Latest news with #PaulCoe
SBS Australia
01-08-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
NITV News: 1 August, 2025
New government data shows Australia is still failing to close the gap. The Senate passes Lidia Thorpe's condolence motion for the family and community of Kumanjayi White. And tributes flow for veteran Indigenous rights campaigner Paul Coe.
The Guardian
31-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Wiradjuri man Paul Coe, a ‘legend of the land rights movement', dies age 76
Aboriginal lawyer and activist Paul Coe, who helped create the first Aboriginal Legal Service and championed the fight for land rights, has died aged 76. The beloved community figure has been remembered as a giant of the land rights movement who 'changed the lives of Aboriginal people across the nation'. His family have described him as a 'Wiradjuri warrior' who dedicated his life to upholding his people's ways – overcoming discrimination to blaze a trail for Aboriginal justice, land rights and self-determination. Sign up: AU Breaking News email NSW Aboriginal Land Council chairperson Raymond Kelly said Coe was an 'incredible fighter' who would be remembered for generations. 'He has changed the lives of Aboriginal people across the nation … pointing out uncomfortable truths about police brutality and institutional racism,' he said. The chairperson of the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service, Keith Morgan, paid tribute to a 'towering figure in the fight for Aboriginal justice'. 'An inspiration and a fearless leader, Paul was a well-respected Aboriginal man that people looked up to as an uncompromising advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights,' Morgan said. 'He leaves a legacy at the ALS that is unquantifiable.' In a statement, his children vowed to honour the legacy of the beloved father, grandfather, brother and uncle. 'This is a loss we will all feel so deeply,' they said. 'Rest in Power, Dad. 'Yindyamarra.' Coe was born in 1949 at Erambie Mission in Cowra in central west New South Wales, at a time when Indigenous people were subjected to strict laws that controlled every aspect of their lives. He was the first Aboriginal student at Cowra high school to pass the HSC and be elected prefect, going on to become one of the first Aboriginal people to study law at the University of New South Wales. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion As the civil rights movement swept the US in the 1960s and 70s, Coe was central to developing the Australian arm of the Black Power movement from Sydney's Aboriginal heartland in Redfern. He and other activists created a database to demonstrate the scale of 'racist actions by police', fighting back through protest, advocacy and legal avenues – a movement which led to the creation of the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service. Coe was also part of the state's first Aboriginal Land Council, throwing his support behind the Gurindji people's fight against the Vestey Company in the Northern Territory (better known as the Wave Hill walk-off, which inspired the protest anthem, From Little Things Big Things Grow). In 1979, Coe launched legal action against the Commonwealth in the high court, arguing for the recognition of Aboriginal people as the prior inhabitants of Australia before European colonisation. Though unsuccessful, the case helped lay the foundation for the landmark 1992 Mabo judgement that overturned the concept of terra nullius and paved the way for native title legislation. Coe was named one of the inaugural winners of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council's (NSWALC) chairperson's award in 2017. In his acceptance speech, he paid homage to other staunch land rights activists – including his parents, Les and Agnes – from whom he drew wisdom and strength.
