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{{Short description|Former Australian Greens politician, medical doctor, environmentalist}}
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{{Distinguish|text=the R&B singer, ]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}


{{Infobox officeholder
'''Robert James Brown''' (born ], ]), is an ]n Senator, the inaugural Parliamentary Leader of the ] and the first openly ] member of the ]. While serving in the Tasmanian parliament, Bob Brown successfully campaigned for a large increase in the protected wilderness areas. Bob Brown has led the Australian Greens during a period of growth from a party on the political fringe, to one which now polls at close to 10% at state and federal level, runs candidates in nearly every seat, and have won seats in six of the eight states/territories and at the federal level. During the minority Senate between 2002 and 2004, when minor parties held the balance of power, Bob Brown became a well recognised politician. Bob Brown has been known for vocal protest campaigns, which created international headlines on ], ] when he was suspended from the Parliament for interjecting during an address by the visiting President of the ], ].
| name = Bob Brown
| honorific-prefix =
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Bob Brown profile.png
| caption =
| office2 = ] for ]
| term_start2 = 1 July 1996
| term_end2 = 15 June 2012
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 = ]
| constituency2 =
| majority2 =
| office = ]
| term_start = 28 November 2005
| term_end = 13 April 2012
| deputy = ]
| predecessor = ''No immediate predecessor''
| successor = ]
| constituency_MP3 = ]
| parliament3 = Tasmanian
| term_start3 = 4 January 1983
| term_end3 = 12 February 1993
| predecessor3 = ]
| successor3 = ]
| office1 = ]
| term_start1 = 13 May 1992
| term_end1 = 13 March 1993
| deputy1 = ]
| predecessor1 = ''Party established''
| successor1 = ]
| birth_name = Robert James Brown
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1944|12|27}}
| birth_place = ], Australia
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| party = ] (since 1989)
| otherparty = ] <br />(until 1989)
| partner = Paul Thomas
| residence = ], ], Australia
| education = ]<br />]
| alma_mater = ]
| occupation = ]<br />(])
| profession = ]<br />]
| website =
}}


'''Robert James Brown''' (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a ] and the parliamentary leader of the ]. Brown was elected to the ] on the ] ticket, joining with sitting ] senator ] to form the first group of Australian Greens senators following the ]. He was re-elected in ] and in ]. He was ] openly gay member of the ] and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party.
==Biography==


While serving in the Tasmanian parliament, Brown successfully campaigned for a large increase in the protected wilderness areas. Brown led the Australian Greens from the party's foundation in 1992 until April 2012, a period in which polls grew to around 10% at state and federal levels (13.1% of the primary vote in 2010).<ref>{{cite news | title = Election 2010 blog | work = Australian | url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/election-2010-blog/story-fn59niix-1225907876218 | date = 28 February 2011 | access-date = 4 May 2012 | archive-date = 4 May 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120504041821/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/election-2010-blog/story-fn59niix-1225907876218 | url-status = live }}</ref> From 2002 to 2004, when minor parties held the balance of power in the Senate, Brown became a well-recognised politician. In October 2003 Brown was the subject of international media interest when he was suspended from the parliament for interjecting during an address by United States president ].
Bob Brown was born in ], ] and attended Trunkey Public School and ] Boys High School, and in his senior year he was elected school captain. After graduating from high school he enrolled in medicine at Sydney University. He moved to ] in ] and worked as a general medical practitioner in ]. He soon became involved in the state's ] movement, in particular the campaign to save ], and was a member of the ] in 1972, Australia's first "green" party. In a newspaper interview at this time, Brown announced he was gay.


On 13 April 2012, Brown resigned as leader of the Greens and indicated his intention to resign from the Senate in June. This occurred on 15 June 2012.<ref>{{cite news | first1 = Judith | last1 = Ireland | first2 = Jessica | last2 = Wright | url = http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/bob-brown-resigns-as-greens-leader-and-senator-20120413-1wxoz.html | title = Bob Brown resigns as Greens leader and senator | work = The Sydney Morning Herald | access-date = 13 April 2012 | date = 13 April 2012 | archive-date = 27 October 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121027085411/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/bob-brown-resigns-as-greens-leader-and-senator-20120413-1wxoz.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite Au Parliament|mpid=QD4|name=Former Senator Bob Brown|access-date=2022-08-01}}</ref>
In ] Brown was appointed director of the ]. In the late 1970s he emerged as a leader of the campaign to prevent construction of the ], which would have drowned the ] valley as part of a ] project. Brown was among the 1500 people arrested while protesting during this campaign. He subsequently spent 19 days in Hobart's Risdon Prison. On the day of his release in ], Brown was elected into Tasmania's Parliament. The Franklin campaign was a success after Federal government intervention protected the Franklin River in 1983.


==Early life and education==
During his first term of office, Brown introduced a wide range of private member's initiatives, including for Freedom of Information, Death with Dignity, lowering parliamentary salaries, gay law reform, banning the battery-hen industry and nuclear free Tasmania. His 1987 bill to ban semi-automatic guns was voted down by both Liberal and Labor members of Tasmania's House of Assembly, seven years before the ] resulted in a successful Federal Liberal bid to achieve the same results.
Brown was born in ], one of twins,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australianpolitics.com/parties/greens/07-05-10_bob-brown-biography.pdf |title=Senator Bob Brown – Australian Greens |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629153238/http://www.australianpolitics.com/parties/greens/07-05-10_bob-brown-biography.pdf |archive-date=29 June 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and attended ] Public School, ] (1957–60) and ]. In his senior year, he was elected ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://coffsharb-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/c/coffsharb-h/localcontent/brown_dr_bob.pdf |title=Dr Robert (Bob) Brown, MBBS |work=] |publisher=] |date=n.d. |access-date=14 July 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326051713/https://coffsharb-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/c/coffsharb-h/localcontent/brown_dr_bob.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>


After finishing high school, Brown enrolled in medicine at ], where he obtained a ] degree.
In 1989 Tasmania's system of ] allowed the Greens to win five out of 35 seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly, and Brown became their unofficial leader (at that time, the Greens did not have formal leadership positions). He agreed to support a minority ] government, but this agreement broke down over ] issues in ]. In ] Brown resigned from the House of Assembly and stood unsuccessfully for the federal ].


In his early 20s, Brown was inspired by the then-Prime Minister ], and nearly joined the ].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hudson |first1=Phillip |title=When Bob Browns wanted to join the Libs |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/the-day-bob-brown-wanted-to-join-robert-menzies-liberals/news-story/ace38f7485a023b2adaa026b7e3f3a96 |access-date=29 October 2020 |work=www.heraldsun.com.au |date=4 July 2011 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Brown was elected to the ] for Tasmania in ], and was an outspoken voice in opposition to the conservative government of ], and in support of green and ] issues, including international issues such as ], ] and ]. He also introduced bills for constitutional reform, forest protection, to block radioactive waste dumping, to ban mandatory sentencing of aboriginal children and for greenhouse
abatement.


==Pre-parliamentary career==
At the 2001 federal election Brown was re-elected to the Senate with a greatly increased vote, and was outspoken on Prime Minister ]'s refusal to allow 438 asylum seekers (mostly from ]) to land on ] after they had been rescued from their sinking boat in the ] by the ], a ] freighter. Brown was equally critical of Opposition Leader ]'s acquiescence to John Howard's stance on the Tampa incident.
Brown practised medicine for a time at the ]. During his tenure at the hospital, he and other senior medical staff took a ] stance by refusing to certify young men who did not wish to fight in the Vietnam War as fit to be conscripted.<ref name="Thompson-1984">Thompson (1984) p.13</ref> He then worked as a resident at ] and ] hospitals. At the latter post, he met John Hawkins, a surgeon who had kayaked rivers in Tasmania.<ref name="Thompson-1984"/>


Brown travelled to London in 1970 and worked at Hounslow Cottage Hospital and ] in ].<ref>Thompson (1984) p.43</ref> He was the resident doctor on duty at St Mary Abbots Hospital when ] was brought in.<ref>{{cite news | first = Samantha | last = Maiden | url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/national-affairs-old/people-in-politics/bob-brown | title = Bob Brown | work = Australian | publisher = News | access-date = 5 June 2012 | archive-date = 5 June 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120605181149/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/national-affairs-old/people-in-politics/bob-brown | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/doctor-prescribes-more-compassion-20120526-1zbin.html |title=Doctor prescribes more compassion |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=27 May 2012 |access-date=5 June 2012 |archive-date=30 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730041902/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/doctor-prescribes-more-compassion-20120526-1zbin.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Brown was particularly vocal in his opposition to Australian participation in the ] and became recognised as a leading voice for the anti-war/peace movement.


