Then Attorney-General Gareth Evans brought new aggression to the Gordon below Franklin dam issue in 1983

WHEN Gareth Evans swept into his first cabinet meeting, he brought a new aggression to the battle to stop the Gordon Below Franklin dam in Tasmania.

Franklin River

WHEN a fresh attorney-general, Senator Gareth Evans, swept into his first cabinet meeting following the election of the Hawke Labor government in March 1983 he brought a new aggression to the battle to stop the Gordon Below Franklin dam in Tasmania.

In the dying days of the Fraser government, the decision had been taken in cabinet to avoid confrontation with Tasmania and rely on private discussions with the state premier and to offer compensation to stop the project.

But in an "urgent" cabinet brief on March 15, 1983, Senator Evans recommended immediate legal action against the state.

Weeks later, on April 8 and 9, Senator Evans would become embroiled in controversy over the use of RAAF surveillance planes to "spy" on the Tasmanian works.

In his opening thrust, Evans said the detailed legal strategy would not be announced publicly, but the proposal to rely broadly on the external affairs powers to support regulations and a new Act would be explained.

Since the flooding of Lake Pedder in the early 1970s the flooding of the Franklin and lower Gordon valleys for another large hydro-electric scheme had loomed as the next major Tasmanian conservation battle.

In October 1981 the Commonwealth, at the request of the then Tasmanian Labor government, nominated much of south-west Tasmania for UNESCO World Heritage listing.

Following the election of the Robin Grey Liberal government in Tasmania in 1982 the Franklin dam became a major issue with more than 1000 people arrested in protest actions.

The dam was a significant issue in the March 1983 federal election.

The Tasmanian government believed it had been elected to promote the state's industrial development.

And that Commonwealth intervention would be a departure from its Federalism policy, and an intrusion into an area of State responsibility.

Both the Fraser and Hawke government's countered that the commonwealth must be prepared to honour its national obligations under Conventions to which it was a party.

The Fraser government had refused Mr Grey's demand that it withdraw the application for world heritage listing of the area.

The ALP undertook to stop the dam and moved quickly after it had gained office.

On March 16 Cabinet decided that if the Tasmanian government refused to stop the project it would invoke the external affairs power and make regulations under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation act.

If these were ignored the commonwealth would seek a High Court injunction to stop the dam and also seek to pass the World Heritage Properties Protection Bill.

The Tasmanian government refused to stop work on the dam and the issue went to the High Court on May 31.

The court ruled 4-3 in favour of the Commonwealth on July 1 and Cabinet's attention turned to delivering a large compensation package to Tasmania, including two other hydro-electric schemes on the west coast and a range of road, rail and tourist development works.