by Kate Holden
“To future ages, may’st thou stand …”: Quoted in ibid.
“Everyone who has the least pretension …”: Quoted in ibid., p. 221.
‘The foliage of Britain …’: See Maitland.
“aspects of a much wider reversal …”: Thomas, p. 243.
“it was a commonplace …”: Bonyhady, p. 10
“In a rising colony”: Quoted in ibid., p. 44.
‘… individuals began to challenge the government …’: ibid., p. 9.
‘There was even a claim tried …’: ibid.
“We all put to our OEH chief executive …”: Nadolny, 18 February 2018.
‘Simon Smith … spoke up too’: Smith.
‘Six weeks after that … the OEH was back in court’: Chief Executive v Turnbull, NSWLEC153, 2014 and Chief Executive v Turnbull, NSWLEC155, 2014.
“to restrain any further unlawful clearing”: Bailey, p. 6.
‘supported … by the NSW Farmers Association …’: Spark, 2017.
‘On Baird’s retirement …’: No author, ‘Farmers Thank Mike Baird.’
‘The term “heritage” came to be used’: Bonyhady.
“A nationalist movement …”: Solnit, p. 32.
“They were ultimately producing …”: ibid, p. 34.
‘Jay Griffiths reminded herself …’: Griffiths, Jay, p. 3.
“For much of European history …”: Solnit, p. 103.
Chapter 13
‘Chris Nadolny and fellow ecologist Terry Mazzer …’: Bailey, p. 44.
‘Nadolny was reassured by their presence …’: Nadolny, August 2019.
“I find that the level of the environmental harm …”: Chief Executive v Turnbull, NSWLEC150, 2014, section 136.
“A wilderness …”: Quoted in Popova.
“[w]e attribute qualities to a landscape …”: Macfarlane, p. 18.
“[a] fine case can be made …”: Solnit
“We were born wild …”, “To me, humanity is not a stain …”: Griffiths, Jay, p. 73, p. 4.
‘… strong critical comments about the OEH …’: R v Turnbull (No. 25), 2016.
“just a nasty piece of work”: Turnbull.
“I didn’t mean to kill him”: Quoted in Hall, 2014.
‘In 2014, at least 116 people …’: Butt & Menton.
“Julián is irreplaceable”: Quoted in Watts.
‘For twenty-six years …’: Kembrey.
“You’ve made a bad choice in wife”: Quoted in Cornwall.
“Your second best friend Turner …”: ibid.
Chapter 14
“west of the highway …”: Anderson.
“shifting baseline syndrome”: See Pauly.
“… a state of extreme depletion …”: Muir, p. 154.
‘Almost half of the 3.7 million hectares …’: Muir, p. 31.
“With the disappearance of the forest …”: Quoted in Young, p. 5.
‘Royal National Park …’: The park was designed more as a recreation area for Sydneysiders than a refuge for wildlife. It had picnic facilities and broad paths for strolling. Nevertheless, it did feature indigenous plants. Meanwhile, the wonderful government botanist of Melbourne, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, promoted the use of native plants, pioneering the export of eucalypts across the world to revegetate arid regions. Argentina, South Africa and parks in Rome and Naples still sport his efforts (see Young, pp. 7–9). Mueller did much to revise attitudes to indigenous species, though those good works were undercut when he chose to introduce blackberries to the country.
‘Rural citizens … could be more preoccupied …’: Bonyhady.
‘… an alert, thoughtful researcher called Robert Peacock …’: Muir, p. 79. Meanwhile, at the commission, settlers denied water was a problem, and continued to overstock, complaining there wasn’t enough grass. Thousands of water bores were sunk through the state, searching to extend the arable land into the interior (see Muir, pp. 30–32).
“too familiar landmarks …”: ibid., pp. 77–78.
‘… those hardy souls led by Myles Dunphy …’: Frawley, p. 70.
“every reason to be intensely proud …”: Ratcliffe, p. 332.
‘… he proposed nature as a balm to the spirit …’: Robin, 1994. Crosbie Morrison wanted people to safeguard nature, and become more scientifically qualified to study it and more engaged to defend it. After World War II he agitated for a ‘New Deal’, not of Eisenhower’s kind but for ‘the wild things’, particularly to redress the ‘patriotic sacrifice’ of land at Wilson’s Promontory in Victoria during its wartime occupation by the military.
