For the past decade, the world has been told that ecologically sustainable development is the hope for the future: using only what we need without comprising the opportunities and needs of future generations. Across the Pacific, the concept has been embraced by all levels of government, by non-government conservation groups, by industry, by the media, and by conservation biologists. A former Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, even went so far during a re-election campaign as to commit the Australian Government and the Australian people to the ecologically sustainable development of the Australian continent.