At the time of his retirement, many media outlets erroneously reported that he had pronounced Hendrix dead. Brown later clarified that, while he had been on duty when Hendrix was brought in, "he had been dead for some hours", and Hendrix was officially pronounced dead by a different doctor—who was, coincidentally, also an Australian.<ref>{{cite news|title=About that Jimi Hendrix death business...|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/about-that-jimi-hendrix-death-business/story-e6frfn09-1226385575798|access-date=6 October 2012|newspaper=news.com.au|date=6 June 2012|agency=News Limited newspapers|archive-date=9 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709220728/http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/about-that-jimi-hendrix-death-business/story-e6frfn09-1226385575798|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Political activism==


Brown moved to ] in 1972 and worked as a ] in ]. He soon became involved in the state's ], in particular the campaign to save ]. By 1972, he was a member of the newly formed ], Australia's first ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Timms|first=Peter|title=In Search of Hobart|year=2009|publisher=UNSW Press|page=161}}</ref> For a period of two years during the 1970s, Brown served time as a member of a ] search team.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Jarvis |first1=Brooke |title=The Obsessive Search for the Tasmanian Tiger |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/07/02/the-obsessive-search-for-the-tasmanian-tiger |magazine=The New Yorker |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=16 July 2021 |date=25 June 2018 |quote=In the nineteen-seventies, Bob Brown, later a leader of the Australian Greens, a political party, spent two years as a member of a thylacine search team. |archive-date=15 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315204848/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/07/02/the-obsessive-search-for-the-tasmanian-tiger |url-status=live }}</ref>
When President Bush visited ] on ] ], left-wing members of the ] decided to present him with a letter setting out their opposition to the Iraq war, but not to disrupt his speech. Only Brown and Nettle took their opposition to the point of interjecting during his address to a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament. During Bush's speech Brown and Nettle wore signs referring to ] and ], two Australian citizens held at ], ] at that time (Habib has since been released), following their apprehension by United States forces in Afghanistan and ] respectively. After the speech, however, Brown shook Bush's hand.


In 1976, he fasted for a week on top of Mt Wellington in protest against the arrival at Hobart of the nuclear-powered warship {{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|6}}.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Roger |last=Green |title=Battle for the Franklin |publisher=Fontana ACF |year=1981 |isbn=0006367151 |pages=122–123}}</ref>
Bush accepted the interjections with good humour, but the ], ], formally "named" Brown and Nettle and they were suspended from the Parliament for 24 hours which prevented them from being present for, and possibly making similar interjections during, a similar address from ] President ] the next day.


==State politics==
Brown opposed the Howard Government's amendments to the Marriage Act in 2004, stating that "Mr Howard should relax and accept ] as part of the future's social fabric". Howard reportedly responded with "Over my dead body, and the bodies of every other God-fearing Australian, of every race and creed, before a law is enacted that promotes the sin, shame and evil of faggotry."
] in the 1990s]]
In 1978 Brown was appointed director of the ]. In the late 1970s he emerged as a leader of the campaign to prevent construction of the ], which would have flooded the ] valley as part of a ] project. Brown was among the 1500 people arrested while protesting during the campaign. He subsequently spent 19 days in Hobart's ]. On the day of his release in 1983, he became a member of Tasmania's parliament for the ] seat of ] after the ] MP ] resigned to successfully stand for the ];<ref>{{cite Tas Parliament |id=brownr646 |title=Robert James (Bob) Brown |access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref> Brown was elected to replace him on a countback.<ref>{{cite web|title=Results of All Countbacks to Fill House of Assembly Casual Vacancies, under the Tasmanian Electoral Act, for the 43 years from 1965 to 2008|url=http://home.vicnet.net.au/~prsa/history/tascava.htm|publisher=Proportional Representation Society of Australia|access-date=15 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214734/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~prsa/history/tascava.htm|archive-date=4 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Franklin campaign was a success after Federal government intervention protected the Franklin River in 1983.


During his first term of office, Brown introduced a wide range of private member's initiatives, which include freedom of information, death with dignity, lowering parliamentary salaries, gay law reform, banning the battery-hen industry and advocation for nuclear free Tasmania. His 1987 bill to ban semi-automatic guns was voted down by both Liberal and Labor members of Tasmania's House of Assembly, nine years before the ] resulted in a successful federal Liberal bid to achieve the same results.
In ], forestry and export woodchip company ] attempted to sue Brown and others for $6.3 million, in an action which media reports say related to "ongoing damaging campaigns and activities" against the company. The original ] issued by Gunns was struck out by the Supreme Court and costs were awarded against Gunns for the initial proceedings.


In 1989 Tasmania's system of ] allowed the Greens to win five out of 35 seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly and Brown became their leader.<ref group="footnote" name="StateLeader">In 1989, the Greens did not have formal leadership positions, but Brown's official senate biography lists his leadership of the state party from 1989–1993 as his first parliamentary party position.</ref> He agreed to support a minority ] government, on the basis of a negotiated ] (signed by Michael Field and Bob Brown) in which the Green independents agreed to support the budget but not motions of no confidence, and the ALP agreed to develop a more open parliamentary process, to consult on departmental appointments, provide a legislative research service, parity in parliamentary staffing and a reform agenda which included equal opportunities, freedom of information, national parks protection and public disclosure of bulk power contracts and royalties from mining companies.<ref>Cassandra Pybus and Richard Flanagan (eds). The Rest of the World is Watching Us. Pan Macmillan Sydney 1990. {{ISBN|0-7251-0651-4}} pp258-266</ref> This agreement, however, broke down over forestry issues in 1992. In 1993 Brown resigned from the House of Assembly and stood unsuccessfully for the federal ].
Brown was formally elected as the first Federal Parliamentary Leader of The Greens on ] ] , following almost a decade of service as de facto leader since his election to the Senate in 1996.


During 1990–1991 Brown advocated for a merger of the Green Independents with the ] to form the "Green Democrats", as opposed to confederating with other Green Parties and forming the ].<ref name="Manning-2019">{{cite book |last1=Manning |first1=Paddy |title=Inside the Greens : the Origins and Future of the Party, the People and the Politics. |date=2019 |publisher=Schwartz Publishing Pty, Limited |location=Collingwood |isbn=978-1743821190}}</ref> However, following a change in leadership in the Democrats, this plan could not continue and the Independents aligned themselves towards a unified Green Party.<ref name="Manning-2019"/>
Brown is due to face re-election at the ] federal election; should he do so successfully he would be 69 by the end of his third term. He announced his intention to stand again at the Greens National Conference in November 2005.


==Federal politics==
Brown has published several books including ''Wild Rivers'' (1983), ''Lake Pedder'' (1986), ''Tarkine Trails'' (1994), ''The Greens'' (1996) (with ]), ''Memo For A Saner World'' (2004) and ''Tasmania's Recherche Bay'' (2005). In 2004 ] published the first authorised biography of Brown, entitled ''Bob Brown: A Gentle Revolutionary''. Brown lives in ] with his long-time partner.
]
]]]
] rally in Melbourne on 5 July 2008]]
], ] and Brown during the campaign for the ]]]
], Brown and ] attending a protest rally in Melbourne in 2010]]

Brown was elected to the Australian Senate for Tasmania in 1996, and was an outspoken voice in opposition to the conservative government of ], and in support of green and human rights issues, including international issues such as ], ] and ]. He also introduced bills for constitutional reform, forest protection, to block radioactive waste dumping, to ban mandatory sentencing of Aboriginal children, to prohibit the use of ] and for greenhouse abatement.

At the 2001 federal election Brown was re-elected to the Senate with a greatly increased vote, and was outspoken on Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to allow 438 asylum seekers (mostly from ]) to land on ] after they had been rescued from their sinking boat in the Indian Ocean by the ], a Norwegian freighter. Brown was equally critical of Opposition Leader ]'s acquiescence to John Howard's stance on the ].

