A Celebration: Nightcap National Park and the Terania Creek Protest
The defining moment in modern environmental activism that lead to the creation of Nightcap National Park and the protection of rainforests across NSW.
Nan and Hugh Nicholson with their young children Elke and Terri. Photo: David Kemp 1979.
By Charles Hunter
On Sunday 18th June 2023 locals from Northern NSW joined National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff and the traditional owners Widjabul Wia-bal to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Nightcap National Park. It’s somewhat unusual to attend a party to celebrate the creation of a national park but there is an incredible story behind Nightcap. The 8080-hectare Nightcap estate which is part of the Wollumbin Caldera is located in Northern NSW near Byron Bay and protects ancient Gondwanan rainforests containing trees with lineages dating back many millions of years and a forest that has the highest biodiversity in NSW, and this is certainly worth celebrating, however the true celebration was for the inspiring story of why the Park was created forty years ago.
The story begins almost 10 years before Nightcap was gazetted in late 1974, the year Nan and Hugh Nicholson moved up from Melbourne to live a quiet life next to the ancient Gondwanan rainforest at Terania Creek in Northern NSW (Bundjalung Country), not long after the infamous Aquarius Festival was held in nearby Nimbin. But just a few months after the Nicholson’s had moved, Hugh discovered some harrowing news. After hearing a vehicle up in the forest which the Nicholson’s thought was strange as they lived in a dead end and the vehicle hadn’t driven past them, Hugh went searching. He soon located a forestry truck and met two foresters who told him they were clearing out table drains on the side of the road because the NSW Forestry Commission was going to log, clear, burn and replant the ancient forest with seedling eucalypts.
Over the next five years the Nicholson’s tried desperately to stop the planned clear-felling of the ancient forest including a rejected request for an Environmental Impact Statement. This all culminated in August 1979 just a couple of weeks before logging commenced when the Nicholson’s appealed to locals at The Channon markets and within just a few days they had formed an army of a few hundred people. Many of the protesters began to set up camp on the Nicholson’s property in a paddock next to the rainforest and so began Australia’s first successful environmental protest to save the ancient rainforest.
In the initial days of the protest there was a local police presence however it soon became apparent there were empty police stations across the Northern Rivers and the police were greatly outnumbered by protestors. The Wran Government was panicking and a few days later busloads of over 100 armed police arrived from all over NSW including many recently hardened police that had been at the Long Bay Jail Riot in Sydney just days before. But the police were still facing an amassed army of over 300 peaceful protestors and as the protestors blocked tracks, climbed trees and damaged felled logs there was fear of bloodshed including threats from timbermen they would arm themselves with rifles and pick handles and clear the protestors out of the forest.
A young woman massages one of the local police in the initial days of the Terania Creek protest. The mood quickly changed when over 100 armed and hardened police arrived a few days later. Photo: David Kemp 1979.
Bulldozers kept slowly moving, more trees were cut down and dozens of arrests were made. But then, so was history.
The protest received immense national media coverage and just 3 weeks after the protest had begun, on the 4th September 1979 the NSW Premier Neville Wran ordered the logging to be stopped and ultimately the forest would be saved. Wran would later be noted saying that saving the rainforests was his greatest life achievement.
The non-violent, direct-action community protest at Terania Creek that preceded the Franklin Dam (1982) and the Daintree Blockade (1983) protests has been described by the author of Terania Creek and the Forging of Modern Environmental Activism, Vanessa Bible as the birth of modern environmental activism that has since spread across the country and across the World.
Protesters damaged equipment during the Terania Creek protest and slowly walked in front of bulldozers. Photo: David Kemp 1979.
In a 2020 interview Hugh said that there was no rule book for the protestors or the police but the protest, the defining moment in Australia’s environmental history that would not only lead to the creation of Nightcap National Park in April 1983 and more than a dozen other national parks but also lead to the decision by the Wran Government to protect the remaining rainforests across NSW. Then in 1986 parts of Nightcap National Park and 40 other Gondwana reserves that contain the most extensive areas of subtropical rainforest in the World were given World Heritage status by UNESCO and it all started with a young couple in their early twenties simply wanting to protect a priceless ecosystem.