ABC News
30-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Aboriginal rights activist Paul Coe and lawyer dies aged 76
One of the first Indigenous barristers in New South Wales is being remembered for his devoted commitment to bettering the lives of First Nations people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains the image of a person who has died. Wiradjuri Elder and Aboriginal rights activist Paul Coe died on Tuesday, aged 76. Having grown up at the Erambie Aboriginal Mission at Cowra in the NSW Central West, he went on to become an instrumental force in fighting for Aboriginal human rights and justice. Mr Coe moved to Sydney in the late 1960s, where he found himself at the forefront of Australia's Black Power Movement, before helping to establish the Aboriginal Legal Service. In 1972, he took his advocacy to the lawns outside Parliament House in Canberra, joining the Tent Embassy protests. The first Aboriginal person to study law at the University of New South Wales, Mr Coe led the Wiradjuri peoples battle for sovereignty, taking their fight to the High Court of Australia in 1979. While the case against the Commonwealth was unsuccessful, his work later became influential in the 1992 Mabo decision — a landmark ruling which recognised native title. The family has given the ABC permission to use Mr Coe's name and image. His children paid tribute to their father on social media, saying his family will "honour his legacy and his role in the ongoing story of Wiradjuri resistance and resilience". "He spent his life devoted to continuing our Wiradjuri ways and fighting for justice, land rights and self-determination for Aboriginal peoples", they wrote. The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council said Mr Coe's work "should never be forgotten". "He was one of the most influential peoples in Australia's ongoing history of and for the fight for rights for Koori and/or Aboriginal peoples, culture and identity. "We are forever grateful and thankful for [his] wit, wisdom, efforts and contribution, courage and determination to fight for our rights. May your legacy live on and prosper", it said in a statement.
SBS Australia
04-06-2025
- Business
- SBS Australia
Could Australia's cost of living crisis have a silver lining for First Nations communities?
According to the head of Australia's fastest growing Aboriginal housing provider, the current cost of living crisis could provide opportunities for First Nations communities to address long overlooked concerns. Wiradjuri man and Birribee Housing CEO Paul Coe told NITV's The Point that issues like housing affordability and rising costs are now impacting Australians from all backgrounds. We Put The Blak In Blacktown 'When you look at current issues around cost of living ... things that have been a concern for Aboriginal communities for years, society's now joined them in this space,' he said. 'Society is now saying this is an election issue, which makes it a sweet spot for Aboriginal people to push and push for these outcomes as best they can.' Birribee Housing was established by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council in 2019 and now manages hundreds of properties across the state as well as having involvement in major developments like the renewal of Tolland Estate in Wagga Wagga. In Blacktown, home to the country's largest urban Indigenous population, Birribee manages more than 120 properties and operates an Aboriginal homelessness service in the region. 'It's often a sum loss game," said Coe. "There's more money going out than coming in, and it's difficult, particularly in the Aboriginal housing space when the stock in Western Sydney [is] quite aged. 'They're barely standing up. Old cottages that are cold, that are hot, and somehow society accepts that.' Mr Coe said that a broader approach was needed to go beyond the current closing the gap focus on reducing overcrowding. 'We know that homelessness is probably more often than not an outcome of a former institution," he said. "You've been in out-of-home care, you've been in jail, you've been in mental health, or there's been some other institutional effects on you. 'Your pathway to that hasn't been shaped by yourself or your family.... Aboriginal families lean into their family a lot for support, and so we hide that homelessness to a large degree. "But that hiding ... creates its own pressure points in households financially as well as wear and tear, and pressure across schools and everything else.' With around 60,000 people waitlisted for public housing across NSW, the need for new dwellings is critical. However Dharug Elder Uncle Chris Tobin said that growth shouldn't come at the expense of Country. 'This is the hard part for particularly TOs, or traditional custodians looking after their ancestral Country. We've still got that job,' he explained. 'We've got to keep looking at ways to rescue our Country and it's just so hard to do with this model of development that just wants more and more and more and which doesn't add to anyone's quality of life. 'Sadly, I think it's all about dollars and I think the health of the Country will take us in a direction that will be good for us ... "When the Country's healthy, we'll be healthy.' Paul Coe agreed that communities should use the increased political focus on housing solutions to advocate for the ongoing inclusion of culture and respect for the health of the land. 'They do become a real tangible election issue as we've seen through Labor and the push federally around housing,' he said. 'The difficulty you have is around this lack of bipartisan approach on the key issues around housing. A four or three year cycle is never going to solve something so critical to that. 'The development opportunity, or how we go through that, is to, one, make sure that we have housing, and that we curate our land as much as possible and that has to take some time to work through and a sustained effort and focus from people.' The Point airs Tuesdays 7.30 on NITV, and is available after the broadcast on SBS On Demand.