Brown was particularly vocal in his opposition to Australian participation in the ] and became recognised as a leading voice for the anti-war/peace movement. When President Bush visited Canberra on 23 October 2003, Brown and fellow senator ] interjected during his address to a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Free speech – free press |url=http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s976274.htm |series=Media Watch |series-link=Media Watch (TV program) |network=] |station=] |airdate=27 October 2003 |access-date=23 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203005252/http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s976274.htm |archive-date=3 December 2010 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> During Bush's speech Brown and Nettle wore signs referring to ] and ], two Australian citizens held at ], at that time (Habib was later released without charge and Hicks served a prison term for ]), following their apprehension by United States forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively. Bush accepted the interjections with good humour but the ], ] formally "named" Brown and Nettle. This meant that they were both suspended from the Parliament for 24 hours which prevented them from being present during a similar address from Chinese President ] the next day. After the speech, however, Brown shook Bush's hand.

Brown opposed the Howard Government's amendments to the Marriage Act in 2004, stating that "Mr Howard should relax and accept ] as part of the future's social fabric".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/27/1082831558618.html?from=storylhs |title=Ban on same-sex marriages doesn't target gays: PM |date=27 April 2004 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=4 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804173309/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/27/1082831558618.html?from=storylhs |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2004, forestry and export woodchip company ] attempted to sue Brown and others for $6.3&nbsp;million, in an action which media reports say related to "ongoing damaging campaigns and activities" against the company. The original ] issued by Gunns was struck out by the Supreme Court and costs were awarded against Gunns for the initial proceedings. Gunns ultimately failed with the company finally dropping all claims against Brown on 13 December 2006<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobbrown.org.au/600_media_sub.php?deptItemID=2190 |title=Senator Bob Brown: Media |publisher=Bob Brown |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129013824/http://www.bobbrown.org.au/600_media_sub.php?deptItemID=2190 |archive-date=29 November 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> while continuing its case against others including The Wilderness Society.

Brown was formally elected as the first Federal Parliamentary Leader of The Greens on 28 November 2005,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobbrown.org.au/600_media_sub.php?deptItemID=1831 |title=Senator Bob Brown: Media |publisher=Bob Brown |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129013820/http://www.bobbrown.org.au/600_media_sub.php?deptItemID=1831 |archive-date=29 November 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> following almost a decade of service as de facto leader since his election to the Senate in 1996.

In February 2007, the Tasmanian State Government and the Australian Federal Government responded by changing the text of the State's Regional Forest Agreement. New clauses make it clear that the word 'protection' relates only to whether the two respective governments deem a species to be protected rather than the meaning of the word being based on actual evidence of such.

In early 2007, Brown attracted scorn from sections of the media and the major political parties for his proposal to commit to a plan within three years, that would eventually see the banning of coal exports.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,21200858-3102,00.html | title=Kill coal off, says Bob | date=9 February 2007 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Brown described coal exports as the "energy industry's heroin habit" and stated that the export of alternative technologies should be the priority.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/coal-is-energy-industrys-heroin-habit-brown/2007/02/09/1170524298591.html?page=fullpage |title=Coal is energy industry's heroin habit: Brown |work=Age |date=10 February 2007 |access-date=23 August 2010 |location=Melbourne |archive-date=2 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102233411/http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/coal-is-energy-industrys-heroin-habit-brown/2007/02/09/1170524298591.html?page=fullpage |url-status=live }}</ref>

Brown was re-elected in the ]. He announced his intention to stand again at the Greens National Conference in November 2005.

Following his re-election and that of the new ], Brown called on the new Prime Minister, ], to set fixed carbon targets immediately, and to announce their levels at the upcoming ] in December 2007, continuing his climate campaigning, and saying that it was "obvious" what the outcome would be if Australia was to not set carbon emissions goals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scopical.com.au/articles/Politics/1597/Brown-says-PM-must-set-carbon-targets|title=Streem / Politics / Brown says PM must set carbon targets<!-- Bot generated title -->}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 2005, Brown brought a legal case against ] in the Federal Court, in an attempt to protect Tasmania's ] from clearfell logging. The 1997 Tasmanian ] (RFA) exempted logging operations from endangered species laws but required the protection of endangered species. Bob Brown brought a case against Forestry Tasmania citing threats to endangered species like the ] and ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.on-trial.info | title=Bob Brown – Wielangta Landmark Trial | publisher=On-trial | access-date=23 August 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821203242/http://www.on-trial.info/ | archive-date=21 August 2010 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> In December 2006, Judge Shane Marshall awarded the case in Brown's favour.<ref>{{cite AustLII|FCA|1729|2006|litigants=] (No 4) |date=19 December 2006 |courtname=auto}}.</ref> On appeal to the full bench of the ] level, the case was lost, without rejecting the earlier judgement that logging would further endanger these species.<ref>{{cite AustLII|FCAFC|186|2007|litigants=Forestry Tasmania v Brown |courtname=auto |date=30 November 2007}}.</ref> In May 2008 the ] denied leave to appeal that decision after the wording of the RFA was changed.<ref>{{cite AustLII|HCATrans|202|2008|litigants=Brown v Forestry Tasmania |date=23 May 2008 |courtname=auto}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/23/2253955.htm |title=Brown loses High Court battle to save Tas forest |publisher= ABC |date=23 May 2008 |access-date=23 August 2010}}</ref>

Brown was ordered to pay $240,000 to Forestry Tasmania, which he said he could not afford to pay. Failure to pay would have resulted in bankruptcy proceedings which would have cost Brown his Senate seat.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/08/2592384.htm?section=justin |title=Brown facing bankruptcy over Forestry Tas bill |publisher=ABC |date=8 June 2009 |access-date=23 August 2010 |archive-date=29 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129192040/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/08/2592384.htm?section=justin |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>], section 44(iii).</ref> Brown had earlier rejected a settlement offer from Forestry Tasmania that would have required him to have only paid $200,000 of the costs he had incurred.<ref>{{cite web | first = Peter | last = Wels | url = http://www.examiner.com.au/news/local/news/politics/i-took-advice-brown/1536354.aspx | title = I took advice on court costs, says Bob Brown | work = Examiner | location = Tasmania | date = 10 June 2009 | access-date = 23 August 2010 | archive-date = 22 May 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240522043152/https://www.examiner.com.au/story/499887/i-took-advice-on-court-costs-says-bob-brown/ | url-status = live }}</ref> On 9 June 2009, Australian entrepreneur ] promised to help bail him out if necessary,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/09/2593414.htm |title=Dick Smith to bail Brown out |publisher=ABC |date=9 June 2009 |access-date=23 August 2010 |archive-date=18 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218072706/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/06/09/2593414.htm? |url-status=live }}</ref> an offer that was not needed after pledges of support from over 1,000 donors covered Brown's legal bill within a few days of his announcement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bob-brown.greensmps.org.au/content/media-release/forestry-tasmania%E2%80%99s-bill-will-be-paid-time-says-brown |title=Forestry Tasmania's bill will be paid on time, says Brown |publisher=Greens |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313111933/http://bob-brown.greensmps.org.au/content/media-release/forestry-tasmania%E2%80%99s-bill-will-be-paid-time-says-brown |archive-date=13 March 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In 2011, after the ] Brown drew criticism for suggesting that half the ] be allocated to future natural catastrophes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://greens.org.au/content/what-did-bob-brown-really-say-about-floods |title=WHAT DID BOB BROWN REALLY SAY ABOUT THE FLOODS? |access-date=2011-06-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527150618/http://greens.org.au/content/what-did-bob-brown-really-say-about-floods |archive-date=27 May 2011 |df=dmy-all |date=17 January 2011 }}. Retrieved 8 June 2011</ref> He made comments to the effect that climate change, specifically the impact on climate from the mining sector should be held at least partially responsible for the flooding.

