Lance Armstrong is being remembered as someone who "never wavered" in his advocacy for social justice, peace and care for the natural environment.
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The former Greens member for Tasmania's House of Assembly died peacefully in his sleep in a Melbourne nursing home on Saturday, October 14.
He was 83, and is survived by his wife Ruth, three children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Mr Armstrong won a seat in Bass in the 1989 elections having been a Uniting Church minister and social activist in Launceston.
Bob Brown, who led the Greens to the 1989 election, said on Sunday that Mr Armstrong was a good friend who had made a remarkable contribution to Tasmanian politics and society.
"Lance was a rock-solid Green who never wavered under repeated attacks on Greens policy, including death threats, from protecting forests to gay law reform, return of land to the Aboriginal community and opposing poker machines," Mr Brown said.
"He seamlessly combined his Christian beliefs with his political career in his never-wavering advocacy for social justice, peace and care for the natural environment."
Mr Armstrong's time in parliament included being one of five Green Independents with the balance of power following former Liberal Premier Robin Gray's backing of the proposed Wesley Vale pulp mill.
It had led to the Labor Green Accord, which saw a Michael Fielding led Labor Party form a minority government in 1989 with support from the independents.
In 1991, Mr Armstrong was responsible for the first Greens legislation ever to pass an Australian parliament, with his bill to ensure the vote of young Tasmanians who had just turned 18 prior to an election.
He reflected on his seven years in parliament in a book he wrote called 'Good God, He's Green!'. In it, he spoke about how he came to identify so closely with the Green movement as a Christian church minister.
Mr Armstrong represented the Greens at the Tahiti protests against French nuclear bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean. He also introduced legislation to prohibit nuclear warships from Tasmanian ports and to decriminalise the personal use of marijuana.
In 1996, Mr Armstrong lost his seat by a narrow 32 votes and returned to the Uniting Church minister. He took an appointment to Albury, before retiring with his wife to move to Melbourne to be near their family.
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