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TheUTGJournalIssueNo.1

MiloDunphy,co-directorofthefirstUTGelectioncampaign,signingoffatcampaign’send1972.

TheUTGJournalIssueNo.1

January2018,ISSN2208-9500(Online)

BrendaHean,PedderstalwartandUTGcandidate.

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TheUTGStory

TheformationofUTGinMarch1972isoften described as a manifestation ofthe campaign to save Lake Pedder butits genesis goes much further.Tasmanian history is replete withconservation campaigns, going at leastas far back as the national parkcampaignsofahundredyearsago.Thekey difference this time was that, byforming the UTG, people were directlychallenging the political establishment,particularly the cargo-cult mentalityassociated with hydro-industrialisation,and the corruption of democraticprocesseswithinTasmania.LakePedderwas reason enough to undertake suchan enormous venture but it wasmuchmore than that – Lake Pedder wassymbolic of broad discontent with anumber of government policies, whichwere subsequently given voice by UTGin its letter-boxednewsletter,TheUTGExtra.

Lake Pedder was a precipitating factorandmanyoftheassociatedissueswereaddressed at a public symposium in1971 (written up in Damania). At thistimetheHydroElectricCommissionwasregardedas the fontofallwisdomandthe real government of Tasmania.Consecutive Labor and Liberal Partiesdid not differ from this quasi-religiousdoctrine–todosowasregardedbythe

majority of the general public, thepoliticiansandthepressastantamounttoheresy.The Lake Pedder Action Committee(LPAC) not only created the DamaniameetingandthesubsequentTownHallmeeting but also provided theorganisational infrastructure for thesubsequentformationofUTG.

TheMarch1972TownHallmeetingalsogave rise to the leader of UTG – Dr.Richard (Dick) Jones. If any singleperson could be attributed with thestatusofnurturingawholemovement,thenDickJonesdeservesthisaccolade.Dick not only lead the first majornationalconservationbattleinAustraliabut also brought about the politicalconsciousness of a mass of peopleconcerned not only with theenvironmental destructionof Tasmaniabut also brought to our attention thefloutingofdemocraticprinciplesbytheperpetratorsofthisdestruction.

Dick not only concerned himself withthe short-term battles (of which therewere many) but also the long-termvision of how to prevent the re-occurrenceoftheseproblems.Throughhis leadership UTG challenged theestablishment in Tasmania head-onthroughdemocraticelections.Althoughwe did not realise it at the time, UTGwas the first conservation-basedpolitical party in the world. AlthoughUTG very narrowly missed out inwinning any seats in the Tasmanianstate elections in 1972, it went on tocontest nine more state and federalelections over the next five years.

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During this period UTG articulatedDick’s vision in specific programs andpolicies, which lead the Examiner todeclare before one election that theUTG had more comprehensive policiesthan the other two major partiescombined.

It is sometime mistakenly suggestedthat UTG went downhill following thelack of electoral success in the 1972State Elections. Nothing could befurther from the truth. By the end of1974 UTG had expanded to 13 activebranches across Tasmania, branchesthat met at least once a month andreinvigorated the party with eachsuccessive election campaign (onaverage there was a new electioncampaign every six months). The lastUTG election campaign was conductedin 1997 with Chris Rathbone as thecandidate for the Legislative Council,winningaveryrespectable6.1%.Therewasabrief revivalof theUTGname in1990 for the national Senate Elections,withoutsuccess.

One of the key factors in UTG´scontinuance, particularly today, is theneed for an over-arching set ofprinciples: A New Ethic, which waswrittenbyauniquepoliticalvisionary -HughDell.

In the next issue of this journal we willexamine UTG´s policies plus their legacy,andashortinterviewwithHughDell.

WhyhastheUTGreformed?

