History of the Tasmanian Greens

The Tasmanian Greens evolved out of people's need to be represented at a political level. People needed a voice for environmental protection, social justice, sensible resource manangement and a commitment to the future. The traditional two party system did not satisfy these all-important and crucial needs so, through the motivation of ordinary, and sincere Tasmanians, The Greens evolved.

This concern was voiced as far back as Lake Pedder in the sixties and continued to grow through to the formation of the UTG, the Franklin years, Wesley Vale, the Accord and still the Greens keep going from strength to strength.

The Tasmanian Greens are a political party which evolved from green groups that formed in the 1960s. The United Tasmania Group was the first green political party to be formed in the world and began at a meeting at the Hobart Town Hall in 1972 - to campaign against the flooding of Lake Pedder. The UTG lasted for five years, and was briefly reformed in 1990 for the federal election. Independent Norm Sanders, elected in 1980, is considered as the first "green" MP in Australia. The former director of the (then) Tasmanian Wilderness Society, Dr Bob Brown, was elected to Sanders' seat when he left Parliament in 1982. Dr Brown was joined in Parliament by Dr Gerry Bates at the 1986 election. In 1989, three more Greens - Christine Milne, Lance Armstrong and Di Hollister - were elected after a community backlash against the proposed Wesley Vale pulp mill. Dr Brown resigned from State Parliament in 1993. His seat was taken by Peg Putt, and the leadership passed to Christine Milne. Gerry Bates resigned in May 1995. His seat was taken by Mike Foley.

In 1998 Labor and Liberal acted together to change the electoral system of Tasmania, reducing the number of politicans who could be elected to the House of Assembly from 35 to 25, despite the various members of the Labor party saying that they would not support such a move as it was undemocratic when this idea was first put in Parliament by the former Liberal Premier, Mr Robin Gray.

After the election on the reduced numbers, the leader of the Tasmanian Greens, Mrs Christine Milne, and Ms Di Hollister and Mr Michael Foley lost their seats, leaving Ms Peg Putt, member for Denison, as the sole Green member. This was despite the fact that the Tasmanian Greens vote held (down by less than 0.5% - remarkable considering the Tasmanian Greens were in a minority government with their perceived antithesis, the Liberal party).

The Greens first stood Local Government candidates in 1999, with Paul Thomas (Huon Valley) and Deidre Wilson (Clarence City) becoming the first endorsed Greens Councillors in Tasmania. A growing Green vote in 2000 saw Patsy Jones (Hobart City), Simon Baptist (Kingborough) and Mary O’Doherty (Huon Valley) elected. Mary retired in 2002 and was replaced by Adam Burling.

In the 2002 Tasmanian state elections Tasmanian voters elected four members of the House of Assembly who now serve as a viable opposition to the government and represent the people of their electorates. Opposition Leader Peg Putt in Denison, Nick McKim in Franklin, Tim Morris in Lyons and Kim Booth in Bass make up a dynamic team which is expanding the Greens into much more than a single-issue party.

After the 2002 Local Government elections the number of Green Councillors rose again, to 7, with Mat Hines (Hobart City), Sharon Prior (Sorell), Liz Smith (Huon Valley) and Julian Bush (Kingborough) elected and Deidre Wilson (Clarence City) re-elected. Paul Thomas and Adam Burling did not recontest their seats. In 2003 Simon Baptist retired, to be replaced by Greg Whitten.