Tributes flow for Uncle Bill Smith


31st August 2021
The news yesterday that Awabakal Elder Uncle Bill Smith had passed away would have taken many by surprise and left a sense of great loss. That is certainly how
The news yesterday that Awabakal Elder Uncle Bill Smith had passed away would have taken many by surprise and left a sense of great loss. That is certainly how I received the news. I’ve known Uncle Bill for many years and over that time we shared many significant moments and we became friends.
It was around 6 months ago that I last saw him, but it was Bill at his finest as he held court at the opening of a new stage of the Awaba Mountain Bike Park. Bill was a great story-teller and he used his gift to talk of and gently educate people about his culture - a culture and a heritage that he truly loved.
Bill’s passion was community, not just Aboriginal, but the whole of community which he always sought to bring together. Passing on cultural knowledge to younger generations and particularly youth always seemed to be at the heart of what Bill was doing, and he always had a plan, because there was always more to be done!
He was a businessman, the founding chairman of the National Aboriginal Rugby League Association and of course the co-founder of the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative. But he was also a tireless advocate for reconciliation for more than 50 years.
Generous in spirit and mind, Bill was certainly one of a kind. Along with many who knew him, I will miss him.
I wish to give my condolences to his family, his friends and community, and pay respect to Uncle Bill, an Aboriginal Elder who will be fondly remembered, greatly missed.
“We’re all one. We need to share and walk together.” - Uncle Bill Smith ¿¿¿
Biraban Lalc Awabakal Lalc
(Photograph courtesy of The Newcastle Herald.)

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