The Franklin campaign cemented the party's role in the political realm, following the birth of the Greens party during the unsuccessful movement to save Lake Pedder from being dammed a decade earlier.

Ultimately, the High Court ruled that federal Labor government legislation could thwart the state government’s plan to build a hydro-electric commission dam on the Gordon River, flooding the Franklin.

But it came after years of unrest, with public opinion shifting from one side to the other.

Today, Strahan is a popular tourist destination, with the Franklin River considered by many to be the best white water rafting destination in the world.

“It’s not because it’s the biggest, and it’s not even because it’s got the most thunderous rapids,” Dr Brown said. “It’s because it’s wild. It’s wilderness.”

His involvement in the campaign began in 1976, when fellow campaigner Paul Smith asked him to raft down the river with him. “It was extraordinary – we never saw another person, there were no buildings, no fences, no roads, no houses.

“We saw platypuses and eagles and there were white petals from the leatherwood floating down the river with us and side canyons and waterfalls. It was just astounding scenery, and then we came around the corner into the Gordon River, and suddenly, helicopters, jack hammers, blasts going off."

That’s when Dr Brown decided he had to do something, and joined a number of other key players to save the river.

“There was a meeting held here in June 1976, where the Tasmanian Wilderness Society was established out of a number of environmental groups that had campaigned for Lake Pedder.”

He put most of the money he was earning as a doctor into the cause, and in 1978, the volunteer maintaining the Wilderness Society's office had to leave, so Dr Brown took on the job. He became “completely absorbed” in the campaign for the next seven years.

That involved state and federal political lobbying, media attention, advertising campaigns, and peaceful protesting.

“Michael Courtney, the editor of The Examiner said, ‘Bob, if you can show that Tasmanians are opposed to the Gordon-below-Franklin Dam, I’ll put it front page’.”

So Dr Brown and Mr Smith went back to the Franklin and took footage with a hand-bound movie camera. They bought a half-hour time slot on commercial television with the Tattslotto in the middle of it and showed their film.

“Suddenly, everyone in Tasmania knew about the Franklin. Then I did an opinion poll and it showed most of Tasmania wanted the Franklin saved. So I gave it to Michael Courtney and he put it on the front page.”

However, when Hydro officially announced plans for the dam, they warned there would be blackouts and unemployment if the scheme didn’t go ahead. Opinion started to shift the other way, and support for the Franklin River, while still strong, became a minority.

In 1982, pro-dam Premier Robin Gray was elected.

“At that stage, we had both big parties, both houses of parliament, all three newspapers, nearly all the unions, the chamber of commerce, all the big businesses, in favour of the Franklin Dam,” Dr Brown said.

“So it looked very bleak, and I held a meeting here in those circumstances and the campaigners were somewhat dispirited. But we came to the conclusion that while there was life there was hope.”

Eighteen months later, the river was saved.

“A lot happened in that 18 months.”

The Franklin Dam became a federal election issue, and the Wilderness Society ran national coloured television and newspaper ads. Campaigners also held a peaceful sit in, which became the famous blockade.

Six-thousand non-violent protesters went to Strahan, with 1500 being arrested and around 500 jailed. Protesters, including Dr Brown, were bashed by pro-dam vigilantes during the course of the dispute. “There was a lot of nastiness.”

Stopping the dam was Bob Hawke’s first act as prime minister after winning the election in 1983, and the only issue he addressed on the night he was elected. But that wasn’t the end of the bitter dispute, with the Tasmanian premier challenging the decision in the High Court.

"So they had to decide between the federal government's powers to uphold a treaty, being the World Heritage Treaty to protect this area, and the state government's right to manage land as it wanted to, including rivers. And by four judges to three, they voted in favour of upholding the federal government's power.

“It took some months to come out of the years of crisis that I’d been involved in, but as the years roll on, I just get happier and happier with seeing the Franklin.”