In 2011, Brown supported the ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bob-brown.greensmps.org.au/articles/libya%E2%80%99s-dictator-should-go-brown|title=Libya's dictator should go - Brown|website=bob-brown.greensmps.org.au|access-date=10 February 2023|archive-date=28 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328140521/https://bob-brown.greensmps.org.au/articles/libya%E2%80%99s-dictator-should-go-brown|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Greens support UN backed force against Gaddaf|website=parlinfo.aph.gov.au|format=Press release|date=18 March 2011|access-date=10 February 2023|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressrel%2F631029%22;src1=sm1|archive-date=22 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522043152/https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressrel%2F631029%22;src1=sm1|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 24 March 2012, at the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Tasmanian Greens,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/03/24/312341_tasmania-news.html | title = Bob sings up a party | first = Anne | last = Mather | date = 27 March 2012 | work = Mercury | location = Hobart | publisher = News | access-date = 4 April 2012 | archive-date = 9 May 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120509034656/http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/03/24/312341_tasmania-news.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> Brown warned about degradation of the Earth and the impact that could have on future generations. He postulated that other civilisations in the universe are: <blockquote> not communicating with Earth. They have {{notatypo|extin|cted}} themselves. They have come and gone. And now it's our turn.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/global-democracy-alone-will-save-us-from-ourselves-20120330-1w3s9.html |title= Global democracy alone will save us from ourselves | first = Bob | last = Brown | date=31 March 2012 | work = The Age |access-date=4 April 2012 | location=Melbourne}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/brown-a-green-man-of-many-colours-20120331-1w505.html | title = Brown a Green man of many colours | first = Michelle | last = Grattan | date = 1 April 2012 | work = The Age | access-date = 4 April 2012 | location = Melbourne | archive-date = 6 April 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120406033858/http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/brown-a-green-man-of-many-colours-20120331-1w505.html | url-status = live }}</ref></blockquote> As a possible approach to pre-empting this he proposed a Global Parliament. He was met with a standing ovation. The then deputy leader ] said it was "a very inspiring speech".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/browns-deputy-defends-earthians-speech/story-fn59niix-1226312903472 | title = Christine Milne defends 'Earthians' speech | first = Christian | last = Kerr | date = 28 March 2012 | work = Australian | publisher = News | access-date = 3 May 2012 | archive-date = 3 June 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120603113630/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/browns-deputy-defends-earthians-speech/story-fn59niix-1226312903472 | url-status = live }}</ref> There was criticism of his approach.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/earth-to-bob.-little-green-men-wont-save-the-world/ | title= Earth to Bob. Little green men won't save the world | first= Anthony | last= Sharwood | date= 4 April 2012 | publisher= The Punch | access-date= 4 April 2012 | archive-date= 5 April 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120405100756/http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/earth-to-bob.-little-green-men-wont-save-the-world/ | url-status= live }}</ref> At the Global Greens Conference in Dakar, Senegal Africa, 1 April 2012, Bob Brown advocated that there be established a "global parliament" where "every citizen should have an equal say". The final resolution supported by the Australian Greens and others, was passed.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://en.unpacampaign.org/news/616.php | title= World Congress of Green parties calls for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly | date= 2 April 2012 | publisher= Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly | access-date= 5 May 2012 | archive-date= 1 December 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121201125648/http://en.unpacampaign.org/news/616.php | url-status= live }}</ref>

===Resignation from Greens leadership===
On 13 April 2012, Brown resigned as leader of the Greens and announced that he would be resigning from the Senate in June when his replacement was available. His deputy, Christine Milne, became Greens leader, and federal ] ] became Greens deputy leader.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425012247/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-13/bob-brown-resigns-as-greens-leader/3948496 |date=25 April 2012 }} – Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Retrieved 24 April 2012.</ref> ], who had formerly stood for the Greens, was selected as Brown's replacement in the Senate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Greens name Brown's Senate replacement|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-04/whish-wilson-takes-brown-senate-spot/3991174|work=ABC News|access-date=15 October 2012|date=5 May 2012|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112013633/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-04/whish-wilson-takes-brown-senate-spot/3991174|url-status=live}}</ref>

Brown's resignation took place on 15 June 2012 at 3:30&nbsp;pm, when he handed his resignation to the senate president, ]. Peter Whish-Wilson was sworn into the Senate on 21 June.

==Bush Heritage Australia==
Brown was the founder, in 1990, of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, now ], a non-profit environmental organisation dedicated to purchasing and preserving Australian ]. He was president of the organisation until 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bushheritage.org.au/about/people/our_patrons |title=Bush Heritage Australia: Our Patron |publisher=Bush Heritage |access-date=23 August 2010 |archive-date=7 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207204350/http://www.bushheritage.org.au/about/people/our_patrons |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 20 March 2011 Brown donated a 14-hectare (35-acre) property and house he had owned for 38 years to Bush Heritage Australia. The property is located 47 kilometres (29&nbsp;miles) south-west of ], in the ]. According to Australian Geographic, it is a site of historic and symbolic significance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/bob-brown-gives-away-his-house.htm |title=Bob Brown gives away his green sanctuary |publisher=Australian Geographic |date=21 March 2011 |access-date=22 March 2011 |first=John |last=Pickrell |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324000513/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/bob-brown-gives-away-his-house.htm |archive-date=24 March 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Bob Brown Foundation==
Brown set up the Bob Brown Foundation<ref>{{cite web | title=Who we are | website=Bob Brown Foundation | date=18 March 2022 | url=https://bobbrown.org.au/about/ | access-date=29 January 2024 | archive-date=29 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129054348/https://bobbrown.org.au/about/ | url-status=live }}</ref> with his longtime partner Paul Thomas to promote environmental awareness.<ref>{{cite web|title=ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bob Brown|url=http://www.newint.com.au/blog/author/bobbrown/|website=New Internationalist Blog|publisher=New Internationalist Publications|access-date=29 July 2014|year=2014|archive-date=12 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812130730/http://www.newint.com.au/blog/author/bobbrown/|url-status=live}}</ref> The foundation established a set of awards in 2012, with South Australian climate activist ] the recipient of the inaugural Young Environmentalist of the Year award,<ref>{{cite web | title=The inaugural Bob Brown Foundation Environmentalist of the Year Jenny Webber | website=] | date=27 September 2012 | url=https://tasmaniantimes.com/2012/09/the-inaugural-bob-brown-foundation-environmentalist-of-the-year-jenny-webbe/ | access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref> and Tasmanian forest activist Jenny Weber was inaugural Environmentalist of the Year, which came with a prize of {{AUD|4000}}.<ref>{{cite web | last=Darby | first=Andrew | title=Bob Brown lauds next generation | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=28 September 2012 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/environment/bob-brown-lauds-next-generation-20120928-26q0o.html | access-date=29 January 2024 | archive-date=29 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129053522/https://www.smh.com.au/environment/bob-brown-lauds-next-generation-20120928-26q0o.html | url-status=live }}</ref> It has also given awards to other Australian environmentalists, including ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|title=2013 Environmentalist of the Year Awards|url=http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/2013-environmentalist-of-the-year-awards/|access-date=9 June 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122114/http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?%2Fweblog%2Farticle%2F2013-environmentalist-of-the-year-awards%2F|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Other activities==
Brown is a supporter of the ], an organisation which advocates for democratic reformation of the United Nations.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://en.unpacampaign.org/statements/page/7/|title=Statements|work=Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly|date=2017|access-date=27 October 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>

Brown was a speaker at the Save the Kimberley concert, held on 5 October 2012. Held at ] in ], the concert was part of a long-running campaign to protest against a proposal to industrialise the James Price Point area in ]. Brown had also addressed a rally on 2 September 2012 in Sydney, Australia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bob Brown Speech at Sydney Save the Kimberley Rally (raw)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOJEaeiKAyY| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902105435/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOJEaeiKAyY&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2012-09-02 | url-status=dead|publisher=YouTube|access-date=6 October 2012|author=kateausburn|date=2 September 2012}}</ref> Brown appeared at another concert in support of the Kimberley cause on 24 February 2013, with musicians Missy Higgins and John Butler also appearing, with the event held at The Esplanade in Fremantle, Western Australia. Jarrah Records, the record label that Butler co-founded with musical trio ] and band manager Phil Stevens, worked in partnership with The Wilderness Society to stage the free event that also featured the band Ball Park Music.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Butler Trio – Facts|url=https://azrefs.org/john-butler-trio--facts.html|access-date=2020-11-09|website=azrefs.org}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}<!-- WP:RS needed; removed link to WP:SPS (Twitter, FB, WP)--> A march to protest the proposed gas refinery construction at James Price Point accompanied the free concert and campaign supporters were photographed with banners and placards.<ref>{{cite web|title=News Live Reviews Photos Album Reviews Interviews Guide Bands Submit Win PHOTOS: CONCERT FOR THE KIMBERLEY AT FREMANTLE ESPLANADE|url=http://www.spaceshipnews.com.au/photos-concert-for-the-kimberly-at-fremantle-esplanade/|work=Space Ship News|publisher=Space Ship News {{!}} Perth Music.|access-date=1 March 2013|format=Photo upload|date=27 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501072443/http://www.spaceshipnews.com.au/photos-concert-for-the-kimberly-at-fremantle-esplanade/|archive-date=1 May 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

