Ms ROSOL (Bass) – Madam Speaker, since the commencement of this parliamentary term, there have been multiple references to standing on the shoulders of giants. These references are a testament to the people across the political spectrum who have made a difference in our state, and contributed to the lives and subsequent successes of many of us.
Today, I pay tribute to one of the giants of the Greens in Bass, although she is a tiny giant, if you will forgive the oxymoron. This giant may be short when it comes to physical height, but what she lacks in height she certainly makes up for in fortitude and temerity. Fairlie Ferguson is, as one person described her, a legend. She turns 90 on Saturday after many years fighting hard to protect the wild places of our beautiful state. Most Greens in Bass cannot remember a time before Fairlie Ferguson, and she has been a member so long we cannot find the original record of the date she joined the party.
Fairlie took an interest in protecting Tasmania’s environment many years ago and she was an environmental campaigner before the term was coined. She has worked hard in the environmental space, particularly in the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, but also in the Greens. She is always the first to roll up her sleeves and help with whatever needed to be done, whether that was keeping abreast of information, organising fundraisers, contributing outspokenly to Greens meetings and holding whoever to account if she thought they were wrong.
Fairlie participated in the anti-pulp mill campaign. That is where I first met her. She was arrested on several occasions, twice outside Parliament House when protesters came here and asked for a royal commission, and another time in Beaconsfield on the occasion of a community cabinet. On that occasion, 300 people attended the protest under the banner of ‘Pulp the Mill’ and 21 were arrested. One of them was Fairlie Ferguson.
‘Fairlie was no shrinking violet,’ was a line someone said to me of her. This extended as far as Fairlie joining the vulnerable action, in which 19 women stripped naked in the middle of winter for Women Against the Mill.
If you have never met Fairlie, you have definitely missed out. It is possible you might have seen her car, which is as legendary as Fairlie herself. Fairlie’s little hatchback is covered with stickers from many Tasmanian environmental campaigns. Over the years her car has urged for action on the Franklin, Lake Pedder, Wesley Vale and, of course, Gunns’ pulp mill. Through her stickers, she championed the re-elections of Kim Booth, Bob Brown, Christine Milne and Peter Whish‑Wilson. Looking at Fairlie’s car is a glimpse into all the major environmental campaigns we have seen in Tasmania – a historic record with a difference and a colourful witness to Fairlie’s passion and energy in caring for Tasmania over many years.
Fairlie has spent most of her life putting herself on the line for our beautiful forests and environment. She has stayed the course and remained true to the cause, only withdrawing somewhat in recent years because of the difficulty she has hearing; not that that means Fairlie has stopped being part of things. Last year when I was doorknocking, I bumped into her near her home. She was thrilled to see me, asked after the campaign and enthusiastically wished me and the Greens well.
Fairlie remains eager to hear what is happening and to help as she can. Most recently, she joined us at a campaign event and her delight at continuing to be part of the Greens movement was palpable. I know Fairlie continues to engage with other campaigns, including the Restore Pedder Campaign.
Fairlie Ferguson has been an inspiration to many of us along the way, and I am sure that her contributions have spawned many other contributions that have grown our movement and helped protect our precious environment. Enormous thanks to Fairlie for many decades of commitment and hard work, fighting for our environment and helping to achieve greater protections in the state. Those of us who continue to fight for these environmental protections are incredibly grateful for the sustained efforts Fairlie has made. We know that we most definitely do stand on the shoulders of a giant of the campaigning world. Thank you.
