ADELAIDE - Aboriginal and trade union activist Peter Robin passed away on April 14 at the age of 51, after suffering a stroke. He was farewelled by a trade union funeral march through Semaphore on April 22, which ended in a ceremony at the Semaphore Workers Club.
Peter played an active role in the Aboriginal legal rights movement and was a student and guest lecturer at the University of Adelaide Centre for Labor Studies.
Peter was one of the founders of the South Australian National Unions Coalition Aboriginal Movement. He had been active in the Australian Railways Union, Australian Workers Union, Builders Laborers Federation and the Unemployed Workers Union over a period of some 30 years, as well as being a member of the Communist Party of Australia.
He was described by CMEU president John Wishart, speaking at the funeral, as an "outstanding and unique person who had given all he had to liberate his people and his class".
As secretary of NUCAM, he had "sought to extend the rights and improve the working conditions of Aboriginal workers" and "provide trade unionists with a better understanding of the problems facing Aboriginal people", Wishart said.