Australian environmentalists – although they weren’t called that - had been active since the 1860s but during the nineteen sixties and seventies they got carried along by the so-called counter-cultural movements that swept the western world.

Action for women’s rights, Aboriginal rights and an end to the Vietnam War shook up Australian society.

And it was a period when the movement to protect Australia’s rich environmental heritage – both natural and urban – shifted from polite, backroom persuasion to sometimes violent confrontation in bush and city. 

Libby Robin and other writers feature in this radio program.