The pioneering Indigenous activist Jim Hagan has been remembered as a “great man” and an “inspirational mentor” after his death last week at the age of 83.
Mr Hagan was a founding member of the Cunnamulla Australian Native Welfare Association and was one of the first local Indigenous people to join the Australian Labor Party.
He was a chairman of the National Aboriginal Conference and it was in that capacity that he led a delegation to address the UN human rights committee in Geneva over the granting of a mining exploration permit to drill on sacred land.
Mr Hagan was the first Aboriginal person to officially address the UN and his appearance drew global media coverage to the Indigenous land-rights fight in Australia.
Co-chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples Jackie Huggins says she will “always be grateful for his teaching.”
All Images provided by Stephen Hagan
