Douglas Ackley Lowe AM (born 15 May 1942) was the 35th

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of Ta ...

, from 1 December 1977 to 11 November 1981. His time as Premier coincided with controversy over a proposal to build a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

on Tasmania's

Gordon River The Gordon River is a major perennial river located in the central highlands, south-west, and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. Course and features The Gordon River rises below Mount Hobhouse in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National ...

, which would have flooded parts of the

Franklin River The Franklin River is a major perennial river located in the Central Highlands and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. The river is located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderne ...

. The ensuing crisis saw Lowe overthrown as Premier and resign from the Labor Party, acting as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

for the remainder of his political career. Born in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, he was a former electrician by trade. He is married to Pamela June Grant and has four children, two sons and two daughters.

Early political career

Lowe was elected to the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

representing the electorate of

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

for the Labor Party on 10 May 1969, at the 1969 state election. He was made a minister in the government of

Eric Reece Eric Elliott Reece, AC (6 July 190923 October 1999) was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975. His 13 years as premier remains the second longest in Tasmania's history, On ...

on 3 May 1972, when he became Minister for Housing. In 1975 he became Minister for the Environment and Planning, and was also appointed Deputy Premier. In 1976, he took on the Industrial Relations and Health portfolios. When the then-Premier

Bill Neilson William Arthur Neilson AC (27 August 1925 – 9 November 1989) was Premier of Tasmania from 1975 to 1977. Born in Hobart, and educated at Ogilvie High School, Neilson became a postman before entering politics. He married Jill Benjamin, daug ...

resigned as Premier on 1 December 1977, Lowe became Tasmania's 35th Premier.

Premier of Tasmania

At the age of 35 years and 200 days, Lowe was the youngest person ever to become Premier of Tasmania. The first year of his premiership was fairly uneventful, and he retained his seat of Franklin in the 1979 election with the highest ever personal vote in the House of Assembly: 24,971 or 51.2% of the vote (although this was before the

Robson Rotation Robson Rotation is a method of arranging the names of candidates on ballot papers in single transferable vote elections so as to eliminate any influence of the so-called "donkey vote". Traditionally, every ballot paper in an election is identica ...

method of printing several variations of ballot papers, so Lowe's vote may have been boosted by his position on the ballot paper).

Franklin Dam dispute

In 1978, the

Hydro-Electric Commission Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) or The Hydro, is the trading name of the Hydro-Electric Corporation, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise which is the predominant electricity generator i ...

, Tasmania's electricity generator, announced its intention to build a second dam (the Gordon-below-Franklin) on the

, which given its location would have flooded parts of the environmentally-sensitive

valley which was joined to the Gordon upstream of the proposed dam site. Noting community concerns over the environmental impact of the proposed dam, Lowe instituted a moratorium on new dam proposals in 1979, and set up the Energy Advisory Council to advise the Cabinet of alternative proposals. The Department of the Environment was instructed to advise the HEC to undertake an environmental impact assessment and report, which when tabled to Parliament recommended proceeding to flood the Franklin. Several alternative proposals were raised: the establishment of a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

on the same site, and a large number of submissions questioning the project and recommending no dam be built at all.How do governments and political parties respond to new issues?
, Discovering Democracy Units Curriculum. By mid-1980, Tasmania's high levels of unemployment—the highest in the country—were starting to bite economically, and the HEC and elements of the government were adamant that the dam project would alleviate Tasmania's employment and financial problems, although there was considerable public opposition to the dam. Lowe suggested a compromise: the construction of a dam on the Upper Gordon, upstream from the Franklin above the Olga River (Gordon-above-Olga). He also proposed to declare the controversial Lower Gordon area a national park, as suggested by the Department of Parks and Wildlife. The compromise proposal pleased neither the Hydro-Electric Commission nor the

Tasmanian Wilderness Society The Tasmanian Wilderness Society was a Tasmanian environmental group that started in 1976 in response to a proposal by the state's Hydro Electric Commission to construct a dam on the Gordon River, downstream from the Franklin River, that led to th ...

which was campaigning against the dam. It also caused a deadlock in the Tasmanian Parliament: the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

rejected the HEC's Lower Gordon (Gordon-below-Franklin) dam, and the Legislative Council rejected the lower house's legislation, and voted against the Upper Gordon (Gordon-above-Olga) dam, insisting they proceed with the original proposal. Lowe, now personally opposed to damming in the region, was successful in the expansion of the existing Frenchmans Cap National Park to include the Franklin, Gordon and Olga Rivers in the

Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers is a national park in Tasmania, 117 km west of Hobart. It is named after the two main river systems lying within the bounds of the park - the Franklin River and the Gordon River. Location The Franklin-Gordon Wi ...

Referendum and no-confidence motion

In an attempt to break the deadlock, the Tasmanian government called a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

, the Tasmanian power referendum for 12 December 1981. When Lowe announced this to the media, he was asked to clarify if the referendum would include a 'No dams' option, and he indicated it would. The President of the Labor Party in Tasmania, however, wrote to members of parliament and instructed them to withdraw the 'No dams' option, forcing Lowe into a humiliating backdown, and restricting the options to a choice between the two dam proposals. On 11 November 1981, members of the Labor Party moved a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

against Lowe's leadership, petitioning him to resign as Premier and leader of the party, which he did.

Harry Holgate Harold Norman Holgate AO (5 December 1933 – 16 March 1997) was a Labor Party politician and Premier of Tasmania from 11 November 1981 to 26 May 1982. Born in Maitland, New South Wales in 1933, Holgate was a television producer and journalist ...

was installed as Premier in his place. Instead of joining the backbenches, Lowe resigned from the ALP and joined the cross-benches as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Legislative Council

Lowe continued to serve in the House of Assembly as an Independent, until he retired on 8 February 1986. Shortly afterwards, however, he successfully ran for the Legislative Council representing the electoral district of Buckingham from 24 May 1986 to 2 May 1992 when he retired from politics.

After politics

After leaving politics, Doug Lowe became executive director of the Tasmanian branch of the

Australian Medical Association The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an Australian public company by guarantee formed as a professional association for Australian doctors and medical students. The association is not run by the Australian Government and does not regul ...

. In 2005, he was temporarily contracted by the state government to secure more specialist staff for the

Royal Hobart Hospital The Royal Hobart Hospital is a public hospital in the Hobart CBD, Tasmania, Australia. The hospital also functions as a teaching hospital in co-operation with the University of Tasmania. The hospital's research facilities are known as the Roya ...

Honours

Lowe was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2000, for service to the community of Tasmania, particularly in the area of social welfare, to the development of health policy, and to the Tasmanian Parliament. He was also awarded a

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

in 2001.LOWE, Douglas Ackley
''It's an Honour'' (

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...

), 12 December 2006.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Douglas 1942 births Living people Premiers of Tasmania Deputy Premiers of Tasmania Independent members of the Parliament of Tasmania Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council Politicians from Hobart Treasurers of Tasmania People educated at St Virgil's College Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania 20th-century Australian politicians