
Defending The Little Desert
The Rise of Ecological Consciousness in Australia
Libby Robin(Author)
Melbourne University Press
Published on 11. October 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-522-84831-1 (ISBN)
Description
In 1968 Sir William McDonald, Victoria's Minister of Lands, announced a rural settlement scheme for the Little Desert in Victoria's far north-west. The conservation campaign that ensued was one of unprecedented vehemence and sophistication. It cost McDonald his parliamentary seat and consigned the Little Desert Settlement Scheme to oblivion.
The Little Desert dispute was a watershed in Australian environmental politics. Suburban activists, scientists, amateur naturalists, economists and bureaucrats banded together to oppose McDonald's ill-conceived scheme. It marked the beginning of a new consciousness of nature and the concept of `biological diversity' was voiced in the halls of parliament for the first time.
In Defending the Little Desert, Libby Robin offers a sensitive account of the unlikely coalition of forces that assembled to save the Little Desert.
This beautifully written account of the campaign, perhaps the earliest expression of ecological consciousness in Australia, will be read by all Australians interested in conservation and the environment, in participatory political processes and in 'public science'.
The Little Desert dispute was a watershed in Australian environmental politics. Suburban activists, scientists, amateur naturalists, economists and bureaucrats banded together to oppose McDonald's ill-conceived scheme. It marked the beginning of a new consciousness of nature and the concept of `biological diversity' was voiced in the halls of parliament for the first time.
In Defending the Little Desert, Libby Robin offers a sensitive account of the unlikely coalition of forces that assembled to save the Little Desert.
This beautifully written account of the campaign, perhaps the earliest expression of ecological consciousness in Australia, will be read by all Australians interested in conservation and the environment, in participatory political processes and in 'public science'.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Carlton
Australia
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
263 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-522-84831-1 (9780522848311)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2015
Simon + Schuster LLC
€11.42
Available for download
Person
Libby Robin is an independent non-fiction writer and prize-winning author whose work explores museums and environmental ideas. She works with museums in Australia, Germany, Estonia and Norway. Her books include The Flight of the Emu (2001), How a Continent Created a Nation (2007) and The Environment: A History of the Idea (2018).