Saving the Reef The human story behind one of Australia’s greatest environmental treasures

While in the past Australians wrestled with what the Reef is, today they are struggling to reconcile what it will be … To do this, we need to understand the Reef’ s intertwining human story. The Great Barrier Reef has come to dominate Australian imaginations and global environmental politics. Saving the Reef charts the social history of Australia’ s most prized yet vulnerable environment, from the relationship between First Nations peoples and colonial settlers, to the Reef’ s most portentous moment – the Save the Reef campaign launched in the 1960s. Through this gripping narrative and interwoven contemporary essays, historian Rohan Lloyd reveals how the Reef’ s continued decline is forcing us to reconsider what ‘ saving’ the Reef really means.

Rohan Lloyd is a historian who specialises in North Queensland and Australian environmental history. He has published histories on the Great Barrier Reef, North Queensland and Australian environmentalism. Rohan works as an English teacher at Ignatius Park College in Townsville and is an adjunct lecturer at James Cook University. This is his first book. Rohan Lloyd is a historian who specialises in North Queensland and Australian environmental history. He has published histories on the Great Barrier Reef, North Queensland and Australian environmentalism. Rohan works as an English teacher at Ignatius Park College in Townsville and is an adjunct lecturer at James Cook University. This is his first book.

Author’ s Note ix Introduction xi Map of the Great Barrier Reef xxii List of Abbreviations xxiii 1: European Arrival and Settlement 1 2: Exploitation and Enjoyment 17 Knowledge 42 3: Emerging Concern 49 4: Towards Saving the Reef 65 Catchment 80 5: The Save the Reef Campaign: Ellison Reef 86 6: We Must Appear to Be Well Informed 93 7: The Save the Reef Campaign: Oil Drilling 109 Seeing 123 8: The Black Ban 131 9: Towards a Reef Commission 148 Science 161 10: Royal Commission 169 11: The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 190 Change 200 Epilogue 208 Acknowledgements 213 Notes 216 Index 243