Vale Gerard Castles

Over 25 years ago the visionary Gerard Castles co-authored the ‘Imagine Tasmania’ document we reproduce below. Read it for yourself and consider whether much has changed, and the opportunities identified taken.

Sadly GC passed away suddenly last week so we begin this piece with tributes from his co-author Anna Pafitis and from Tasmanian Greens’ Leader Rosalie Woodruff.

Gerard Castles was born 64 years ago in Railton in a Tasmania of a different era.

His father used a draught horse to plough their farm and Gerard had fond memories of trapping and skinning rabbits as a child. He started his adult life as a teacher and returned to university to study history, after which time he was picked up by McKinsey Consulting firm.

After working in Sydney for some time he returned to his beloved Tasmania and began his own consulting company as a communication strategist. In 1999 Gerard was selected as a member of the Community Leaders Group for a project called Tasmania Together, initiated by the then Premier, Jim Bacon.

This was a 20 year vision project intended to inform Tasmania’s strategic planning based on community consultations. Gerard was at odds with the group who, with interference from the Premiers office, would not acknowledge the need to end old growth logging. This resulted in Gerard authoring Imagine Tasmania as a dissenting report.

For the next 25 years Gerard applied his big energy, brilliant mind, generous spirit and good humour to a wide range of social and environmental causes.

He died suddenly whilst bushwalking on the 31st March.

He was widely loved and recognised as a passionate advocate for Tasmania, a loving father and husband to his family, a keen bushwalker and fly fisherman, among so many other things.

Hansard transcript – Rosalie Woodruff, Tasmanian Greens Leader, 10 April 2025, [5.24. p.m.]

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Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight with a heavy heart to commemorate the life of Gerard Castles. Those of us who had the great pleasure, the joy and the fortune of knowing Gerard were shocked to hear of his unexpected death last weekend. It was a body blow for many who have worked, campaigned, socialised and called Gerard friend over many years. We send our hearts out to his wife, Shayne, and his children, Conor and Sarah, who knew and loved him best. Our condolences also to his closest friends and companions, fellow shack owners on Bruny Island and the Dennes Point community in collective.

Gerard did many things in his too-short life, including working as a strategic communication specialist. He had a mighty intellect and he used it for good. Gerard was handpicked by Jim Bacon to be one of the 22 special members to lead the Tasmania Together process that started in 1999 and ran for over a decade, tasked with developing a plan for the state’s future. In Gerard’s words, it asked Tasmanians to dream of a future they wanted to have and began a radical re-engineering of the way Tasmanian society worked.

Ultimately, he said for all its flaws, it helped the state change forever in a positive way. Gerard was perfect for that work. He had a special way of dealing with people, really a gift. He could bring groups together from all sorts of spheres with a boundless energy and enthusiasm. He never stopped giving to the community throughout his life. He was on the front line of so many fights to make sure this beautiful place, Lutruwita, is looked after. From his childhood in the north-west, he had a lifelong love of the Highland Lakes and was a great trout fisherman.

He had a special deep connection with his beloved Walls of Jerusalem National Park and was a champion in the fight to keep helicopter tourism out of the World Heritage Area. He encouraged the many groups fighting to keep Lake Malbena development-free and revelled in telling the stories of the magic of visiting the Halls Hut, gushing with pride about spending a night in the hut with friends and their children. Those who continued the defence of Lake Malbena will thank him for his constant support and hold him in their hearts.

In general, Gerard though was a quiet activist, but the Tasmania Together process in the fight against Big Salmon forced him out the front. I last saw Gerard a few weeks ago on the beach at Verona Sands, surrounded by hundreds of local people protesting at the failure of the government to protect our marine environment. What a terrific last memory. It is one of so many I have with him over the last 10 years.

The whole 10 years I have been in parliament, Gerard has been in the trenches, never giving up, strategising and supporting the community campaign to defend our oceans and channels from the pollution of industrial salmon farming. Gerard was a great help to the collective work of the Greens over many years as well. He always supported brave voices and anyone who spoke up against corruption and self-interest.

I want to read some words now from what I believe is the last on-camera interview that Gerard did late last year he said

As a kid I wandered through the bush, and gradually over time we started to go out overnight up into Cradle. I developed a love for the outdoors. I think it was the freedom, a sense of otherness. There was something about being out there that you were in contact with something special. You don’t have to necessarily be an environmentalist. You can just love being out in the wild places of Tasmania – fishing, deer hunting, travelling around, walking.

I think it is incredibly important, it is part of what makes us us. Place gives us soul. A lot of us struggle to find the words to describe what it means, but we know when we lose it. You feel it when it is threatened or lost. It is important for us to fight for it, to preserve it for multiple generations.

Well, dear Gerard, we commit to keep fighting in your spirit, with you in our hearts to guide us. Vale Gerard Castles.

Members – Hear, hear.

Bob Brown Foundation

Media Release
11/04/2025

Vale Gerard Castles – environmentalist, ocean lover and community campaigner

Bob Brown Foundation is deeply saddened by the unexpected death of Gerard Castles.

Gerard was a kind, passionate and ever-encouraging face in the campaign to protect Tasmania’s wild places.

Gerard was an integral member and spokesperson for the Killora Community Association, which tirelessly campaigned against the invasion of toxic fish farms along Gerard’s beloved Bruny Island coast. Gerard’s fighting spirit and infectious optimism spread far and wide, and he was a constant source of energy and drive in the campaign to protect Tasmania’s waterways.

Gerard would always say how lucky we are as Tasmanians to live where we live and have such incredible beauty around us. He could not understand how Tasmania would allow salmon farms to destroy such beauty. His passion and wisdom will be sorely missed in the campaign.

Bob Brown Foundation sends our condolences to Gerard’s family and loved ones, as well as the wider environmental community who knew Gerard so well.

Vale Gerard Castles

Like so many others in our community we were devasted to learn of the sudden death of Gerard Castles.

For several decades Gerard has been a great friend and strong supporter of Bett Gallery and a passionate advocate for Tasmanian arts, artists, writers and poets. From the 2003 protest arts festival ‘Future Perfect’ co-curated with the late Dick Bett AM to our more recent artists and writers exhibition ‘Disappearing’ curated with Pete Hay and Carol Bett, Gerard worked to provide a platform for exploration, engagement and discussion through the arts, of all we value in Tasmania.

We will greatly miss Gerard and his huge, enthusiastic support.

Shayne, Conor and Sarah are in our thoughts.

Carol, Emma and Jack Bett