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Phillip Toyne AO (16 November 1947 – 13 June 2015) was an Australian environmental and Indigenous rights activist, lawyer, and founder of Landcare Australia.
Phillip Toyne was born on 16 November 1947.[1]
He first earned a law degree,[2] and then received a Diploma of Education from La Trobe University in 1973.[3]
From 1973 until 1986, Toyne worked in central Australia. He was the only teacher at an Aboriginal school at Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, and then worked as a solicitor and barrister in Alice Springs.[2]
He was the first lawyer who worked for the Pitjantjatjara people, and, with Premier of South Australia Don Dunstan, created the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 (South Australia).[2][4] He also negotiated the successful native title claim of the traditional owners of Uluru in 1983.[4]
He was the head of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 1986 to 1992.[4][1]
Later in life he helped to establish a project in which the Olkola people of the Cape York Peninsula practise traditional burning as part of a Commonwealth government carbon farming initiative, called Natural Carbon.[3]
Toyne was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Australia in 2012, "For distinguished service to environmental law through executive and advisory roles, particularly the introduction of a National Landcare Program, to the protection and restoration of Australian landscapes, and to the Indigenous community."[5]
Toyne lived in Gundaroo.[2] He was married to Molly Olson and they had three children.[4][2]
He was a friend of Doug Humann at Bush Heritage Australia.[1]
Toyne was the author of two books:
- Growing up the country: the Pitjantjatjara struggle for their land (1984), ISBN 9780140076417
- The reluctant nation: environment, law, and politics in Australia (1994), ISBN 9780733303753
Toyne died in 2015 of bowel cancer, aged 67.[6][1]
Apart from the legacy of Landcare Australia, he influenced many people to care better for the environment, as well as "proper recognition of Indigenous people, their culture and lore".[1]
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