The New South Wales deputy premier wants to allow logging in a national park in the statesRiverina.John Barilarosays he intends removing statutory protection of the 42,000 hectareMurray Valley National Park either by de-gazetting the entire area or reducing its size.

Forty years ago we fought to stop the logging of a rainforest atTerania Creekin northern NSW. I cannot believe this issue is back on the political agenda.

When former NSW premierNeville Wranretired from politics he was asked at a news conference what was his greatest achievement. His immediate response was saving the rainforests.

Back then theNational Partywas gung-ho in support of running the bulldozers over just about any tree found standing. In what was a low point for theLabor Party, some of its more right wing MPs also supported wholesale logging. To be fair, this was not so much about any disregard for the importance of our rainforests as it was a keenness to protect the jobs of timber workers.

Wrans eventual Labor successorBob Carrholds the mantel of the states premier who gazetted the most national parks.Bob Debusas Carrs environment minister also justifiably lays claim to having played a key role in saving our rainforest heritage.

But it was Wrans Attorney General, the lateFrank Walker, who should be given credit for achieving one of the first big breakthroughs in the protection of our natural environment. Saving Terania Creek set the scene for the next two decades of progress. As a small disclosure, I was Walkers speech writer and policy advisor at the time.

While various people and organisations have rightly claimed their share of the credit for saving the Terania Creek forest, the untold back story is worthy of recognition. Nothing that I have read about others actions is in dispute. Im just adding an important component to the history.

While Walker had no direct responsibility for environmental matters he was a committed and well-known greenie. It was for this reason that the situation at Terania Creek was brought to his attention well before many others in the Wran Government became aware of it.

A noted interventionist across other portfolios, Walkersresponseto hearing about Terania Creek was to dispatch me and a colleague to undertake an informal inspection where we met with local activists. On returning to Sydney our advice was that the forest should be saved. But more important in the telling of the full story and what really happened, we said that in our view the determination and resolve of a band of recent arrivals in the area young professionals, the first tree changers was such that they could be expected to create serious grief for the Government.

Walker immediately reported our observations to Wran and subsequently convinced him to act. As I said earlier, nothing that I have read elsewhere is in conflict with what I am recounting now. Wran then set about instigating processes that led to more official visits to the area and formal investigations.

As the mediareportedat the time, Terania Creek was the first time citizens physically defended a rainforest by placing themselves in front of police and loggers. Another small disclosure. Walkers staff might not have discouraged the protestors from taking that action! It was relatively short-lived, but it certainly gave Wran the political cover he needed to prevail over his combatant MPs.

Understandably concerned about the future employment prospects for timber workers a small but powerful lobby within the Labor Party fought hard against our plan to ban logging at Terania Creek. It was Walkers persistence and his success in convincing Wran that was the crucial determinant. This was assisted by compensation including a retraining scheme and a redundancy package for displaced workers. A model that should be repeated more often when change affects jobs.

Walkers actions behind the scenes should now be publicly recognised. Under immense pressure from some of his Caucus members, who in turn were being lobbied by the timber workers union, Wran certainly needed some persuading. So it was really Frank Walker who saved Terania Creek.

Four decades later it looks like well have to go through it all again. Can you believe it?

(Laurie Pattonwas an advisor in the Wran Government from 1977 to 1982. This article first appeared in The Lucky General.)