On 8 January 2013, it was announced that Brown would be taking over as director of the Australian chapter of ], a non-profit, ] organisation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bob Brown to steer Sea Shepherd after legal issues force Paul Watson to step down|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/bob-brown-to-steer-sea-shepherd-after-legal-issues-force-paul-watson-to-step-down/story-e6frg6nf-1226549683529|work=ABC News|access-date=8 January 2013|date=8 January 2013|archive-date=8 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108205700/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/bob-brown-to-steer-sea-shepherd-after-legal-issues-force-paul-watson-to-step-down/story-e6frg6nf-1226549683529|url-status=live}}</ref> He stepped down in April 2014.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/bob-brown-steps-down-as-sea-shepherd-chairman-20140402-35yz1.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=Bob Brown steps down as Sea Shepherd chairman | access-date=2 April 2014 | archive-date=4 April 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404071401/http://www.smh.com.au/national/bob-brown-steps-down-as-sea-shepherd-chairman-20140402-35yz1.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 2016, Brown was arrested after refusing to leave the Lapoinya Forest in Tasmania, where preparations for logging were under way. Along with another protester, who had been arrested a few days earlier, he was charged with an offence under Tasmania's Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Act 2014.<ref>{{cite Legislation AU|Tas|act|wfpa2014452|Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Act 2014}}.</ref> Although the charges were dropped, the two went to the ] to argue that the provisions under which they had been charged were unconstitutional. In October 2017 the High Court agreed, by a majority although for differing reasons, that the provisions were invalid in that they breached the constitutional freedom of political communication.<ref>{{cite AustLII|HCA|43|2017|litigants=]|parallelcite= }} {{cite web |url=http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/judgment-summaries/2017/hca-43-2017-10-18.pdf |title=judgment summary |publisher=] |date=18 October 2017 |access-date=21 March 2018 |archive-date=19 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419145057/http://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/judgment-summaries/2017/hca-43-2017-10-18.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidestory.org.au/green-in-judgement|last=Blackshield|first=Tony|title=Green in Judgment|work=Inside Story|date=26 October 2017|access-date=27 October 2017|archive-date=27 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027005912/http://insidestory.org.au/green-in-judgement/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://auspublaw.org/2017/11/the-trajectory-of-structured-proportionality|title=The Trajectory of Structured Proportionality: Brown v Tasmania|last=Chordia|first=Shipra|work=AUSPUBLAW|date=2 November 2017|access-date=2 November 2017|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107015758/https://auspublaw.org/2017/11/the-trajectory-of-structured-proportionality|url-status=live}}</ref>

In August 2016, Brown joined the crew of '']'' on board their ship ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/08/19/15/35/sea-shepherd-in-sa-to-fight-bp-on-bight |title=Sea Shepherd ramps up SA pressure on BP |work=9news.com.au |date=19 August 2016 |access-date=24 August 2016 |archive-date=26 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826194020/http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/08/19/15/35/sea-shepherd-in-sa-to-fight-bp-on-bight |url-status=live }}</ref> as it joined the campaign against proposed drilling in the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-05/sea-shepherd-turns-attend-to-bp%27s-great-australian-bight-plans/7692702 |title=Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin heads to Great Australian Bight to protest against BP's drilling plans - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) |work=ABC |date=4 August 2016 |access-date=24 August 2016 |archive-date=23 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823131000/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-05/sea-shepherd-turns-attend-to-bp%27s-great-australian-bight-plans/7692702 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2019 Brown led a convoy of vehicles to protest against the proposed ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://amp.abc.net.au/article/11156126|title=Environment leaders reflect on their role in the 'climate election' - ABC News|website=amp.abc.net.au|access-date=22 July 2019|archive-date=22 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722224148/https://amp.abc.net.au/article/11156126|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2019 Brown came out strongly opposing a large wind farm to be set up in Northern Tasmania, raising concern for bird species.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baxendale |first1=Rachel |title=Di Natale defends Brown |url=https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/richard-di-natale-defends-bob-brown-over-wind-farm-opposition/news-story/90ff3f72368b50ad3c802344cd4cd987 |access-date=26 March 2020 |work=www.theaustralian.com.au |date=21 July 2019 |language=en |archive-date=6 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006201906/https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/richard-di-natale-defends-bob-brown-over-wind-farm-opposition/news-story/90ff3f72368b50ad3c802344cd4cd987 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Recognition and awards==
In July 2012, Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame at ], where he had spent a significant part of his secondary school years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bob Brown Rocks Jetty High - Coffs Harbour High School|url=https://coffsharb-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/news/2012/8/bob-brown-rocks-jetty-high1.html|access-date=2020-11-09|website=coffsharb-h.schools.nsw.gov.au|archive-date=13 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113105632/https://coffsharb-h.schools.nsw.gov.au/news/2012/8/bob-brown-rocks-jetty-high1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Brown has received the following awards:
* ] newspaper 'Australian of the Year' (1983)<ref>{{cite web|title=My Favourite Australian: Bob Brown|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/myfavouriteaustralian/brown.htm|publisher=ABC|access-date=15 October 2012|author=Martin Walch|author2=Raef Sawford|year=2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213225008/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/myfavouriteaustralian/brown.htm|archive-date=13 December 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* ] Packard Award (1984)<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124062941/http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/wcpa/wcpa_what/wcpa_awards/wcpa_packard/wcpa_packardalpha |date=24 January 2011 }}. Retrieved 30 June 2011</ref>
* ] ] (1987)<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723104807/http://www.global500.org/ViewLaureate.asp?ID=704 |date=23 July 2011 }}. Retrieved 30 June 2011</ref>
* ] (1990)<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123030207/http://www.goldmanprize.org/node/85 |date=23 November 2010 }}. Retrieved 30 June 2011</ref>
* MAPW Distinguished Physician Award (1990)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bushheritage.org.au/about/people/our_patrons |title=Our Patron – Senator Bob Brown – Bush Heritage Australia |publisher=Bushheritage.org.au |access-date=8 July 2011 |archive-date=7 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207204350/http://www.bushheritage.org.au/about/people/our_patrons |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* ] magazine 'World's Most Inspiring Politician' (1996)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.penguin.com.au/contributors/bob-brown |title=Penguin Books Australia |publisher=Penguin.com.au |access-date=8 July 2011 |archive-date=13 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813094721/https://penguin.com.au/contributors/bob-brown |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ] ] (1998)
* ] Environmental Hero (2006)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australianpolitics.com/parties/greens/07-05-10_bob-brown-biography.pdf |title=Senator Bob Brown – Australian Greens |access-date=8 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629153238/http://www.australianpolitics.com/parties/greens/07-05-10_bob-brown-biography.pdf |archive-date=29 June 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
* ] (2009)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://poa.org.au/admin/?q=node/11 |title= Australian Peace Prize &#124; Peace Organisation of Australia|website=poa.org.au |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219023257/http://poa.org.au/admin/?q=node%2F11 |archive-date=19 February 2011}}</ref>
* Australian ] of the Year (2010)<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020003438/http://www.iheu.org/australian-humanist-year-2010-bob-brown-political-activist |date=20 October 2011 }} in International Humanist and Ethical Union, 2010</ref>

