Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

Dr. Peter Brotherton
The bike wheel was so mangled it could have
made one of those impossible skid marks you
see on ‘Slippery When Wet’ signs. For several
years it hung on the wall of the Environment
Centre of Western Australia, captioned ‘ In
the memory of three Friends of The Earth who
ran into each other 25 km north of Albany,
26 January 1976’. As it was my bike wheel,
I remember that Australia Day much more
clearly than my then lack of patriotic fervor
would normally permit.
The three cyclists who collided so
spectacularly were part of an 800 km protest
ride from Perth to Albany, port of Australia’s
last whale-killing fleet. It was one of many
actions undertaken by FoE until Australia
stopped slaughtering whales in 1978.
FoE began in Australia in 1972, the year
following the landmark United Nations
Conference on the Human Environment at
which the great whales became the unofficial
symbol of humans estrangement from the
planet. The initial concern over the plight
of the whales came after populations and
species were hunted to commercial and,
in a few cases, actual extinction. However,
as the campaign developed worldwide, this
was profoundly influenced through growing
understanding of the majesty and intelligence
of these extraordinary creatures.
The first time I heard the sounds on the radio
I had no idea what they were, but the longer
I listened I grew more convinced that it was
communication in an incredibly complex
way. Upon learning that it was a humpback
whale I knew I had to do something to help
whales swim free of human tyranny (oh dear,
not another one of those early 70’s hippie
conversion experiences!)
FoE established its whale campaign under
the banner of Project Jonah. At quite an
early stage we recognized that there were
some people passionately concerned about
the plight of the whales who weren’t,
unfortunately, in the least bit passionate
about some of our other major campaigns,
such as anti uranium. The game plan was to
establish Project Jonah as a separate singleissue
group, while FoE would continue to
work on the issue as part of its broad suite of
campaigns. I acted as coordinator for a couple
of years while that transition occurred.
Over the next few years we did all the
things you’d expect of an activist campaign:
picketing whaling nations’ consulates, dawn
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services outside the Albany whaling station,
displays and (limited) dialogue in the Albany
town hall, media, education, petitioning,
lobbying, bike pranging, and so on. By 1997-
78, polls were showing around 90 percent of
Australians opposed to whaling, although it
was only about 50-50 in Western Australia
- a long way from the vehement pro-whale
sentiment there now.
The Fraser Government announced an
Inquiry Into Whales and Whaling in 1978,
and FoE was among the handful of official
major parties to the Inquiry. Members of FoE
Perth and then Chain Reaction editor Barbara
Hutton were there in Albany on the freezing
opening day of the Inquiry, when the whaling
company announced it was going to shut
down by the end of the year.
It got even better. FoE continued its active
participation in the Inquiry as it moved to
other cities, pursuing our other goals: a whale
sanctuary within Australia’s territorial waters,
a ban on importing whale products, and for
Australia to pursue with vigor the protection
of whales internationally. The inquiry reported
strongly along these lines and successive
Australian Governments have adopted a prowhale
stance.
As witnessed at the recent International
Whaling Commission meeting Adelaide in
July 2000 the last vestiges of the commercial
whaling industry are being clung to
tenaciously in Japan, Norway and the North
Atlantic, and the arguments seem not to have
changed in 20 years. Distressing indeed,
but I’m just optimistic enough to believe we
can see the end of this industry from bygone
centuries sometime in the next 20 years,
although I fear it may be towards the end of
that period.
Dr. Peter Brotherton is a Director of Sustainable
Solutions Pty Ltd, an environmental consultancy
specialising in energy and materials efficiency,
greenhouse, eco-design, environmental education
and public involvement processes. He is Vice-
President of Australian Conservation Foundation.
When his hair was brown and his body skinny,
he worked for Friends of the Earth as an antinuclear/energy
worker and National Liaison
Officer.
Originally published in Chain Reaction, #83, Winter 2000
FoE 30 Years 18