The founder of UTG, Dr. Richard (Dick)JonesandtheauthorofANewEthic (andUTG´s Constitution) Hugh Dell wereconcerned first and foremost aboutbringing ethical principles, honesty andsincerity to political processes andgovernments. Since the founding of UTG45 years ago such ethics and principleshave declined, and the economic, socialand political corruptionwe see in today´spoliticsissimplyacontinuanceofwhathasbeen occurring unabated for decades inTasmania.UTGhasonecentralobjective–bring ethics back into politics, across allpoliticalparties.

The UTG was originally formed on 23rdMarch 1972, and contested 10 elections(state and federal) between then and1977. [While a number of peoplecontested the 1990 Federal Electionsunder theUTGname, thiswas basically acase of opportunistic use of a registeredname.]

The UTG was reformed nearly two yearsago (April 2016), largely as a result ofwidespreadanddeepdisillusionmentwiththe the state of Tasmanian politics, andparticularlytheperformanceofthecurrentparliamentary representatives of theTasmanian Greens who have drifted farfrom the spirit of the UTG’s New Ethicwhich many had hoped they wouldmaintain.

UTG argues that the present politicalparties:

1) do not have a set of ethical principles,suchasthoseoutlinedinANewEthic– infactitishardtodeterminewhatprinciples

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theirleadershipactuallyfollowsapartfrommedia expediency, that is, focusing ongettingmediagrabs;

2) do not follow democratic principles,havingdisdain for theirmembership,suchthat their parliamentarywings too readilycast aside formulated policies.Consequently, the public utterances oftheirparliamentaryrepresentativesare

3) focusedonpower (or influence) for itsown sake, rather than reflecting anyunderlying principles (such as outlined intheUTGANewEthic);and

a) very short-term in their thinking, withpolicies that lack depth and strategicthinking;

b)perceivepoliticsas if it isnothingmorethanasportingcontest,whichtheyseektowin, rather than working in the publicinterest;and

c) as part of their “sporting contest”approach, abrogate their responsibil-itiestogovernforall,partlybecausethatwouldsometimes necessitate supportingworthwhile policies that are also pursuedby rival parties to whom they wish toconcedenoquarter.

The major parties are particularlydisengaged from environmental issues,despite the aspirations of many withineven their own membership, partlybecause this would be seen as concedingground to the Greens. Meanwhile noteven the Greens seem to retain anyconcept of the meaning of the word‘wilderness’, and have been complicit incommercialising and therebyunderminingnational park and wilderness areas inTasmania; and nor do they have any

sustainabletourismpolicy,whichisoneofTasmania’smajor, immediateandongoingissues.

SowhatwillUTGdoaboutit?

At the last general meeting held inSeptember,UTGresolvedthat:

1) UTG would not contest the next stateelections in Tasmania but, instead, willchallenge all political candidates andparties to adhere to the set of ethicalprinciples outlined inA New Ethic (whichhas been updated and soon will be re-releasedinanewform).

2) UTG should try to address the ‘10%barrier’ problem (which affects Greenparties across the world – 10% is anarbitrary figure but 8-13% has been theusual national result across the world,despiteGreenpartieshavingbeenaroundfor up to 45 years; actually, this % hasbeen declining around the world overrecent years). TheAustralianGreenshavebeenonthe10%barrierforyearsandtheTasmania Greens about the same overallaswell (whilebeingabovethatfigure inafew,atypicalelectorates).

3) Consequently, UTG will focus onfourkeyareas:! Informing (with scientific research

andevidence-basedpolicies);! Educating (witha focuson the90%

whodonotvote forenvironmentalcandidates);

! Lobbying politicians (all parties),organisationsandbureaucrats;and

! Where necessary, UTG will reservethe intention of directly contestingelections.

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4)WhileUTGwill not be re-registeringas a political party at this stage it willsupport independent candidates whosubscribe, adhere to and agree topromote A New Ethic. [Any candidatewill have to demonstrate and sign astatutory declaration to such an effectand there will be a meeting of UTGmembers before agreeing to suchendorsement.]

5) UTG will conduct a survey of allcandidates in order to develop a‘scorecard’ of adherence or otherwisetoANewEthic.

