How the fight to save Tasmania’s Lake Pedder led to the world’s first green party

Hobart town hall meeting on 23 March 1972 at which the world’s first green party, the United Tasmania Group, was created Photograph: Supplied

Fifty years ago, at a rowdy meeting at the Hobart town hall, the world’s first “green” party was formed.

While the word Green was not officially used, and it would take some time for the United Tasmania Group to be formally registered as a political party, it was the beginning of an organised effort to use the political system to push for a spotlight on environmental issues.