The missing link

‘Holding a candlelit vigil, [the protesters] walked along the beach singing songs and ventured up the hill, into the forest and onto the road. They were set upon by the police dog squad; many were bitten and one injured person was rushed to Mossman hospital for treatment.’

With this multimedia essay, ‘The missing link: Activists and government at the Daintree blockade’, Bill Wilkie tells the story of the Daintree blockade – an environmental protest in the early 1980s that led to the World Heritage Listing of north Queensland’s Wet Tropics – and reveals a dramatic, often overlooked chapter in Queensland’s recent history. Wilkie’s recent book, The Daintree Blockade, has been shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Award for a work of State Significance at the Queensland Literary Awards 2017.