Until 1972 visitors to Lake Pedder walked 12 km from the nearest road or came by plane from Hobart. Air travellers flew forty minutes westwards into the South-West National Park, around Mount Mueller and Mount Anne, over Scotts Peak, down over the Frankland Ranges and Crumbledown, across the Serpentine River and the Sentinel Range, the dunes, Maria Creek and Mount Solitary, the smaller lakes and the rainforest, and there below was the gleaming ribbon, the focal point of the south-west, the famous beach, into which would have comfortably fitted the city of Sydney from Central Station to Circular Quay. Observers reported that silence was the first impression, immensity the second, then tranquillity, then excitement.

Lake Pedder was inundated in 1972 by the Hydro-Electric Commission of Tasmania. Thousands of people fought to save it, and thousands more tried to reverse the decision after inundation began. Dodgers, posters, clothing, newsletters, books, poems, public meetings, political parties, committees, films, scientific reports, inquiries, stickers, vigils, depositions and petitions were among the measures employed to halt the inundation. All failed. The Tasmanian government felt itself slighted by the mainland. Despite the facts that only a small proportion of the water would be used for power generation, that the power would not be required for more than a few decades, and that the Commonwealth government had offered to pay for a cheaper alternative, the Tasmanian government refused to negotiate.