6) UTG will keep open the option ofsupporting candidates from otherpolitical parties who demonstrateadherence to A New Ethic, whileacknowledging the impediments thatcandidates face when they aremembersofapoliticalparty.

NewResearch

OriginsofUTG’sbirthplace

With the foundingofUTGhavingbeenstimulatedbytheproposaltofloodthenatural Lake Pedder as part of theMiddle Gordon hydro-electricdevelopment, it seems fitting that thisfirst issueof theUTGJournal isable toreport thatPeddercontinues toattractscientificattention.

Amajor studyof the lake’s origins justreleased in the last few days by theprestigious Springer Nature scientificpublishinghouseintherefereedjournalGeoheritage has confirmed andsignificantly expanded upon the globalsignificanceof theoriginal lake, furthercompounding the case for itsrestoration.

Parliamentary approval to flood thenaturalLakePedderwasgaineddespitetheabsenceofanypropergovernment-sponsoredscientificstudyof itsnaturaland cultural values. However, privateresearcherslaterprogressivelyrevealedits scientific importance. This led a1995 federal parliamentary Inquiry torecognise that itwas“unfortunatethatthe beautiful, geologically unique lakewas ever flooded”. The new study hasrevealed that the original Lake Pedderwas of global scientific significance notonly by virtueof its characteristics andtheprocessesthatproducedit,butalsoitsunexpectedlygreatage.

Because the original lake is currentlyinaccessible beneath the artificialhydro-electric reservoir, the new studyhadtobebasedonextensivefieldworkadjacent to the reservoir, and theexamination of historical photographsanddata.Newdatingofthelandformshasbeenundertakenusingatechniquethat involves measuring changes thatoccur over time to the chemicalisotopes in rocks, caused by theirbombardmentby cosmic rays after therocks have become exposed on thegroundsurface. Thistechnique,knownas cosmogenic isotope exposure-agedating, has revealed that the lakeresulted from a differentgeomorphological process thanpreviously believed, and that it is atleast 40 times older than previouslyrealised.

The natural Lake Pedder was formerlybelieved to have resulted from gravelswashed from the snouts of glaciers onthe adjacent Frankland Range havingpartially blocked the westward-flowingSerpentineRiverduringthemostrecentice age, originally thought to have

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endedabout10,000yearsagobutnowknown to have peaked nearer 20,000yearsago.However,thenewstudyhasdemonstratedthattheglacierswerefartoo small at that time for this to haveoccurred.

Evidenceforotherpossiblelakeformingprocesses including landslides, coldclimate debris movement, streamaction and wind erosion were allinvestigated, but these too werediscounted. Nor was any evidencefoundtosupportanearlier theorythatthe original Lake Pedder was theremnant of a previously much largerlake that had been formed byearthquake activity having tilted theriver valley back upstream. Somesupporters of the hydro schemeinvoked the latter theory in the 1970stoarguethat,ratherthandamagingtheenvironment the HEC scheme insteadsimply involved restoring a larger lakethathadpreviouslyexistedinthearea.

The new study found that while theglaciers that formed on the FranklandRangeduringthelasticeagewereonlysmall, more extensive glaciers hadformedontherangeduringpreviousiceages.Theseearlierglacierswerelargerthanthosethathadexistedthereinthemostrecenticeage.Theearliestglacialsediments recognised in the area arepotentially as old as 400,000 years.However,even thesedeposits still liealong way distant from the Serpentinevalley floor. Their distribution impliesthat the glaciers responsible for theirdepositionwerealsotoosmallformelt-waterstreamsdischargingfromthemtohave carried enough gravels furtherdownslopetohavesufficientlyimpededdischargeof theSerpentineRiver soastocauseLakePeddertoform.

