2015-10-06
Susan Griffiths-Sussems
Located halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica in the path of the “Furious Fifties” winds and storms, the Antarctic Base on Macquarie Island is a wild and rugged place. At this time of the year, the temperature through the day averages at -6 and the gusts of wind can blow in excess of 170 km/h.
With stints of a year or more at a time, those who work here need to be resilient, determined and able to occupy themselves during hours between duty. Louise Crossley fit that bill perfectly.
Sent to the Base in 2000 as Station Leader, Louise set about making good use of the time that the role offered to her. Years before, she had started working with Margaret Blakers and Christine Milne on the foundation document to bring together Greens around the world. Now she began, painstakingly, to refine it and negotiate agreement on the first Charter of the Global Greens. This critical document — ratified at the first Global Greens Congress in Canberra 2001 — is still the glue that binds 80 Greens parties together across the world.
It is one of Louise's many achievements, and one of her most enduring legacies.
The path less taken
From the very beginning of her remarkable life the unconventional surrounded Louise. During World War II, the family was based in Malaya. When the Japanese invaded in 1941 her father was taken prisoner and sent to Changi. Her mother — pregnant with Louise — and her sister fled from South East Asia and made it to Johannesburg where Louise was born in 1942.
After the war, the family were reunited and eventually returned to Malaya. But like many children of that era, Louise was sent to an Anglican boarding school in England at the age of 4. “I have always felt that I didn't know what a family was, because I didn't have one myself,” she later said. “It's not that I didn't have a childhood, but it wasn't enfolded in a family context.”
School had a profound influence on her future direction, instilling in her that women have careers and aspire to be leaders. “Just getting married and having children wasn't even perceived to be an option,” she said.
In 1963 Louise graduated from Cambridge with a science degree. She married Clive Crossley at about the same time and together they travelled for work and pleasure, eventually ending up in Australia, living in Canberra then Sydney.
In 1980 Louise completed her PhD at UNSW on the philosophy and history of science. In 1981 she took up a position as Project Manager at the new Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, and while she was there she also collaborated with the ABC Science unit, producing such radio shows as The Salt of the Earth in 1982.
The mid 1980s was a time of big ideas in Australia — and big personalities. Bob Hawke was Prime Minister and the country was riding on a wave of optimism and confidence. This sense of 'anything is possible' motivated the ever-enthusiastic Barry Jones to establish the Commission of the Future. It had a broad brief, a small budget and an excess of strong personalities — Louise was Deputy Director and the Director was Rhonda Galbally.
Louise eventually became frustrated with the absence of tangible outcomes and the disconnect between her work and real, practical achievements also troubled her. At this time her elder sister and her sister's husband died within days of each other. Both were heavily involved with their community, and the work they had done locally and the people they had helped lead Louise to an epiphany: “fundamentally what I was doing was out of kilter. I just knew that nothing was working”. With her marriage failing, Louise embarked on what she called her 'mid-life crisis' — a six-month trip to India, China and Pakistan.
Upon her return to Australia in 1989 she was selected to become the first Director of the International Antarctic Centre in Hobart, intended to be a showcase for the history of the Antarctic and celebration of its unique environment. However, before the Centre even opened, Tasmanian Premier Michael Field announced that the project was to be cancelled. This was a great shock and a disappointment for Louise, but it also opened the door to the next phase of her life.
In 1991 she applied for and became Station Leader of the Mawson Antarctic Base — only the second woman to lead an Antarctic base. She developed a deep love and respect for the continent and it continued to motivate and inspire her, well after her tenure. She became a lecturer on Antarctic and Arctic cruises, and sailed almost every year from 1994 to 2012.
Green beginnings
Upon her return to Tasmania, Louise found an outlet for her desire to connect with community. According to fellow Global Greens champion and good friend Margaret Blakers, “Tasmania became her home, the Greens and green politics her commitment, and Antarctica her passion”. She became the first Convenor of the Tasmanian Greens in 1992. In 1998 she stood for the senate in Tasmania — coming very close to being elected. She was also among the first Convenors of the Australian Greens. Of those early days in the Party, Louise said, “There was a lot of negotiation, and developing policy, philosophy and ideas, putting them forward, arguing for them – sometimes winning and sometimes not.”
Diagnosed with cancer in 2012, Louise remained active in the Party, working as one of the Tasmanian Delegates on the Policy Review Committee until the project was completed.
On the 30th of July 2015 Louise passed away in Hobart. Her passing was keenly felt by friends around the world, former colleagues and those she worked with across The Greens. “Louise was a wonderful role model of female leadership and friendship,” said Christine Milne. “She was generous, kind, compassionate, strong and never lost her passion for people, music, ideas and new experiences. To the last she was a champion for women.”
Bob Brown also paid tribute. “She had a great no-nonsense intellect, quick dry wit and keenness to protect the biosphere, not least Tasmania's wild and scenic beauty,” he said. “She has a special place in the annals of Greens political history at state, national and global levels.”
Louise's generosity will leave a lasting impact in many ways, most recently in the form of substantial bequests she has left, among others, to the The Australian Greens. Her practical foresight will enable the Greens and other organisations to continue to grow and prosper.
Susan Griffiths-Sussems is a member of the Tasmanian Greens and the National Fundraising Coordinator for the Australian Greens. To contribute to an environmentally and socially sustainable future through your will, see our information on making a bequest to the Australian Greens. Some information in this article was sourced from a post by Jane Elix. Photo credit: Karen Brown.