Irreconcilable Environmental Reform Agendas: A Case Study of Changing Character of Environmental Conflict in Queensland, 1965–1995

In the lead-up to the 1989 Queensland state elections, conservationists and the Labor Party in Opposition had seemingly developed a common approach to environmental policy reforms proposals, involving improved planning and community consultation. However, upon winning government at these elections, the Labor Government was increasingly criticised by the conservation movement and received uncharacteristically ambivalent support during the 1995 election campaign. This ambivalence is largely due to the unrecognised conflicting purposes underlying the reform proposals. For conservationists, the reform program was intended, firstly, as a democratisation of the environmental policy process, and secondly, as a means of reconciling social, economic, and environmental objectives without compromising the environment. For governments, backed by the business sector, the reform program aimed to improve prospects for economic growth through improved management of resources and channelling expressions of public dissent harmlessly into the agendas established by the government. This approach can be understood as a neo-corporatist strategy aiming to deal with accumulation and legitimation problems experienced by many contemporary liberal democratic states.