Bob Brown
Robert James Brown (27 December 1944—) is a former Australian politician, doctor and environmentalist. Born in Oberon, New South Wales, Brown studied Medicine at the University of Sydney and, after graduating, practiced at the Royal Canberra Hospital, Darwin Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital, as well as in London. He returned to Australia in 1972, settling in Launceston, Tasmania.
He became involved with local environmental politics the following year, protesting against the damming of Lake Pedder; this led to the formation of the Wilderness Society. In 1979, Brown was elected Director of the Society and organised a large-scale blockade of the damming of Tasmania's Franklin River in 1982. For his part, Brown served 19 days in prison (Mellor, 2008); on the day of his release he was elected as the first Green to Tasmania's Parliament, serving as MP for Denison. During his time in state politics Brown advocated for a range of initiatives, including dying with dignity.
In 1996 Brown was elected to the Senate. Outspoken in opposition to John Howard's Conservative government, he was particularly vocal in criticising Howard's refusal to let asylum-seekers land on Christmas Island; Australia's role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003; and the Howard government's disadvantaging gay couples in amendments to the Marriage Act in 2004.
In 2005, newly elected as Leader of the Greens, Brown re-engaged his interest in voluntary euthanasia. After corresponding with ex-Territorian Chief Minister Marshall Perron, in 2008 he presented his Rights of the Terminally Ill (Euthanasia Laws Repeal) Act 2008, an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to revert back to Perron's pioneering Bill that had, 12 years prior, briefly legalised voluntary euthanasia in the Northern Territory.
Brown resigned from politics in 2012. He has since set up the Bob Brown Foundation, an organisation that promotes environmental causes.
Mellor, Lise (2008) Brown, Robert James. Faculty of Medicine Online Museum and Archive, University of Sydney. https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine/museum/mwmuseum/index.php/Brown,_Robert_James
Rights of the Terminally Ill (Euthanasia Laws Repeal) Act 2008 (Cth.) Retrieved from https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/bills/s610_first/toc_pdf/08029a20.pdf;fileType=application/pdf