‘… wedge-tailed eagles, galahs, cockatoos and kangaroos …’: Robin, 2007, p. 163.
‘Their value as natural assets …’: Young, p. 188.
‘The scientific approach cooled emotional pleas …’, “science of crisis”: Robin, 2007, p. 165.
‘… biological diversity was at dreadful risk from development’: ibid., p. 167.
‘Thus by late in the twentieth century …’: Main, p. 152.
“shadow places”: Plumwood, 2008.
‘Robin identifies a difference …’: Robin, 1994, p. 3.
‘Nature was not yet political’: ibid., p. 109.
‘And would-be conservationists liked …’: Muir, p. 157. Balance, it was promised, could be restored.
“these people, whose numbers are swelled …’: Quoted in Lines, p. 232.
‘… the benefits of human contact with natural places …’: Richardson, et al.
‘It would be hard to find an impartial jury in Moree …’: The Moree courthouse in Frome Street is a heritage building of Federation Free architecture, ironically protected by the Office of Environment and Heritage, the same office that employed Glen Turner.
“What you’ve done has done more for the cause …”: Quoted in Holden, ‘Notes on Court Debate on Holding Turnbull Trial in Moree’.
“Beliefs regarding the policing …”, “for reason of local prejudice …’: R v Turnbull (No. 1), 2016.
“Eight weeks …”: Miller.
“consumed with Glen’s death …”: Quoted in Holden, ‘Notes from Victim Impact Statements’.
Chapter 15
“That was a difficult moment …”: Quoted in Miller.
“a reasonable person in his or her position …”: ‘Manslaughter’, Criminal Trial Courts Bench Book – Offences, Judicial Commission of New South Wales, www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publications/benchbks/criminal/manslaughter.html
‘… they would go to buy waterproof mascara …’: Miller.
“I needed to talk about it one day …”: Quoted in Piatek.
“I wanted him to know that Glen …”: Quoted in Pennells.
“Their livelihood was on the line …”: Todd Alexis quoted in Hall, 2016.
“totally obsessed”: Robyn Cush and Dorothy Sampson quoted in ibid.
“We didn’t feel like …”: Quoted in Koubaridis.
‘Turner had a “tendency” to harass …’: R v Turnbull (No. 25), 2016.
‘The incident with Anna Simmons …’: Evidence of Anna Simmonds, Ivan Mass, John Kennedy, Judith Grills and Lynn Hudson in Holden, ‘Notes on Defence Case for Provocation’.
‘… support the case for provocation’: Roger Turnbull was summonsed to testify at the murder trial. But in the end the Crown case was so overwhelming he wasn’t needed. The defence wanted to use Turner’s notebook to prove he had had a series of vendettas, first against Roger, but since Roger hadn’t appeared as a witness, the judge didn’t admit the notebook (notebook MF151). See R v Turnbull (No. 23), 2016.
‘He said Turner had a fixation …’, ‘After hearing the evidence …’: Comments from Todd Alexis and Justice Johnson in ibid.
‘… Turnbull was in the witness stand’: Turnbull’s testimony in Holden, ‘Notes on Ian Turnbull Witness Statement’.
Chapter 16
“Well, I do …”: Quoted in Holden, ‘Notes on Ian Turnbull’s Psychiatric Testimonies’.
‘Grant Turnbull steppe
d into the witness stand …’: Grant’s testimony quoted in Crawford.
“I mean, literally constantly …”: Nielssen’s testimony in Holden, ‘Notes on Ian Turnbull’s Psychiatric Testimonies’.
‘Dr David Greenberg took the stand …’: Greenberg’s testimony in ibid.
“He appeared to be functioning pretty well”: Hall’s testimony in ibid.
“The politicians need to listen”: ‘Moree Shooting: Farmer Ian Turnbull Jailed for 35 Years for Murdering Environmental Officer’.
‘… a jury, they learned with surprise …’, “I just want it to be justice for Glen”: Alison’s description of events and quotations in Miller.
‘Nadolny sat alone, and felt it’: Nadolny, 24 October 2019.
‘The two women pressed their faces …’: Miller.
Chapter 17
‘The statements … helped to illustrate’: R v Turnbull (No. 26), 2016.