==Personal life==
In a newspaper interview in 1976, Brown announced that he had a same-sex partner<ref name="Launceston Examiner-1976">{{Cite news |title=Doctor says he's gay |newspaper=Launceston Examiner |date=10 June 1976 |page=3}}</ref> to highlight discrimination and encourage law reform because ] remained a crime<ref name="Launceston Examiner-1976"/> until 1997.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jahshan |first1=Elias |title=Last but not least: when Tasmania decriminalised homosexuality |date=5 June 2014 |url=http://www.starobserver.com.au/features/community-spotlight/last-but-not-least-when-tasmania-decriminalised-homosexuality/123785 |access-date=6 November 2016 |work=Star Observer |archive-date=19 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419152200/http://www.starobserver.com.au/features/community-spotlight/last-but-not-least-when-tasmania-decriminalised-homosexuality/123785 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{As of|2018}} Brown lived in ], Tasmania, with his long-time partner, Paul Thomas, a farmer and activist whom he met in 1996.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/the-issue-others-avoid-20100818-12f4n.html |title=The issue others avoid |first=Carol |last=Nader |date=19 August 2010 |work=The Age |access-date=1 October 2010 |location=Melbourne |archive-date=9 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509184543/http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/the-issue-others-avoid-20100818-12f4n.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/30/1096527861329.html |title=How green is Brown's valley |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=1 October 2004 |access-date=1 October 2010 |archive-date=15 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815063217/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/30/1096527861329.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Brown describes himself as a "lapsed ]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://m.theage.com.au/national/q-what-do-these-mps-have-in-common-a-they-are-out-and-proud-atheists-20100313-q59i.html |title=Q: What do these MPs have in common? A: They are out and proud atheists |date=14 March 2010 |work=The Age |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-date=15 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715060301/http://m.theage.com.au/national/q-what-do-these-mps-have-in-common-a-they-are-out-and-proud-atheists-20100313-q59i.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In an interview with ] on ] radio, ], an Australian photojournalist who was kidnapped in Somalia and held hostage for 462 days, revealed Brown had contributed $100,000 of his own money to help pay the ransom for his release.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} It was also revealed that Brown contacted Australian businessman ] asking that he also contribute funds towards the release of Brennan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/06/28/3255470.htm |title=Nigel Brennan |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=28 June 2011 |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=1 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701115847/http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/06/28/3255470.htm? |url-status=live }}</ref> Brennan, who was released in November 2009, also stated in this interview that Brown had to borrow this money, an assertion also made in various media outlets at the time of Brennan's release.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/dick-smith--contributed-to-aussie-hostages-ransom-20091127-jv11.html |title=Dick Smith contributed to Aussie hostage's ransom |date=27 November 2009 |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629054540/http://www.smh.com.au/world/dick-smith--contributed-to-aussie-hostages-ransom-20091127-jv11.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/27/2754994.htm |title=Dick Smith, Bob Brown in deal to free hostages |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=27 November 2009 |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-date=14 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214224741/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/27/2754994.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Publications==
Brown has published several books including ''Wild Rivers'' (1983), ''Lake Pedder'' (1986), ''Tarkine Trails'' (1994), ''The Greens'' (1996) (with ]), ''Memo for a Saner World'' (2004), ''Valley of the Giants'' (2004), ''Tasmania's Recherche Bay'' (2005), ''Earth'' (2009), ''In Balfour Street'' (2010) and ''Optimism: reflections on a life of action'' (2014).<ref>{{cite web|title=author:(bob brown)|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=bob+brown&type=author|work=National Library of Australia Catalogue|publisher=National Library of Australia|access-date=15 October 2012|year=2012|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070534/http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=bob+brown&type=author|url-status=live}}</ref>
He has collaborated with, or supported work of ].<ref>{{Citation | author1=Law, Geoff | author2=Brown, Bob | author3=Australian Greens | title=The river runs free : exploring & defending Tasmania's wilderness | date=30 June 2008 | publication-date=2008 | publisher=Penguin Group Australia | isbn=978-0-670-07245-3 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | author1=Law, Geoff | author2=Brown, Bob | author3=Australian Greens, (issuing body) | title=Western Tasmania : a place of outstanding universal value : proposed extensions to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area | publication-date=2009 | publisher= | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/33472242 | access-date=5 March 2019 | archive-date=17 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117192730/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/33472242 | url-status=live }}</ref> In 2004 ] published the first authorised biography of Brown, entitled ''Bob Brown: A Gentle Revolutionary''.


==References== ==References==
{{Portal|Australia|Politics|Environment|Medicine|LGBTQ}}
*
{{Reflist|25em}}


==External links== ==Notes==
<references group="footnote"/>
*
*
*
*
*"", ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', March 6, 2003
*
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==Further reading==
{{start box}}
* Armstrong, Lance J.E. (1997). ''Good God, He's Green! A History of Tasmanian Politics 1989–1996''. Wahroonga, N.S.W., Pacific Law Press. {{ISBN|1-875192-08-5}}
{{succession box | title='']'' Federal Parliamentary Leader of the ]| before=N/A | after=''Himself as Federal Parliamentary Leader of the ]'' | years=1996-2005}}
* Lines, William J. (2006) ''Patriots : defending Australia's natural heritage'' St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-7022-3554-7}}
{{succession box | title=Federal Parliamentary Leader of the ]| before=''Himself as de facto Federal Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens'' | after=''incumbent'' | years=2005-}}
* {{Cite book |first=Peter |last=Thompson |title=Bob Brown of the Franklin River |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Sydney |year=1984 |isbn=0-86861-596-X}}
{{end box}}
* {{cite web |title=Biography for BROWN, Robert (Bob) James |url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fallmps%2FQD4%22 |access-date=1 July 2011 |publisher=Parliament of Australia |date=28 June 2011 }}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*
*


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Latest revision as of 12:54, 14 December 2024

Former Australian Greens politician, medical doctor, environmentalist For other people named Bob Brown, see Bob Brown (disambiguation). Not to be confused with the R&B singer, Bobby Brown.

Bob Brown
Leader of the Australian Greens
In office
28 November 2005 – 13 April 2012
DeputyChristine Milne
Preceded byNo immediate predecessor
Succeeded byChristine Milne
Leader of the Australian Greens
in Tasmania
In office
13 May 1992 – 13 March 1993
DeputyChristine Milne
Preceded byParty established
Succeeded byChristine Milne
Senator for Tasmania
In office
1 July 1996 – 15 June 2012
Succeeded byPeter Whish-Wilson
Member of the Tasmanian Parliament
for Denison
In office
4 January 1983 – 12 February 1993
Preceded byNorm Sanders
Succeeded byPeg Putt
Personal details
BornRobert James Brown
(1944-12-27) 27 December 1944 (age 79)
Oberon, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyGreens (since 1989)
Other political
affiliations
Independent
(until 1989)
Domestic partnerPaul Thomas
Residence(s)Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
EducationCoffs Harbour High School
Blacktown Boys High School
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
OccupationGeneral practitioner
(Self-employed)
ProfessionPhysician
Politician
Websitebobbrown.org.au

Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasmanian Greens ticket, joining with sitting Greens Western Australia senator Dee Margetts to form the first group of Australian Greens senators following the 1996 federal election. He was re-elected in 2001 and in 2007. He was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party.

While serving in the Tasmanian parliament, Brown successfully campaigned for a large increase in the protected wilderness areas. Brown led the Australian Greens from the party's foundation in 1992 until April 2012, a period in which polls grew to around 10% at state and federal levels (13.1% of the primary vote in 2010). From 2002 to 2004, when minor parties held the balance of power in the Senate, Brown became a well-recognised politician. In October 2003 Brown was the subject of international media interest when he was suspended from the parliament for interjecting during an address by United States president George W. Bush.

On 13 April 2012, Brown resigned as leader of the Greens and indicated his intention to resign from the Senate in June. This occurred on 15 June 2012.

Early life and education

Brown was born in Oberon, New South Wales, one of twins, and attended Trunkey Public School, Coffs Harbour High School (1957–60) and Blacktown Boys High School. In his senior year, he was elected school captain.

After finishing high school, Brown enrolled in medicine at University of Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree.

In his early 20s, Brown was inspired by the then-Prime Minister Robert Menzies, and nearly joined the Liberal Party of Australia.

Pre-parliamentary career

Brown practised medicine for a time at the Royal Canberra Hospital. During his tenure at the hospital, he and other senior medical staff took a pacifist stance by refusing to certify young men who did not wish to fight in the Vietnam War as fit to be conscripted. He then worked as a resident at Darwin and Alice Springs hospitals. At the latter post, he met John Hawkins, a surgeon who had kayaked rivers in Tasmania.

Brown travelled to London in 1970 and worked at Hounslow Cottage Hospital and St Mary Abbots Hospital in South Kensington. He was the resident doctor on duty at St Mary Abbots Hospital when Jimi Hendrix was brought in.

