Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – I rise tonight to pay tribute, as my colleague Mr Garland did earlier this week, to a beautiful man, a Tasmanian surf legend and environmental champion, Mick Lawrence. A generation of surfers were mentored by Mick, and Shayne Clark from Surfing Tasmania has described him as a godfather figure who helped many Tasmanian kids over the years who were struggling.
Shayne said that when Mick’s son, Tim, was killed in an accident in 2017, he and some friends got Mick involved in Surfing Tasmania, where he went on to become president and later joined the Surfrider Foundation.
Mick used his passion for the coastline and oceans and his writing and filmmaking skills to work on the Surfrider national campaigns. He went on to set up the Surfrider Foundation in Tasmania and has campaigned for decades to protect our oceans, including campaigning in recent years to protect the oceans from impacts like seismic blasting. He recently formed Friends of the Bay to counter the expansion of industrial‑farmed salmon in Storm Bay.
I met Mick in my office not very long ago to discuss his advocacy and defence of Tasmania’s southern beaches. It was another connection with Mick that reminded me of what a laconic, genuine, warm and caring human being he was. He was determined to work with other people to keep Tasmania’s oceans wild, free and pristine, and he was really concerned about the harms to Clifton Beach from the Petuna Fish farm, and harms from microplastics and other pollution from salmon farming to the whole of the marine environment that he was seeing in his surfing around Tasmania, particularly in the south in Storm Bay.
I was really struck by his tenacity and care for his local community and other surfers, as well as for the oceans. He had a deep‑felt connection to lutruwita’s wild places. He was a true nature lover, not only enjoying surfing but also paddling rivers and bushwalking.
He will also be remembered for his affinity with the rugged south west, and his particular skills in passing on its special history and environment to those who are newly discovering the magic of those wild places. The tour manager for Par Avion, Greg Wells, said, ‘Mick just had this great wealth of knowledge and understanding of the south‑west area. He was such a good person to hang around with and was so mature and well read’. Par Avion’s managing director, Shannon Wells, said, ‘I noticed that every time one of his tours returned to the airport, all the passengers were still smiling’.
One of the most enduring memories was and will remain the joy that he brought to other people. He was kind, funny and wise. He was a mentor to surfers and marine campaigners, and he was a force to be reckoned with. When something good needed to happen, he was the champion.
Stacey von Dongan succeeded Mick in becoming the Surf Tasmania president, and she remembers him as a man who was determined to make sure that girls and women in the state had an equal opportunity to participate in the sport. He was a fantastic mentor for so many generations of young girls and boys in getting into the love of surfing.
Whether it was through teaching kids to surf, educating visitors to Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area or fighting for his local community, Mick changed lives and he made this island a better place. His energy, knowledge and passion will be sorely missed.
On behalf of the Greens, I say, ‘Vale, Mick’, and to his wife, Robyn, and his friends and family, I send our most heartfelt condolences for your loss. It is this island’s loss too. We have been so blessed to have him here with us, and he will remain in our hearts every time we look at those southern beaches.
