2025-11-05
A review of Defiance: Stories from Nature and Its Defenders, the latest book by Bob Brown, who has dedicated his life to defiant actions to preserve forests, wild rivers and much more. The book tells some of his stories, but also many other inspiring tales of people who have done similar things.
By Rob Delves is a member of the Green Issue editorial team.
Ever wondered where the derogatory term Tree Hugger comes from? I didn’t have a clue and didn’t even think about it, just assuming it was conjured up by the PR branch of some “Let it Rip” nature-devouring corporation who were seeking to mock those pesky activists who were standing in their way.
It turns out that the term Tree Hugger has a noble, courageous, defiant story of incredible suffering and inspiration. Bob Brown dedicates his latest book to the first tree huggers, India’s Bishnoi people, led by Amrita Devi, who adopted the tactic in 1730 to defy the Maharaja Marwar’s plans to cut down the Kherjali Forest:
Amrita said that the trees were sacred and that her spiritual kinship with them meant she could not allow them to be cut down. She refused a large bribe and the Bishnois showed their devotion by hugging the trees. The Maharaja’s men cleared the way by beheading Amrita and her three daughters and murdering 359 other Bishnoi tree huggers before the Maharaja relented and left the forest alone.
Amrita’s defiance inspired India’s Chipko movement in the 1960s in which people saved forests by hugging trees. They in turn gave inspiration to forest defenders everywhere, including Australia. Activists should own the label with pride (even defiant pride).
Defiance, Bob Brown’s latest book, is a celebration of the amazing natural world we are privileged to be born into and the inspiring stories of the heroic defenders of that world. People such as the following:
- Melva and Olegas Truchanas, who tried to save Tasmania’s Lake Pedder.
- Indigenous artist Emily Kam Kngwarray, who believed the power of her work would protect her Country, especially from the mining corporations. (Bob says that “Kam’s giant Earth’s Creation, painted as she sat on the desert floor, is the most magnificent artwork I have ever laid eyes on.”)
- High Court Justice Lionel Murphy, who played a pivotal role in that court’s decision to save the Franklin River.
- Vasily Arkhipov, who very likely averted a major nuclear war. He was flotilla commander of the Russian fleet off the coast of Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis. He held firm against the decision of the submarine captain who wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo at a US nuclear submarine that was dropping depth charges on Russian submarines.
Of course there are plenty of fascinating stories about some of Bob’s own most famous acts of defiance, for example Stop Adani and above all the Save the Franklin campaign that brought him to national prominence.
The author Geraldine Brooks provides a wonderful foreword to the book, in which she warmly shares Bob Brown’s conviction that defiant people have made huge contributions to making the world a better place. She joins Bob in saying Amen to Martin Luther King’s famous observation: “the moral arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.” However, she and Bob make an important addition: especially (only?) because of the actions of brave defiant people.
Defiance calls for open resistance, taking the plunderers head on by “defying the laws that serve those who are exploiting the planet and its people”. Bob evokes the great tradition of non-violent action, where “ordinary people take affairs into our own hands to overcome the power of corporate influence on governments”.
Defiant communal action is essential because of “What We’re Up Against” – the title of the second section of the book. They are extremely wealthy and powerful, and ruthless in their determination to extract ever-more profit by plundering nature’s bounty. This section analyses their addiction to endless growth, their use of violence, and political and media power, to crush the right to protest – while making sure their acts of environmental destruction are never subject to similar harsh laws. As in other sections, it is the stories of individual and group protests that most resonate – the price paid by protesters as laws and police enforcement have become more extreme over recent decades.
An entertaining chapter lists Bob Brown’s “12 good reasons why young people should enter politics” (perhaps the more accurate rendering of the title would include the words ‘especially if you join The Greens’). Number 12 is Don’t get depressed, get active. If I were to expand number 12 by adding “and then go on to inspire us again and again” number 12 would be a pretty accurate summary of Bob Brown’s life journey.
Activism has been Bob’s solution to his well-known battle with despair, especially in his earlier years. He also keeps the Black Dog at bay by immersing himself in nature for long periods. Hence the final section of the book is called “Our Brilliant Little Planet” and it describes many examples of places he has come to love, such as the mountains, rivers, coastlines, and forests – though it’s clear that the trees are what he loves above all, and has spent more time defending. Bob just can’t get enough of them. I think we’d all agree that there are plenty of worse choices a guy could make!
Defiance is a book to cherish. Make sure it’s in a prominent place on your bookshelf, so you can often grab it for a quick read of a chapter or two from time to time, It’s the activists’ stories that you will remember the most. Read, enjoy, do likewise.
Header photo: Bob Brown in the Franklin River campaign. Credit: Peppermint Magazine
[Opinions expressed are those of the author and not official policy of Greens WA]