At the time of his retirement, many media outlets erroneously reported that he had pronounced Hendrix dead. Brown later clarified that, while he had been on duty when Hendrix was brought in, "he had been dead for some hours", and Hendrix was officially pronounced dead by a different doctor—who was, coincidentally, also an Australian.

Brown moved to Tasmania in 1972 and worked as a general practitioner in Launceston. He soon became involved in the state's environmental movement, in particular the campaign to save Lake Pedder. By 1972, he was a member of the newly formed United Tasmania Group, Australia's first "green" party. For a period of two years during the 1970s, Brown served time as a member of a Thylacine search team.

In 1976, he fasted for a week on top of Mt Wellington in protest against the arrival at Hobart of the nuclear-powered warship USS Enterprise.

State politics

Brown after being elected to the Senate in the 1990s

In 1978 Brown was appointed director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society. In the late 1970s he emerged as a leader of the campaign to prevent construction of the Franklin Dam, which would have flooded the Franklin River valley as part of a hydroelectricity project. Brown was among the 1500 people arrested while protesting during the campaign. He subsequently spent 19 days in Hobart's Risdon Prison. On the day of his release in 1983, he became a member of Tasmania's parliament for the House of Assembly seat of Denison after the Democrats MP Norm Sanders resigned to successfully stand for the Australian Senate; Brown was elected to replace him on a countback. The Franklin campaign was a success after Federal government intervention protected the Franklin River in 1983.

During his first term of office, Brown introduced a wide range of private member's initiatives, which include freedom of information, death with dignity, lowering parliamentary salaries, gay law reform, banning the battery-hen industry and advocation for nuclear free Tasmania. His 1987 bill to ban semi-automatic guns was voted down by both Liberal and Labor members of Tasmania's House of Assembly, nine years before the Port Arthur massacre resulted in a successful federal Liberal bid to achieve the same results.

In 1989 Tasmania's system of proportional representation allowed the Greens to win five out of 35 seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly and Brown became their leader. He agreed to support a minority Labor Party government, on the basis of a negotiated Accord (signed by Michael Field and Bob Brown) in which the Green independents agreed to support the budget but not motions of no confidence, and the ALP agreed to develop a more open parliamentary process, to consult on departmental appointments, provide a legislative research service, parity in parliamentary staffing and a reform agenda which included equal opportunities, freedom of information, national parks protection and public disclosure of bulk power contracts and royalties from mining companies. This agreement, however, broke down over forestry issues in 1992. In 1993 Brown resigned from the House of Assembly and stood unsuccessfully for the federal House of Representatives.

During 1990–1991 Brown advocated for a merger of the Green Independents with the Australian Democrats to form the "Green Democrats", as opposed to confederating with other Green Parties and forming the Australian Greens. However, following a change in leadership in the Democrats, this plan could not continue and the Independents aligned themselves towards a unified Green Party.

Federal politics

Brown at Salamanca Market in Tasmania in December 2004
Brown lays out the Green's climate change policies in the lead-up to the 2007 federal election
Brown at a climate change rally in Melbourne on 5 July 2008
Adam Bandt, Brian Walters and Brown during the campaign for the 2010 Victorian state election
Greg Barber, Brown and Brian Walters attending a protest rally in Melbourne in 2010

Brown was elected to the Australian Senate for Tasmania in 1996, and was an outspoken voice in opposition to the conservative government of John Howard, and in support of green and human rights issues, including international issues such as Tibet, East Timor and West Papua. He also introduced bills for constitutional reform, forest protection, to block radioactive waste dumping, to ban mandatory sentencing of Aboriginal children, to prohibit the use of cluster munitions and for greenhouse abatement.

At the 2001 federal election Brown was re-elected to the Senate with a greatly increased vote, and was outspoken on Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to allow 438 asylum seekers (mostly from Afghanistan) to land on Christmas Island after they had been rescued from their sinking boat in the Indian Ocean by the MV Tampa, a Norwegian freighter. Brown was equally critical of Opposition Leader Kim Beazley's acquiescence to John Howard's stance on the Tampa incident.

Brown was particularly vocal in his opposition to Australian participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and became recognised as a leading voice for the anti-war/peace movement. When President Bush visited Canberra on 23 October 2003, Brown and fellow senator Kerry Nettle interjected during his address to a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament. During Bush's speech Brown and Nettle wore signs referring to David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, two Australian citizens held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, at that time (Habib was later released without charge and Hicks served a prison term for providing material support for terrorism), following their apprehension by United States forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively. Bush accepted the interjections with good humour but the Speaker of the House, Neil Andrew formally "named" Brown and Nettle. This meant that they were both suspended from the Parliament for 24 hours which prevented them from being present during a similar address from Chinese President Hu Jintao the next day. After the speech, however, Brown shook Bush's hand.

Brown opposed the Howard Government's amendments to the Marriage Act in 2004, stating that "Mr Howard should relax and accept gay marriages as part of the future's social fabric".

In December 2004, forestry and export woodchip company Gunns Limited attempted to sue Brown and others for $6.3 million, in an action which media reports say related to "ongoing damaging campaigns and activities" against the company. The original Statement of Claim issued by Gunns was struck out by the Supreme Court and costs were awarded against Gunns for the initial proceedings. Gunns ultimately failed with the company finally dropping all claims against Brown on 13 December 2006 while continuing its case against others including The Wilderness Society.

Brown was formally elected as the first Federal Parliamentary Leader of The Greens on 28 November 2005, following almost a decade of service as de facto leader since his election to the Senate in 1996.

In February 2007, the Tasmanian State Government and the Australian Federal Government responded by changing the text of the State's Regional Forest Agreement. New clauses make it clear that the word 'protection' relates only to whether the two respective governments deem a species to be protected rather than the meaning of the word being based on actual evidence of such.

In early 2007, Brown attracted scorn from sections of the media and the major political parties for his proposal to commit to a plan within three years, that would eventually see the banning of coal exports. Brown described coal exports as the "energy industry's heroin habit" and stated that the export of alternative technologies should be the priority.

Brown was re-elected in the 2007 federal election. He announced his intention to stand again at the Greens National Conference in November 2005.

Following his re-election and that of the new Labor Government, Brown called on the new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to set fixed carbon targets immediately, and to announce their levels at the upcoming United Nations Bali Climate Change Conference in December 2007, continuing his climate campaigning, and saying that it was "obvious" what the outcome would be if Australia was to not set carbon emissions goals.

In 2005, Brown brought a legal case against Forestry Tasmania in the Federal Court, in an attempt to protect Tasmania's Wielangta forest from clearfell logging. The 1997 Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) exempted logging operations from endangered species laws but required the protection of endangered species. Bob Brown brought a case against Forestry Tasmania citing threats to endangered species like the Swift parrot and Wielangta Stag Beetle. In December 2006, Judge Shane Marshall awarded the case in Brown's favour. On appeal to the full bench of the Federal Court level, the case was lost, without rejecting the earlier judgement that logging would further endanger these species. In May 2008 the High Court denied leave to appeal that decision after the wording of the RFA was changed.

Brown was ordered to pay $240,000 to Forestry Tasmania, which he said he could not afford to pay. Failure to pay would have resulted in bankruptcy proceedings which would have cost Brown his Senate seat. Brown had earlier rejected a settlement offer from Forestry Tasmania that would have required him to have only paid $200,000 of the costs he had incurred. On 9 June 2009, Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith promised to help bail him out if necessary, an offer that was not needed after pledges of support from over 1,000 donors covered Brown's legal bill within a few days of his announcement.

In 2011, after the 2010–11 Queensland floods Brown drew criticism for suggesting that half the Mineral Resource Rent Tax be allocated to future natural catastrophes. He made comments to the effect that climate change, specifically the impact on climate from the mining sector should be held at least partially responsible for the flooding.

In 2011, Brown supported the 2011 military intervention in Libya.

On 24 March 2012, at the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Tasmanian Greens, Brown warned about degradation of the Earth and the impact that could have on future generations. He postulated that other civilisations in the universe are:

not communicating with Earth. They have extincted themselves. They have come and gone. And now it's our turn.

As a possible approach to pre-empting this he proposed a Global Parliament. He was met with a standing ovation. The then deputy leader Christine Milne said it was "a very inspiring speech". There was criticism of his approach. At the Global Greens Conference in Dakar, Senegal Africa, 1 April 2012, Bob Brown advocated that there be established a "global parliament" where "every citizen should have an equal say". The final resolution supported by the Australian Greens and others, was passed.