As the now famous location of the 1979 protest at Terania Creek, the aptly named Protesters Falls is still closed due to severe 2022 flood damage, the location of today’s event was held at the Rummery Park section of Nightcap National Park and buses ferried ticketed guests (who had all parked at the top of the majestic Minyon Falls) through the failed plantations, some remaining Gondwanan rainforest pockets and decades old tree stumps with pockets that held springboards for the axemen.
The day was filled with the magical sounds of the forest, laughter, music, food and of course reminiscent speeches of the 1979 protest. Long gone were the sounds of the axemen, long gone the sounds of chainsaws. Many of the 1979 protestors from Terania Creek attended and the event began with a Widjabul Wia-bal Welcome to Country and attendees heard wonderful stories and insight from NPWS staff, Nan and Hugh Nicholson, Michael Murphy, John Roberts Jr (who gave an inspiring Widjabul Wia-bal perspective), Dailan Pugh and Tricia Waters. Bob Brown and Bob Carr both gave recorded video addresses and Brown notably stated:
Without Terania I don’t think we would have got there with the Franklin Dam.
After a lunch of burgers and delicious Indian curry (provided by NPWS) guests were treated to music from the Terania protest by Terri Nicholson, Ray Flanigan, Neil Pike and Nina Saunders. Local flora and fauna experts were also on hand to excite guests with afternoon talks about the plants, fungi, geology, mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs of Nightcap. The celebration ended with filmmakers Paul Tait and Jeni Kendall introducing a screening of their 1980s documentary film Give Trees a Chance: The Story of Terania Creek followed by viewings of Forest Protest Photo Exhibition with David Kemp, Michael Murphy and Greg Bork.
When I had the privilege of interviewing Nan and Hugh back in 2020 at their home in The Channon (I admit being one of my life highlights), Nan’s parting words were that there are not many wins when it came to activism but we should never become disenchanted and we should never give up. Today we all celebrated a win, a win that benefits us all. The rainforest was saved and 40 years ago a new national park was gazetted in NSW. My favourite national park, Nightcap, created only thanks to the dogged actions of a community that came together and unintentionally ended up defining modern environmental activism both in Australia and across the world.
The cover page of the Forestry Revocation and National Parks Reservation Act 1983 which revoked state forests and created Nightcap National Park and three others including Border Ranges. More would follow all thanks to the Terania Creek Protestors. Source: NSW Government.
Guests at the event watch the young generation of Widjabul Wia-bal Dancers. Photo: Charles Hunter
Michael and Victoria Murphy enjoy lunch on the grass at Rummery Park. Michael played a crucial role in the Terania Creek protest by directly lobbying the government. Photo: Charles Hunter
Filmmakers Paul Tait and Jeni Kendall. Their 1980s documentary film Give Trees a Chance: The Story of Terania Creek is narrated by Jack Thompson and brilliantly captures the Terania Creek protest. Photo: Charles Hunter
The crowd erupted with laughter when Ray Flanigan and Hugh Nicholson (both protestors at Terania Creek in 1979) appeared dressed as foresters. Photo: Charles Hunter
David Kemp stands in front of his famous photographs of the Terania Creek protest. Photo: Charles Hunter
Nan and Hugh Nicholson attended the event and shared their inspiring stories. Photo: Charles Hunter
Omar Bakhash, Justin Mallee (with his family Aquilla, Matilda, Kim) and Will Buch from Queensland National Parks. Photo: Charles Hunter
Widjabul Wia-bal Dancers open the days celebration. Photo: Charles Hunter
Buses ferried ticketed guests to the event past decades old tree stumps with pockets that held “springboards”. Axemen stood on these boards and cut the trees with their axes. Photo: Charles Hunter
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Charlie Hunter runs a carbon-positive digital agency called Tailbird. In his spare time, he is an avid twitcher, conservationist and freelance writer. He has travelled extensively across Australia and South East Asia in his pursuits and most recently has been visiting Sumatra island and its last remaining rainforest. His Sumatran odyssey, driven by wanting to see the critically endangered Sumatran tiger and elephant and create awareness of their plight, climaxed after he was chased by a trumpeting, male Sumatran elephant. Charlie is based in the beachside suburb of Bronte in Sydney and can be contacted at charles@tailbird.com.au.