The campaigners had painted the Franklin River as an untouched natural wonder, a place free from human interference: a wilderness.
But the rediscovery of a cave along the Franklin throws everything into question. The finding is so significant it reshapes modern understanding of human history – and it paves the way for a new strategy to save the River.

Saving The Franklin

S3 03 | Secret cave: a game-changing rediscovery no one expected

Revisit the biggest environmental movement Australia has ever seen: the 1982 Franklin River Blockade. This story is nuts. Missing people, death threats, savage political moves and young people flooding into Tasmania to put their bodies in front of bulldozers. Jo Lauder investigates how this movement beat the odds and came to inspire a new generation of environmental activists that have shaped Australian politics through to today.