However, landforms made of softsediment are progressively eroded andmodified over time, the material ofwhich they are composed often beingreworkedbystreamsandothernaturalprocesses and ultimately transformedintoothertypesofdeposit.Hence,thevery old glacial deposits recognised intheLakePedderareadonotnecessarilyrepresenttheearliestglaciationsofthearea. Careful analysis of more robustlandforms carved intohardbedrockbypast glaciers revealed that the glacialdeposits recognisedwere all containedwithin the confines of still moreextensivelandformsproducedbyglacialerosionthatimplyancientglaciationona vastly greater scale. The glaciersresponsible are likely to have reachedthe Serpentine Valley floor, but at avery much earlier date than thatoriginallyenvisagedforformationofthelake.

This new evidence for large scaleancient glaciation in the Lake Pedderarea is entirely consistent with otherevidence obtained from recentlypublished studies of the Mt Anne,Denison Range and Western ArthurRange areas that indicate Tasmania’ssouth west was once far moreextensively glaciated than haspreviouslybeenrecognised.

Themassivevolumesofsandpresentinthebed,beachanddunedepositsattheoriginal Lake Pedder resulted fromeroded rock material having beengroundtosandbyglacialprocessesandin discharging melt-water. This sandwasdumpedonthelowerslopesoftherange immediately upwind from thelake. Sandwas blown eastwards fromthis source during periods when cold

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glacial climates left the ground surfaceunprotectedbyvegetation.

The massive Lake Pedder beach, largeenough to contain the entire CBD ofSydney,haslongbeenrecognisedasthelargestbeachformedonanyfreshwaterbodyinAustralia.TheLakePedderdunesystemwasalsoAustralia’slargestfreshwater dune deposit. The beach wasexposed each summer when the lakelevel dropped, sand from the beachbeing blown eastwards to form thefringing dune-face. Whenwinter rainsfilledthelakebasin,waveactionerodedtheduneface.Thisprocesscausedtheoriginal Lake Pedder to progressivelymigrateeastwardsovertime.

The enigmatic concretions popularlyknown as Pedder Pennies appear tohave formed in small water bodiesbehind the dunes as soft rims aroundpebbles. These rims likely hardenedafter the dunes migrated over thesesmaller water bodies, leaving thePedder Pennies exposed to drierconditionsonthePedderbeach.

These new insights into the origin andage of the original Lake Pedder havecompounded the global geoheritagesignificanceof theoriginal LakePedderand contribute further evidencesupportive of the case for itsrestoration.

The full paper is available online at:http://rdcu.be/APwr

Footnote:When the federal government’s 1973Lake Pedder Inquiry recommended amoratorium on the flooding and theAustralian government offered to fundconstruction of an alternative schemethat would have saved the original

natural lake, advocates for itsdestructionusedphotosof theentirelynatural erodeddune facebeing lappedby the filling dam waters tomisleadinglyclaimthattheyhadalreadybeen irreparably damaged and it wastoolatetosavethelake.

Otherstudieshavesinceshownthatallthe key landforms of the natural LakePedder remain intact beneath thepresent reservoir, and that there hasbeen negligible accumulation ofsediment on its famous beach since itwas flooded. The 1995 parliamentaryinquiry concluded that restoration oftheoriginalLakePedderwastechnicallyfeasible.

There are also some engineeringdeficienciesofthepresentschemethathave implications for the restorationcase.

An alternative configuration of theHuon-Serpentine reservoir dams thatwould have saved the lake but stillallowed the waters of the Huon andSerpentine rivers to be used by thepower scheme was rejected at theoutset, and again when the federalgovernmentsoughttohalttheflooding.An unanticipated consequence of thisdecisionemergedduringthedroughtofearly 2016 when the main Gordonstorage that feeds the power stationwas reduced to 6.5% of its capacity.AlthoughtheHuon-Serpentinereservoirremainednear full itswaterscouldnotbe transferred to top-up the Gordonreservoir, something that would havebeen possible had the alternativeconfigurationbeenadopted.

Problems of stability and leakage fromthe Scotts Peak dam across the HuonRiver plagued the early years of the

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powerscheme.HydroTasmania’s2016assetsmanagement plan revealed thatof the three of its 204 dams acrossTasmania were considered high risk.TwooftheseweretheScottsPeakandnearbyEdgardams, the twodams thatcontain one side of the Huon-Serpentinereservoirbeneathwhichtheoriginallakestillwaits.

