Before Environmental Law : A History of a Vanishing Continent / Benjamin J. Richardson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richardson, Benjamin J., 1992- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Environmental law.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (393 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, England : Hart Publishing, [2023]

Summary:

This landmark book unveils the history of defending Australia's natural environment and examines the subject's legal and political contexts from the birth of the nation in 1901 until the advent of the so-called modern era of environmental regulation in the late 1960s. It rejects the mythology that Australia lacked environmental law before the late 1960s in revealing how many of today's environmental laws, from pollution control to nature conservation, emerged from precedents or events much earlier in the 20th century. This history however reveals a discrepancy between lawmakers' greater efficacy to exploit rather than protect the environment, a discrepancy that grew as nature's backlash intensified in a rapidly degrading continent colonised to build the Australian nation. In exploring these dynamics, the book offers a rich tapestry of case studies illustrated with historic photographs that show the origins of Australia's environmental laws and how they borrowed from international precedents or furnished lessons for other nations. Through its multi-disciplinary enquiry, the book offers scholars and students of environmental law, legal history and the environmental humanities a unique story about the failures and successes in the making of environmental law.

Contents:

Cover

Dedication

Title Page

Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

List of Figures

PART I: GOVERNING 1901 TO 1967

1. Young Nation, Ancient Continent

I. Coloniality and the Environment

II. Tendrils of Governance

III. 1901 to 1967

IV. Orchardfield: Fragment of a Vanishing Continent

V. The Big Picture

VI. The Book's Synopsis and Sources

2. 1901: Nature for Nation

I. Governing a Federation

II. The States

III. The Penumbra of English Law

IV. Curating Nationalism

V. Celebrating Nature

3. 1967: Nature for Nature

I. Protesting for Better Environmental Laws

II. The City: Kelly's Bush

III. Hydropower: Lake Pedder

IV. Mining: Colong Caves

V. Agriculture: Little Desert

VI. Mining: Great Barrier Reef

VII. Recognising Aboriginal People

PART II: TRANSFORMING A CONTINENT

4. Taming the Bush

I. Remaking the Land

II. Property Tenure

III. Bush Settlement Schemes

IV. Land Clearing

V. Nature Bites Back

5. Prickly Pears to Toxic Toads

I. Invasive Species

II. Prickly Pear

III. Cane Toads

IV. Rabbits

V. Vermin Wars

VI. Science, Law and Nature's Backlash

6. Engineered Landscapes

I. Environmental Engineering Mania

II. Planning the Snowy Mountains Scheme

III. Environmental Issues in the Snowy Mountains Scheme

IV. Powering the Tasmanian Economy

7. Testing Times Over the Outback

I. The Outback

II. Bombs Away

III. Safety and Environmental Issues

IV. The Clean-up

V. Aftermath

PART III: DEFENDING A CONTINENT

8. The Furry and Feathered

I. Valuing Wildlife

II. Nature Museums, Zoos and Gardens

III. Tentative Law Reforms

IV. The Commonwealth Gets Involved

V. Wildlife Conservation: From the Exception to the Ordinary

VI. The Long and Short Arm of the Law.

VII. Threatened Fauna: Translocation and Acclimatisation

9. Scenic and Primitive Areas

I. Wilderness

II. National Parks

III. Saving the Blue Gum Forest

IV. Logging Tasmania's Mount Field

V. Perth's Kings Park

VI. Reflections

10. Town Planning and the Bush Capital

I. Modernist Planning

II. Post-War Planning Shifts

III. Siting the National Capital

IV. Designing Canberra

V. Building Canberra

VI. Greening Canberra

VII. The Griffins' Final Ventures and Legacies

11. Resource Users and Polluters

I. Forestry Governance

II. Soil Conservation

III. Mining Regulation

IV. Pollution Control

12. Looking South: Icy Lands and Stormy Seas

I. Australia's Final Frontier

II. Rise and Fall of Whaling

III. Scramble for Antarctica

IV. Antarctic Treaty

V. Australia in Antarctica: Governance at a Distance

VI. Environmental Governance in Antarctica

VII. Australia's Subantarctic Islands

PART IV: THE FUTURE'S PAST

13. Restoring a Continent

I. A New Agenda

II. Orchardfield and the Vanishing Continent: Epilogue

III. Environmental Restoration

IV. Existing and Proposed Restorations

V. Revisiting the 'Before' Environmental Law Mythology

Index

Copyright Page.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

Other Format:

Print version: Richardson, Benjamin J. Before Environmental Law

ISBN:

9781509969036

1509969039

OCLC:

1393306526