Bob Brown
Bob Brown is an Australian physician, politician, and prominent environmental activist, born on December 27, 1944, in Oberon, New South Wales. He pursued a medical degree from the University of Sydney and worked in various locations before settling in Tasmania, where he became actively involved in environmental advocacy. Brown co-founded the Tasmanian Wilderness Society in 1976 and played a key role in the high-profile campaign against the damming of the Franklin River, which garnered significant public support and resulted in his arrest. He was elected as the first Greens Party representative in Tasmania's Parliament and later served in the Australian Senate for sixteen years. Brown has been a vocal advocate for climate change action, human rights, and social justice, notably opposing Australia’s involvement in the Iraq War and championing LGBTQ+ rights.
Throughout his career, he founded the Bush Heritage organization to protect Australian forests and was recognized for his contributions with several awards, including the Australian Peace Prize. Brown's legacy includes significant environmental protections and a commitment to ethical political values. He is also known for being the first openly gay member of Australia's Parliament and continues to engage in activism through the Bob Brown Foundation. Brown lives in Tasmania with his partner, Paul Thomas, and remains a notable figure in discussions about environmental conservation and social reform.
Subject Terms
Bob Brown
Politician, physician, environmentalist
- Born: December 27, 1944
- Birthplace: Oberon, New South Wales, Australia
Significance: Robert James “Bob” Brown is a former Australian politician, environmentalist, and medical doctor who was elected to the Australian Senate in 1996. He was also the first openly gay member of Australia’s parliament and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party. In 2012, Brown retired from the Senate and stepped down as Australian Greens party leader. He established the Bob Brown Foundation, a nonprofit organization focusing on wildlife and the environment.
Background
Bob Brown was born on December 27, 1944, in Oberon, New South Wales. From 1957 to 1959 he attended Coffs Harbour High School, where he was a school captain. Following high school, he moved to Sydney, Australia, and graduated with a medical degree from the University of Sydney. He worked in various hospitals in Canberra, Darwin, Alice Springs, and London before moving to Tasmania in 1972. There, Brown worked as a general practitioner in Launceston and became heavily involved in local environmental causes.
In 1976, Brown helped create the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, which later became the Wilderness Society. In late 1982, he led a four-month campaign to stop the damming of the Franklin River in Tasmania. The protest resulted in approximately fifteen hundred arrests and six hundred people jailed, including Brown. Brown was released from jail after nineteen days and was elected as the first Greens Party representative in Tasmania’s Parliament. While in Parliament, Brown proposed legislation regarding euthanasia and LGBTQ+ rights.
Life’s Work
Brown has always been interested in the environment and human rights. His political career spans forty years and includes ten years in the Tasmanian Parliament and sixteen years as a Canberra senator. Brown became a member of the House of Assembly in 1983 and in 1996 was elected to the Senate and then reelected in 2001. Brown led the Australian Greens party from 2005 until 2012. Brown’s third senatorial term in 2007 gave him the highest personal Senate vote. Brown’s career in the Senate focused on change, including climate change and conservation, preventative health care, and human rights reform. During his time in the Senate, Brown was an outspoken adversary of then-prime minister John Howard.
Brown became known for his opposition to Australia’s role in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. He quickly became a leading voice in the anti-war movement. When then-US president George W. Bush visited Canberra on October 23, 2003, Brown wore a sign referencing Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks, two Australian citizens who were being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Brown, as well as Senator Kerry Nettle, were suspended from Parliament for one day for their actions. In 2005, Brown filed a lawsuit against Forestry Tasmania to protect the Wielangta Forest from logging. However, Brown lost the case on appeal.
Brown resigned from the Senate on June 15, 2012, but continued to remain active in social justice and environmental issues. He has joined or led various environmental causes and continued to speak publicly on conservation and wildlife, as well as protest. Two major issues in 2019 included opposition to a Queensland coal mine and a Tasmanian wind farm. Brown has also remained interested in politics and has shown support for reform of the United Nations (UN). His political and environmental activities have led to him being honored by numerous organizations.
Impact
In 1991, Brown founded Bush Heritage. The project began with Brown purchasing two forest blocks to protect the area from loggers. More than thirty years later, the organization protects millions of hectares throughout the continent through the Bush Heritage Fund and partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Pacific Islanders. The first Aboriginal partnership began in 2008 and created a new standard for land acquisition and management.
As a politician, Brown was known for his values, integrity, and empathy. He was the first openly gay member of Australia’s Parliament and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party. His parliamentary tenure included saving more than twenty-four schools from closing, creating more than one thousand jobs, and doubling the size of Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area to 1.4 million hectares. His politics were said to be driven by ethics rather than economics. In 2009, Brown won the Australian Peace Prize. The following year, he was awarded the Australian Humanist of the Year.
Personal Life
Bob Brown met his partner, Paul Thomas, in 1996. The couple lives in Tasmania. In 2012, the men established the Bob Brown Foundation to promote environmental and wildlife awareness. That same year, Brown was inducted into the Coffs Harbour High School Hall of Fame. Brown credits former Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies as being one of his earliest inspirations.
Principal Works
Wild Rivers, 1983
Lake Pedder, 1986
Tarkine Trails, 1994
Memo for a Saner World, 2004,
Valley of the Giants, 2004
Earth, 2009
In Balfour Street, 2010
Optimism: Reflections on a Life of Action, 2014
Bibliography
“Bob Brown,” The Greens, greens.org.au/tas/person/bob-brown. Accessed 21 June 2023.
“Bob Brown,” National Portrait Gallery, www.portrait.gov.au/people/bob-brown-1944, 2021, www.portrait.gov.au/people/bob-brown-1944. Accessed 21 June 2023.
“Bob Brown Pressures Greens to Dismiss Safeguard Mechanism,” ABC, 22 Mar. 2023. www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/bob-brown-calls-for-greens-to-dismiss-safeguard-mechanis/102133766. Accessed 21 June 2023.
Morton, Adam. “Bob Brown Renounces Australian Conservation Foundation Life Membership Over Labor’s Climate Policy,” The Guardian, 23 Mar. 2023, www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/22/bob-brown-renounces-acf-australian-conservation-foundation-life-membership. Accessed 21 June 2023.
Talbot, Louise. “’Something in the Air’: Father of the Greens Bob Brown Hopes the Giants Inspires Next Generation," The New Daily, 9 Apr. 2023, thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/2023/04/09/dr-bob-brown-the-giants/. Accessed 21 June 2023.
Thorne, Alison. “Bob Brown: Not Quite Revolutionary,” Freedom Socialist Party, 2005, socialism.com/fsb-article/bob-brown-not-quite-revolutionary/. Accessed 21 June 2023.