DefinitionofwildernessUTGWildernessIntegrityGroup

UnlikemanyotherGreenpartiesacrosstheworld (andpartsofAustralia),UTGlargely grew out of the wildernessconservation movement and when itwas revived nearly two years ago aninformal survey was conducted of itsmembership.ThiswasdesignedtoelicitwhypeoplefelttheneedtoreviveUTG.The most consistent, almost universalresponsewas a concern forwildernessand national parks in Tasmania,particularly with the impending threatfromthetourismindustry.Thisconcernlead to the formation of the UTGWilderness Integrity Tourism andSustainabiltyGroup(usuallyreferredtoas simply the Wilderness IntegrityGroup). The initial task of this groupwas to come up with a definition ofwilderness.

After some months of deliberations itwasdecidedtoacceptthedefinitionofwilderness held by the InternationalUnion for the Conservation of Nature(IUCN),whichistheglobalauthorityonthestatusofthenaturalworldandthemeasures needed to maintain itsintegrity,andisanadvisorybodytotheWorldHeritageCommittee–withsomeminorchangesinemphasis.

IUCNdefineswildernessareasas:

Protected areas (that are) usuallylarge unmodified or slightlymodified areas, retaining theirnatural character and influence,without permanent or significanthuman habitation, which areprotected and managed so as topreservetheirnaturalcondition.

The objectives inherent in the IUCNdefinition (and always should beconsideredaspartofthedefinition)areasfollows:

To protect the long-term ecologicalintegrity of natural areas that areundisturbed by significant humanactivity, free of modern infrastructureandwherenaturalforcesandprocessespredominate,sothatcurrentandfuturegenerations have the opportunity toexperiencesuchareas(and):

• To provide for public access at levelsand of a typewhichwillmaintain thewilderness qualities of the area forpresentandfuturegenerations;

• To enable indigenous communities tomaintain their traditional wilderness-based lifestyle and customs, living atlow density and using the availableresourcesinwayscompatiblewiththeconservationobjectives;

• To protect the relevant cultural andspiritual values and non-materialbenefits to indigenous or non-indigenous populations, such assolitude, respect for sacred sites,respectforancestorsetc.;

• To allow for low-impact minimallyinvasive educational and scientificresearch activities, when suchactivitiescannotbeconductedoutsidethewildernessarea.

Remoteness is one of the definingcharacteristics of wilderness butprimarily for the maintenance of

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ecologicalvaluessuchasbiosphereanddiversity. Remoteness enhances, ortends to assure, the essentialcharacteristic of wilderness of being´undisturbed by significant humanactivity, free of modern infrastructureandwherenaturalforcesandprocessespredominate´asdescribedabove.

While remoteness also enhanceshuman experiential values, ecologicalvalues should take precedence.Consequently land-managementregimes should be designed first andforemost to protect ecological valueswithin wilderness and surroundingbufferareas. Landmanagement shouldalsobedesignedinsuchamannerthatitdoesnotencroachontheremotenessof wilderness areas and, if at allpossible,enhancesremoteness.

As pointed out by Dr. Geoff Mosley,wilderness should be explicitlyrecognisedasavalue in theGuidelinesusedtoselectWorldHeritageareas.Atpresent it is only regarded in theGuidelines as an integrity factor. Itshouldbeboth.

In the Guidelines the IUCN define thedistinguishing featuresofwildernessasfollows.

Theareashouldgenerally:● be free of modern infrastructure,development and industrial extractiveactivity, includingbutnot limited to roads,pipelines,powerlines,cellphonetowers,oiland gas platforms, offshore liquefiednatural gas terminals, other permanentstructures, mining, hydropowerdevelopment, oil and gas extraction,agriculture including intensive livestockgrazing, commercial fishing, low-flyingaircraft etc., preferably with highlyrestrictedornomotorizedaccess.

