandated to come up with legislations that touch on environmental issues. In addition, the Land and Environment Court established in 1979 can be considered as an impact of the environmental movement at the state level. The court has dealt with the development and environmental issues to ensure that development has not affected both the surrounding area and the environment negatively. It is worth noting that precedence has been set when NSW Land and Environment Court applied the principle of ecologically sustainable development as a protective principle in some of its previous rulings. This has become a reference point in jurisprudence (Farrier and Stein, 2006, p. 5). Furthermore, the change in the planning system and development assessment in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 are part of the impacts of environmentalism on state governments. A major preoccupation of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act should be assessing environmental issues in national parks and the built environment (Farrier and Stein 2006, p. 4). Planning decisions must reflect the input of the general public as this is a major impact of environmentalism. Williams (2007, pp.110, 111) reiterates that modernization of the planning system in Australia in the 70s and 80s was enhanced by public participation. It is the intensified public participation in the planning and assessment of the environment that mid-wifed the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act of the 1980s.

Dalton and Kuechler (1990, cited in McAllister, 1994) report that myriad changes have been witnessed in the government’s (especially the local governments) policy agenda because of rising environmental concerns from the public. Hence, there are many policies and plans that have been provided to develop the process of environmental planning. They include State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPP’s), Regional Environmental Plans (REP’s), and Local Environmental Plans (LEP’s). These are summarily known as the Environmental Planning Instruments. In addition, Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), ecologically sustainable development (ESD), Local Environment Protection, and water management are other examples of these policies and plans. Moreover, development assessment and control have also been influenced by environmentalism. Local governments have come up with various environmental plans and legislations like the zoning to weed out environmental degradation in their areas of jurisdictions (Farrier and Stein, 2006, p.15). Consequently, environmentalism has impacted the local government’s contribution towards the preservation of environment in NSW. It is the discretion of these plans to establish whether developments are harmful or not. The plans help in preservation of the environment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the rise of environmentalism in Australia had two main waves since the nineteenth century. The first wave was between 1860 and the Second World War. This wave was occasioned by a reaction to environmental impacts. The second wave occasioned by the foreign investment boom occurred between the Second World War and 1972. Then many campaigns appeared and the public concern about the environmental impact became greater to provide more protection and preservation for flora and fauna (wildlife). Moreover, this issue played an important role in influencing the environmental planning legislation. This was characterized by coming up with myriad Federal Acts. These included Environmental Protection Act, National Park, Wildlife Conservation Act, and much other legislation. These were later harmonized to become Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999. Its impact on the legislation can be seen in Environmental Planning and Protection Legislation, development legislation and the legislation concerning the conservation of natural and cultural resources. Furthermore, both state and local government organizations have been affected by that environmental movement (environmentalism). The establishment of Land and Environmental Court and introduction of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 are part of this impact on the NSW state level. An aspect of the impact on the local government, the introduction of LEP’s, EIS and changing development assessment can be considered as another effect of environmentalism in the NSW.

Reference

Cole, J. 1981, “Environmental Law and Politics”, UNSW Law Journal, Vol. 4 no. 2, pp. 55-71.

Farrier, D. & Stein, P. 2006. The Environmental Law Handbook, 4^thEdition, Redfern Legal Centre Publishing, Sydney.

Hutton, D. & Connors, L. 1999, A History of the Australian Environment Movement, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

McAllister, I. 1994, ‘Dimensions of environmentalism: Public opinion, political activism and partysupport in Australia’, Environmental Politics, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 22 – 42.

Pakulski, J and Tranter, BK 2004, “Environmentalism and Social Differentiation: a paper in memory of Steve Crook”, Journal of Sociology, vol. 40, no. 3. pp. 221-235.

Williams, P. 2007, “Planning and the Legislative Framework”, in Thompson, S (ed.) Planning Australia: An Overview of Urban andRegional Planning, Oxford University Press, Port Melbourne: pp. 91- 114.