Tiga Bayles interviews Russell Taylor during the 2015 National Native Title Conference.
A passionate fighter for First Nations justice
Statement by Russell Taylor AM, AIATSIS Chief Executive Officer
Tiga Bayles – a Birri Gubba Gungalu man from Queensland – will be long remembered as an iconic figure in the fight for rights and social justice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
He will be greatly missed.
On behalf of the AIATSIS Council, our members and staff, I extend my deepest sympathy to the family of Tiga Bayles.
Tiga was a passionate campaigner for our people and our communities who lead from the front - whether it was for justice against the Bjelke-Petersen Government in Queensland in the 1970s, the push for Land Rights in New South Wales in the 1980s, or in the development of Indigenous media in the 1990s.
His involvement and leadership spanned many decades, always with an unwavering passion and dogged determination for the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues.
He became the voice of Indigenous Australia – through his work in establishing the Brisbane
Indigenous Media Association (BIMA) and the National Indigenous Radio Service and through his work facilitated the voices of so many of us to be heard, whether in our own communities or across the nation.
His work, his passion and his leadership will be a lasting legacy - and a benchmark – for generations to come.
We have lost a great leader and visionary for his people.
Vale Tiga Bayles.