● be characterized by a high degree ofintactness:containingalargepercentageofthe original extent of the ecosystem,complete or near-complete native faunaland floral assemblages, retaining intactpredator-prey systems, and including largemammals.● be of sufficient size to protectbiodiversity; to maintain ecologicalprocesses and ecosystem services; tomaintain ecological refugia; to bufferagainstthe impactsofclimatechange;andtomaintainevolutionaryprocesses.● offer outstanding opportunities forsolitude, enjoyed once the area has beenreached,by simple,quietandnonintrusivemeans of travel (i.e., non-motorized orhighly regulated motorized access wherestrictly necessary and consistent with thebiologicalobjectiveslistedabove).● be free of inappropriate or excessivehuman use or presence, which willdecrease wilderness values and ultimatelyprevent an area from meeting thebiologicalandculturalcriteria listedabove.However, human presence should not bethedeterminingfactorindecidingwhetherto establish a category Ib area. The keyobjectivesarebiological intactnessandtheabsence of permanent infrastructure,extractiveindustries,agriculture,motorizeduse, and other indicators of modern orlastingtechnology.However,inadditiontheycaninclude:● somewhat disturbed areas that arecapableofrestorationtoawildernessstate,andsmaller (or larger)areas thatmightbeexpandedorcouldplayanimportantroleina larger wilderness protection strategy aspart of a system of protected areas thatincludes wilderness, if the managementobjectivesforthosesomewhatdisturbedorsmallerareasareotherwiseconsistentwiththeobjectivessetoutabove.

Where the biological integrity of awilderness area is secure and theprimary objective listed above is met,the management focus of thewilderness area may shift to other

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objectives such as protecting culturalvaluesorrecreation,butonlysolongasthe primary objective continues to besecure.(UTGemphasishasbeenaddedhere.)InmemoriumWe record with sorrow, but alsogratitude for their efforts andcommitent, therecentpassingofsomestalwarts of the original UTG and thecausesforwhichitfought:! MaxAngus! PeterDonelly! GeoffParr! LesSouthwell! GrahamWootonLakePedderPennyAwardfor2017:

ThisyeartheawardgoestoKevinKiernanforhisdesignsofcarstickers.LastyearthisawardwenttoRolfShankleyforjoiningupthemostmembers.

Mt.SolitaryandLakePedder,1972,photo:ChrisRathbone.

Early photo of some UTG activists taking acampaign break (there were 10 electioncampaignsoveraperiodof5years)

UTG’s founding President, Dr. Richard (Dick) Jonestalking with Bill Mollison (before he co-foundedPermaculture).DickandBillstoodasUTGcandidatesinthe1974Senateelections(alongwithMikeDell).

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UTGisasignatory/memberofTheRightsofNature-https://www.facebook.com/groups/therightsofnature/about/andtheCenterfortheAdvancementoftheSteadyStateEconomy(CASSE)-https://www.facebook.com/steadystateeconomy/.

UTGfullysupportstheUnitedNationsConventionontheRightsoftheChild(UNCROC)anditsassociatedProtocols.

Contactinformation:Forfurtherinformationpleasecontact:GeoffHolloway(Co-convenorUTG)Geoffsarmiento1@gmail.com

AlsoseeFacebooksites:https://www.facebook.com/groups/112926085386109/(generalsite)https://www.facebook.com/groups/1154609787956205/(UTGWildernessIntegrity,Tourism&Sustainabilitysite).UTGalsohastwoemail-basedsystemsfornon-Facebookusers.EditorialCommitteeGeoffHolllowayRolfShankleyKevinKiernanAnneMcConnell

PhotosCoverphoto:HentyRiverbyRolfShankley.OtherphotosbyKevinKiernan,GeoffHolloway,ChrisRathbone

© 2018

Videoclipworthwatching:http://www.aftrs.edu.au/showcase/students-and-films/video/0_s01tozjj

LakePedder,1972,photo:ChrisRathbone