51 Facts About Bob Brown

Robert James Brown was born on 27 December 1944 and is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist.

Bob Brown was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens.

Bob 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.

Bob Brown was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party.

From 2002 to 2004, when minor parties held the balance of power in the Senate, Bob 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, Bob Brown resigned as leader of the Greens and indicated his intention to resign from the Senate in June.

Bob Brown was born in Oberon, New South Wales, one of twins, and attended Trunkey Public School, Coffs Harbour High School and Blacktown Boys High School.

Bob Brown practised medicine for a time at the Royal Canberra Hospital.

Bob Brown then worked as a resident at Darwin and Alice Springs hospitals.

Bob Brown travelled to London in 1970 and worked at Hounslow Cottage Hospital and St Mary Abbots Hospital in South Kensington.

Bob Brown was the resident doctor on duty at St Mary Abbots Hospital when Jimi Hendrix was brought in.

Bob Brown moved to Tasmania in 1972 and worked as a general practitioner in Launceston.

Bob Brown soon became involved in the state's environmental movement, in particular the campaign to save Lake Pedder.

In 1978 Bob Brown was appointed director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society.

Bob Brown was among the 1500 people arrested while protesting during the campaign.

Bob Brown subsequently spent 19 days in Hobart's Risdon Prison.

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 Bob Brown became their leader.

In 1993 Bob Brown resigned from the House of Assembly and stood unsuccessfully for the federal House of Representatives.

Bob 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.

Bob Brown 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 Bob 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 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.

Bob Brown was equally critical of Opposition Leader Kim Beazley's acquiescence to John Howard's stance on the Tampa incident.

Bob 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".

Bob 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 early 2007, Bob 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.

Bob Brown described coal exports as the "energy industry's heroin habit" and stated that the export of alternative technologies should be the priority.

Bob Brown announced his intention to stand again at the Greens National Conference in November 2005.

In 2005, Bob Brown brought a legal case against Forestry Tasmania in the Federal Court, in an attempt to protect Tasmania's Wielangta forest from clearfell logging.

Bob Brown brought a case against Forestry Tasmania citing threats to endangered species like the Swift parrot and Wielangta Stag Beetle.

Bob Brown was ordered to pay $240,000 to Forestry Tasmania, which he said he could not afford to pay.

Bob 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.

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

On 24 March 2012, at the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Tasmanian Greens, Bob Brown warned about degradation of the Earth and the impact that could have on future generations.

Bob Brown postulated that other civilisations in the universe are:.

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".

On 13 April 2012, Bob Brown resigned as leader of the Greens and announced that he would be resigning from the Senate in June when his replacement was available.

Bob 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.

On 20 March 2011 Bob Brown donated a 14-hectare property and house he had owned for 38 years to Bush Heritage Australia.

Bob 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.

Bob Brown was a speaker at the Save the Kimberley concert, held on 5 October 2012.

Bob Brown had addressed a rally on 2 September 2012 in Sydney, Australia.

Bob Brown appeared at another concert in support of the Kimberley cause on 24 February 2013, with musicians Missy Higgins and John Butler appearing, with the event held at The Esplanade in Fremantle, Western Australia.

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

In January 2016, Bob Brown was arrested after refusing to leave the Lapoinya Forest in Tasmania, where preparations for logging were under way.

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

In July 2012, Bob 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.

Brennan, who was released in November 2009, stated in this interview that Bob Brown had to borrow this money, an assertion made in various media outlets at the time of Brennan's release.

Bob Brown has published several books including Wild Rivers, Lake Pedder, Tarkine Trails, The Greens, Memo for a Saner World, Valley of the Giants, Tasmania's Recherche Bay, Earth, In Balfour Street and Optimism: reflections on a life of action.

Bob Brown has collaborated with, or supported work of Geoff Law.