1936 - 2000

ABORIGINAL activist Charles Perkins had left a social legacy Australia would never forget, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday.

Dr Perkins died in Sydney yesterday of complications related to kidney failure after a three-month illness. He was 64.

He earned many enemies for his inflammatory statements, which ensured his high media profile.

His infamous ``burn baby burn'' comments before the Olympics, where he tipped Aboriginal protest, drew a negative public reaction.

But yesterday, the man who brought the methods of the US civil rights movement to Australia in the 1960s was praised by Mr Howard for the bravery he showed in changing the face of Australia.

Aboriginal leaders also were united in their praise, likening Dr Perkins to Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali and Nelson Mandela, and crediting him with the success of the Olympic Games.

Mr Howard, described by Dr Perkins as the worst prime minister Australia had ever had, said the activist had fought hard for change in an era of much resistance.

He said Dr Perkins was never afraid to put forward his views.

``It's in that context that his lasting significance will be seen,'' Mr Howard said.

``He was much liked and admired and inspired great affection within the indigenous community of Australia.

``His death does take a very significant figure, a person who left an enormous impression on the indigenous community.''

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said Dr Perkins' ``freedom rides'' in the 1960s, which drew attention to racism in rural NSW, had contributed to a change in awareness of indigenous rights.

Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission chairman Gatjil Djerrkura likened Dr Perkins to Martin Luther King.

Mr Djerrkura said the freedom rides, where he and other students went on bus trips to expose racism in small towns, had forced the nation to confront an issue many wanted to ignore.

``It was a very brave and courageous thing to do at a time when the attitude of the nation was pretty low,'' he said. ``His greatest legacy I would see somewhat similar to Martin Luther King, I would say in comparison.''

Veteran Tasmanian activist Michael Mansell called Dr Perkins a pioneer and likened him to Muhammad Ali and Nelson Mandela.

ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark said Dr Perkins' efforts were partly responsible for the success of the Sydney Olympics and the leading role played by Cathy Freeman. Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway referred to him as the ``champion of champions''.

Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia) - Thursday, October 19, 2000
Author: MICHAEL MADIGAN

Cleansing smoke in tribute to Perkins

Age, The (Melbourne, Australia) - Saturday, October 28, 2000
Author: MISHA KETCHELL

Wind lifted smoke from the smouldering gum leaves, twisting and turning as if deliberately daubing each of the 80 mourners huddled in front of Trinity College chapel. By the time they filed into yesterday's memorial service for Charles Perkins, their hair and clothes were fragrant with it.

"The smoke is to cleanse everyone coming in. Make sure they come in of good heart and are clean of spirit in paying their respects and celebrating his life," filmmaker Richard Frankland explained.

On Wednesday, Charles Perkins was remembered at a state funeral in Sydney. Yesterday's memorial service allowed Melburnians to pay tribute to perhaps Australia's most influential Aboriginal activist, a man who journalist John Pilger recently said was in many ways Australia's Nelson Mandela.

Among the mourners were several local Wurundjeri elders, local artists, activists and academics. Gary Foley delivered a eulogy, shifting nervously from foot to foot, often choked with emotion. Mr Foley spoke of the inspiration the freedom rides, led by Dr Perkins in 1965, had given him as a skinny, impressionable 15-year-old boy.

"I was profoundly affected by this man and inspired to do most of what I've done in my life," he said.

He said Dr Perkins had helped him when he first fled to Sydney from the "Ku Klux Klan" town he grew up in on the northern New South Wales coast. He talked of how he would fight with Dr Perkins and described how he learnt from him that it was possible to stand up and be counted.

"You can't have a long-term relationship with a man like that and not have spats," he said.

"This man had a profound effect on an entire generation. Virtually everybody who came along after him had been in some way influenced, inspired, motivated in some way by what he did."

Outside the church, Richard Frankland said that Dr Perkins was one of Australia's greatest patriots who had the courage to see what was wrong with Australia and the tenacity to stand up and say "let's fix it".

Mr Frankland said that when he was born he wasn't a citizen. But due to the work of people like Dr Perkins he could now vote.