‘Alison McKenzie’s statement was carefully composed’: Summary of and quotations from victim impact statement in Holden, ‘Notes from Victim Impact Statements’.
“Don’t directly express your anger …”: Victim Support Services.
“I drink too much …”: Summary of and quotations from victim impact statement in Holden, ‘Notes from Victim Impact Statements’.
‘Wealthy landowners were concerned …’: Pontin, p. 761.
‘… a respect for “natural law” …’: Coyle & Morrow.
‘Locke had proposed … Coleridge spoke of …’: Pontin, p. 771.
“The two antagonist powers …”: ibid., p. 778.
“preserve the stores …”: ibid., p. 779. Coleridge was no hoarse voice in the wilderness: he influenced Benjamin Disraeli, later prime minister of England. Disraeli delivered a speech in Manchester in 1872 in which he proposed the axiom of Sanitas sanitatum, omnia sanitas: ‘The first consideration of a Minister should be the health of the people [defined as] pure air, pure water, the inspection of unhealthy habitations [of] the adulteration of food’ (see Pontin, p. 784). He and his Tories won the election two years later, and soon passed landmark legislation to prevent river pollution. The bill positioned itself in contrast to the Manchester School and Adam Smith’s faith in the market, with its appetite for development and profit in the human world at the expense of natural resources. According to Pontin, the famous Sea Birds Preservation Act 1869, enacted under Disraeli’s authority, was an expression of Coleridge’s sentiment that natural beauty was a moral quality equal to economic presence, as it defended migrating birds from having their feathers pillaged to adorn women’s hats.
‘When Australia was federated …’: Pain & Wright.
‘When the Hawke government …’: Wilderness was assessed by the Australian Heritage Commission when in 1987 it first surveyed the continent according to two criteria: remoteness and naturalness. Today, this system is known as the National Wilderness Inventory, and one of its main principles of assessment is that ‘wilderness indicators … are not indicative of the value of remote and natural lands. Remote and natural areas will be considered “wilderness” (or similar) where the intrinsic existence of these attributes is recognised in society.’ Wilderness sites, to qualify for this title, are ranked on a stern catalogue of criteria few places in coastal-zone Australia might fully meet. ‘They will be protected,’ warns the inventory, ‘when the value of these attributes is considered greater than those of competing alternative uses.’
‘… town planning and environmental law weren’t merged …’: Pain & Wright, p. 2.
‘It is composed both of judges and trained commissioners …’: ibid., p. 7.
“bring proceedings in the Land and Environment Court …”: Native Vegetation Act 2003, New South Wales, Section 41 (2).
‘… open standing cases are not infrequently …’: Pain & Wright, p. 10.
“how far do the public have to go …”: Spark, 2020.
‘… the Act has been used to stop two developments …’: Office, 2020. The Guardian established that environment minister Josh Frydenberg blocked the turbines against the advice of both his department and the wishes of the inhabitants of Lord Howe Island, ensuring they continue to rely on diesel generators. See ‘Josh Frydenberg Overruled Department to Block Lord Howe Island Wind Turbines’, 18 September 2019. Meanwhile, nearly 80 per cent of approvals were actually non-compliant or contained errors.
‘Those cleared lands included …’: Ward.
“I just want justice for Glen”: Miller.
‘Justice Johnson spoke …’: Justice Johnson quoted in R v Turnbull (No. 26), 2016.
‘Justice Johnson had been satisfied …’: Miller.
Chapter 18
“the ‘green’ and the ‘black’ began to negotiate shared ground”: Robin, 1994, p. 108.
‘The environment was now a moral cause’: Griffiths, Tom, p. 376.
“the green movement …”: ibid., p. 383.
‘… it works on a separating principle …’: Manning.
‘Offsetting, popular with conservative administrations …’: In early 2021, The Guardian revealed that an offset arrangement for a public reserve, made twenty years ago by the New South Wales government in exchange for approval to clear bushland for housing and highway developments, still had not seen the land gazetted, protected or remediated. Instead, ecologist Steve Douglas described the site as ‘an ecological wasteland’ of rusted vehicles, feral animals and weeds. See Cox, 10 February 2021.