Resignation from Greens leadership

On 13 April 2012, Brown resigned as leader of the Greens and announced that he would be resigning from the Senate in June when his replacement was available. His deputy, Christine Milne, became Greens leader, and federal Melbourne MP Adam Bandt became Greens deputy leader. Peter Whish-Wilson, who had formerly stood for the Greens, was selected as Brown's replacement in the Senate.

Brown's resignation took place on 15 June 2012 at 3:30 pm, when he handed his resignation to the senate president, John Hogg. Peter Whish-Wilson was sworn into the Senate on 21 June.

Bush Heritage Australia

Brown was the founder, in 1990, of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, now Bush Heritage Australia, a non-profit environmental organisation dedicated to purchasing and preserving Australian bushland. He was president of the organisation until 1996. On 20 March 2011 Brown donated a 14-hectare (35-acre) property and house he had owned for 38 years to Bush Heritage Australia. The property is located 47 kilometres (29 miles) south-west of Launceston, Tasmania, in the Liffey Valley. According to Australian Geographic, it is a site of historic and symbolic significance.

Bob Brown Foundation

Brown set up the Bob Brown Foundation with his longtime partner Paul Thomas to promote environmental awareness. The foundation established a set of awards in 2012, with South Australian climate activist Daniel Spencer the recipient of the inaugural Young Environmentalist of the Year award, and Tasmanian forest activist Jenny Weber was inaugural Environmentalist of the Year, which came with a prize of A$4,000. It has also given awards to other Australian environmentalists, including Miranda Gibson and Drew Hutton.

Other activities

Brown is a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which advocates for democratic reformation of the United Nations.

Brown was a speaker at the Save the Kimberley concert, held on 5 October 2012. Held at Federation Square in Melbourne, the concert was part of a long-running campaign to protest against a proposal to industrialise the James Price Point area in Broome, Western Australia. Brown had also addressed a rally on 2 September 2012 in Sydney, Australia. Brown appeared at another concert in support of the Kimberley cause on 24 February 2013, with musicians Missy Higgins and John Butler also appearing, with the event held at The Esplanade in Fremantle, Western Australia. Jarrah Records, the record label that Butler co-founded with musical trio The Waifs and band manager Phil Stevens, worked in partnership with The Wilderness Society to stage the free event that also featured the band Ball Park Music. A march to protest the proposed gas refinery construction at James Price Point accompanied the free concert and campaign supporters were photographed with banners and placards.

On 8 January 2013, it was announced that Brown would be taking over as director of the Australian chapter of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a non-profit, marine conservation organisation. He stepped down in April 2014.

In January 2016, Brown was arrested after refusing to leave the Lapoinya Forest in Tasmania, where preparations for logging were under way. Along with another protester, who had been arrested a few days earlier, he was charged with an offence under Tasmania's Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Act 2014. Although the charges were dropped, the two went to the High Court to argue that the provisions under which they had been charged were unconstitutional. In October 2017 the High Court agreed, by a majority although for differing reasons, that the provisions were invalid in that they breached the constitutional freedom of political communication.

In August 2016, Brown joined the crew of Sea Shepherd on board their ship Steve Irwin, as it joined the campaign against proposed drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

In April 2019 Brown led a convoy of vehicles to protest against the proposed Carmichael coal mine.

In July 2019 Brown came out strongly opposing a large wind farm to be set up in Northern Tasmania, raising concern for bird species.

Recognition and awards

In July 2012, Brown was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Coffs Harbour High School, where he had spent a significant part of his secondary school years.

Brown has received the following awards:

Personal life

In a newspaper interview in 1976, Brown announced that he had a same-sex partner to highlight discrimination and encourage law reform because homosexual activity in Tasmania remained a crime until 1997.

As of 2018 Brown lived in Eggs and Bacon Bay, Tasmania, with his long-time partner, Paul Thomas, a farmer and activist whom he met in 1996.

Brown describes himself as a "lapsed Presbyterian".

In an interview with Richard Fidler on ABC radio, Nigel Brennan, an Australian photojournalist who was kidnapped in Somalia and held hostage for 462 days, revealed Brown had contributed $100,000 of his own money to help pay the ransom for his release. It was also revealed that Brown contacted Australian businessman Dick Smith asking that he also contribute funds towards the release of Brennan. Brennan, who was released in November 2009, also stated in this interview that Brown had to borrow this money, an assertion also made in various media outlets at the time of Brennan's release.

Publications

Brown has published several books including Wild Rivers (1983), Lake Pedder (1986), Tarkine Trails (1994), The Greens (1996) (with Peter Singer), Memo for a Saner World (2004), Valley of the Giants (2004), Tasmania's Recherche Bay (2005), Earth (2009), In Balfour Street (2010) and Optimism: reflections on a life of action (2014). He has collaborated with, or supported work of Geoff Law. In 2004 James Norman published the first authorised biography of Brown, entitled Bob Brown: A Gentle Revolutionary.

References

  1. "Election 2010 blog". Australian. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  2. Ireland, Judith; Wright, Jessica (13 April 2012). "Bob Brown resigns as Greens leader and senator". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  3. "Former Senator Bob Brown". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. "Senator Bob Brown – Australian Greens" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  5. "Dr Robert (Bob) Brown, MBBS" (PDF). Coffs Harbour High School. NSW Department of Education. n.d. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  6. Hudson, Phillip (4 July 2011). "When Bob Browns wanted to join the Libs". www.heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  7. ^ Thompson (1984) p.13
  8. Thompson (1984) p.43
  9. Maiden, Samantha. "Bob Brown". Australian. News. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  10. "Doctor prescribes more compassion". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 May 2012. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  11. "About that Jimi Hendrix death business..." news.com.au. News Limited newspapers. 6 June 2012. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  12. Timms, Peter (2009). In Search of Hobart. UNSW Press. p. 161.
  13. Jarvis, Brooke (25 June 2018). "The Obsessive Search for the Tasmanian Tiger". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2021. In the nineteen-seventies, Bob Brown, later a leader of the Australian Greens, a political party, spent two years as a member of a thylacine search team.
  14. Green, Roger (1981). Battle for the Franklin. Fontana ACF. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0006367151.
  15. "Robert James (Bob) Brown". Members of the Parliament of Tasmania. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  16. "Results of All Countbacks to Fill House of Assembly Casual Vacancies, under the Tasmanian Electoral Act, for the 43 years from 1965 to 2008". Proportional Representation Society of Australia. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  17. Cassandra Pybus and Richard Flanagan (eds). The Rest of the World is Watching Us. Pan Macmillan Sydney 1990. ISBN 0-7251-0651-4 pp258-266
  18. ^ Manning, Paddy (2019). Inside the Greens : the Origins and Future of the Party, the People and the Politics. Collingwood: Schwartz Publishing Pty, Limited. ISBN 978-1743821190.
  19. "Free speech – free press". Media Watch. 27 October 2003. ABC. ABC1. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  20. "Ban on same-sex marriages doesn't target gays: PM". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 April 2004. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  21. "Senator Bob Brown: Media". Bob Brown. Archived from the original on 29 November 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  22. "Senator Bob Brown: Media". Bob Brown. Archived from the original on 29 November 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  23. "Kill coal off, says Bob". 9 February 2007.
  24. "Coal is energy industry's heroin habit: Brown". Age. Melbourne. 10 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  25. "Streem / Politics / Brown says PM must set carbon targets".
  26. "Bob Brown – Wielangta Landmark Trial". On-trial. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
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Notes

  1. In 1989, the Greens did not have formal leadership positions, but Brown's official senate biography lists his leadership of the state party from 1989–1993 as his first parliamentary party position.

Further reading

  • Armstrong, Lance J.E. (1997). Good God, He's Green! A History of Tasmanian Politics 1989–1996. Wahroonga, N.S.W., Pacific Law Press. ISBN 1-875192-08-5
  • Lines, William J. (2006) Patriots : defending Australia's natural heritage St Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006. ISBN 0-7022-3554-7
  • Thompson, Peter (1984). Bob Brown of the Franklin River. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-86861-596-X.
  • "Biography for BROWN, Robert (Bob) James". Parliament of Australia. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.

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Succeeded byChristine Milne
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