Bob (Robert James) Brown was born 27 Dec 1944 in Oberon NSW. He was educated in rural NSW and graduated in medicine from Sydney University in 1968. In 1979 he became the Director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society and was arrested for participating in the blockade of the damning of the Franklin River.;;In 1983 he was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly and in 1989 as Leader of five Green Independents formed the Accord with the Field Labor Government.In 1992 The Australian Greens were formed and he was elected to the Senate as the first Australian Greens Senator. He was re-elected to the Australian Senate in 2001 and became Leader of the Australian Greens in 2005. Senator Brown was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party. Dr Brown resigned as leader of the Greens in April 2012, and from the Senate on 15 June 2012. Following his time as a Senator, Brown, along with his partner Paul Thomas, established the Bob Brown Foundation to promote environmental awareness.