Robin Gray (Australian Politician)

Robin Trevor Gray (born 1 March 1940 in Kew, Victoria) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Tasmania from 1982 to 1989. A Liberal, he was elected Liberal state leader in 1981 and in 1982 defeated the Labor government of Harry Holgate on a policy of "state development," particularly the building of the Franklin Dam, a hydroelectric dam on the Franklin River.

Gray's campaign to build the dam aroused protests from the Tasmanian Greens, led by Dr Bob Brown (later a Senator). Gray in 1982 allied with militant left wing FEDFA trade union leader Kelvin McCoy to form in November 1982 the Organisation for Tasmanian Development (OTD) which was directly associated with notable stickers seen on cars in Tasmania like Doze in a Greenie: help Fertilize the South-West, If It's Brown, Flush It, and Keep Warm This Winter:Burn a Greenie. Gray and McCoy praised each other publicly in their promotion of the Gordon-below-Franklin dam. One of the more notable events of Gray's involvement with the OTD was the 3,000 strong rally in Queenstown on the 11th December which included former Premier Eric Reece. Despite Reece's ALP background, Gray praised Reece as "the greatest living Tasmanian."

In 1983, the newly elected federal Labor government led by Bob Hawke intervened to prevent the building of the dam. However it was finally a High Court of Australia decision (Commonwealth v Tasmania)—despite the persistent clamour for states' rights in which even Joh Bjelke-Petersen was utilised —which stopped the dam's construction. Tasmania was the recipient of $276 million in grants by way of compensation.

Gray was elected to a second term in 1986—the first time in 58 years that a non-Labor government had been re-elected in Tasmania. However, after seven years in power, Gray's government lost the 1989 election by one seat, when the ALP formed an accord with the Greens, whose unprecedented five seats gave them the balance of power. Gray refused to resign and tried to secure a fresh election, but the Governor Sir Phillip Bennett refused to accept his advice. ALP leader Michael Field became the new Premier.

A Royal Commission later found that prominent Launceston businessman and chairman of Gunns, Edmund Rouse, had tried to bribe a Labor backbencher to cross the floor and keep Gray in power. Gray denied any knowledge of this but the Royal Commission criticised his conduct (having an unexplained $10,000 in the freezer was a problem). He resigned as Liberal leader on 17 December 1991, left politics on 1 December 1995, and went into business.

From 1996 until his retirement on 5 May 2010, Gray was a director of the forestry company Gunns Limited.