‘One could grandly shift ecologies from here to there …’: In October 2020, federal environment minister Sussan Ley approved for the clearing of 52 hectares of koala habitat as part of a quarry expansion project at Port Stephens. Critics, including New South Wales Liberal environment minister Matt Kean, were vocal on the decision, as habitat loss is the greatest threat to the vulnerable species. Ley explained that 74 hectares of habitat would be established by the quarry company as an offset, a ‘net gain’. Campaigners questioned where the koalas might live while saplings grew to maturity (see Cox, 27 October 2020).
“You can destroy what you’ve got”: Spark, 2017.
‘… it now forms the structural rationale …’: Office, 2020.
‘In a 2016 report …’: ‘Paradise Lost’.
“It’s like it has some kind of credibility”: Spark, 2017.
“must be understood in the context of events”: Quotations from Justice Craig and outcome of the case in Chief Executive v Turnbull (No 4), 2016.
“I’ve never been to any meeting”: Quoted in Miller.
‘How are we going …’: ibid.
“using, conserving and enhancing …”: Ecologically Sustainable Development Steering Committee.
“four main planks …”: Environmental Defenders Office, 2017.
‘Rural communities felt disenfranchised …’: Nadolny, August 2019.
“It was … a bloodbath”: Spark, 2017.
“There is no doubt …”: Pain & Wright, p. 23. One of the more interesting entryways into conservation policy is through intergenerational rights. It can include something called the ‘right to an open future’, usually discussed in terms of the human rights of children. Under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, children, as vulnerable humans with limited agency, possess the right to have their ‘best interests’ as the first consideration of any actions concerning them. A child’s existence will be diminished if it grows up in a world infringed by environmental degradation.
‘WWF Australia released a report …’: Taylor et al., 2014.
“What I have done …”: Holden, ‘Notes on Court Debate on Holding Turnbull Trial in Moree’.
‘A terrorist act’: Nadolny, 19 August 2019.
“maintained or improved environmental outcomes”: Bombell & Montoya.
“It’s all part of the disconnect”: Spark, 2017.
‘… the OEH published two reports’: Information on both OEH reports in Bombell & Montoya.
“We reviewed all the legislation”: Spark, 2017.
“Educational, suasive and incentive measures”: Details of the report in Byron et al. Bartel & Graham also make the point about the report’s 43 recommendations on p. 269, and Bombell & Montoya note the underlying assumptions of the plan on p. vi.
‘There would be significant funding …’: Nadolny, ‘The New Biodiversity Laws’, p. 8.
“What greater slap in the face …”: Spark, 2017.
Chapter 19
“an arrogant, disgusting pig”: Quoted in Cornwall.
‘… the abrupt dropping of the investigation …’: Brewster.
‘There were rumours …’: Spark, 2020.
“It is too explosive and not warranted”: Brewster.
“They’re driven by this little core minority”: Spark, 2017.
“We don’t want to go back to the stage …”: Quoted in Brewster.
“… the comments of Mr Humphries …”: Quoted in Davies, 2019.
“to postpone”: Quoted in Brewster.
‘There was a clear implication …’: Slezak, 15 November 2016.
“The current native vegetation law …”: Quoted in Hannam, 6 August 2016.
‘Two farmers would later testify …’: Davies, 2019.
“the devil was in the detail”: Nadolny, 18 February 2018, p. 8. The promise that agricultural development would be treated the same as non-agricultural didn’t eventuate: conversion to cropping, one of the most lucrative forms of land exploitation, was not to be treated as ‘new development’. The laws set a target of only about 10 per cent retention of native vegetation on private land.
‘… the conservation groups … had had enough’: Slezak, 19 February 2016.
‘The NSW Farmers Association declared …’: Joshua Gilbert, an Indigenous farmer and member of NSW Farmers during the 2016 push to change the native vegetation laws, ended up quitting the association, alleging that threats were made to him over his resistance to their policy and their support for self-assessment. Gilbert had previously tried to move the association towards a greater acceptance of climate science. He told The Guardian that ‘the policies, if implemented, would allow more land to be cleared, which was not sustainable’. ‘We can’t just think about the short term and what we can put in our pockets now,’ he said. ‘We need to think about farming in the future and how we will feed an additional 2.3 billion people in the next 34 years sustainably, so that we can keep doing it into the future as well.’ As with the general farming community, not all members of the association were so devoted to loosening regulation (see Slezak, 2 February 2016).