June 2012
Michel Rocard and Bob Hawke hailed as "Heroes of the Antarctic"
At the opening session of the XXXV Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Hobart, Tasmania, on the 11th of June, former prime minister Bob Hawke and former French counterpart Michel Rocard were saluted as "heroes of the Antarctic" by Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke.
Together they achieved what was considered impossible more than 20 years ago - persuading nations to put aside their sovereign interests and differences to ban mining on the nearly pristine icy continent and to agree that the environmental protection of Antarctica...