Commentary
Following the 1987 Australian federal election, then Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke appointed senior party figure and powerbroker Senator Graham Richardson as minister for the environment. At that time, the Hawke Government sought to claim the “green agenda” against the perceived growing influence of the Greens in Australian politics.
Richardson’s period as environment minister was notable for the Hawke Government intervening to stop the construction of pulp mills in Tasmania and for having the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, and Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, included in the World Heritage List.
As Richardson admitted in his autobiography, “Whatever It Takes,” such convergence with the Greens had clear political motives—courting them would also be good for the Australian Labor Party (ALP)….