Rights activist Paul Coe dies

Indigenous activist and lawyer Paul Coe has died aged 76.

An Wiradjuri Elder, he helped establish the Aboriginal Legal Service and was involved in the Tent Embassy protests in 1972.

He grew up in an Aboriginal Mission in Cowra, NSW and was a major player fighting for Aboriginal human rights and justice.

Mr Coe was the first Aboriginal to study law at the University of New South Wales, becoming a barrister and leading the Wiradjuri peoples battle for sovereignty, taking their fight to the High Court of Australia in 1979.

“He spent his life devoted to continuing our Wiradjuri ways and fighting for justice, land rights and self-determination for Aboriginal peoples”, his family said in a social media statement.

Flags were lowered to half-mast on Wednesday at Sydney’s Town Hall to honour his memory.