Attempts At Compromise
The Labor state government, under premier Doug Lowe, backed down from the original proposal, and agreed to place the Franklin River in a new Wild Rivers National Park. Instead of the original 'Gordon below Franklin' proposal, Lowe now backed an alternative, the 'Gordon above Olga' scheme. While this was above the Gordon's junction with the Franklin, it still would have intruded into wilderness quality areas. This compromise did not appease the environmental groups, who maintained a policy of no dams in southwest Tasmania.
In July, both the pro-dam and anti-dam groups (the former of which also included the union movement) initiated an advertising blitz in Tasmania. The HEC claimed that up to 10,000 potential jobs would be lost if the dam was not built.
The Liberal-controlled Legislative Council then blocked the Labor government's 'Gordon-above-Olga' compromise, instead insisting that they proceed with the original proposal. The two parties could not agree on a solution, which led to a deadlock between the two houses of parliament.
Read more about this topic: Franklin Dam Controversy
Famous quotes containing the words attempts and/or compromise:
“Good resolutions are useless attempts to interfere with scientific laws. Their origin is pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil. They give us, now and then, some of those luxurious sterile emotions that have a certain charm for the weak.... They are simply cheques that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“God never jests with us, and will not compromise the end of nature, by permitting any inconsequence in its procession.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)