Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Harold Furber, an important and respected Aboriginal leader, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, on the afternoon of Friday 5 November in the palliative care unit at the Alice Springs Hospital. He had been in the intensive care unit all week following complications stemming from long-term problems with his heart. Harold's funeral service was held in Alice Springs last Friday.

Harold was the son of Emily Furber, who's deceased; father to Melanie Marron, Patricia Marron and Declan Further Gillick; and brother to Margaret Furber, Trish Kiessler and Toni Arundel. Harold's numerous family and kinship connections, of which he was most proud, stretched far and wide throughout Alice Springs and across Central Australia, the Northern Territory and beyond. He was considered an uncle, grandfather and father to many. He was widely known and respected as a deeply principled community organiser and intercultural leader. He was a proud Arrente man and a member of the stolen generations who determinedly found his way back to his family and homelands in Central Australia and committed the better part of his life to the pursuit of justice, collaboration, truth-telling and the self-determined social, economic and political development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at grassroots, local, state, national and global levels.

His contributions to community organisations were numerous and widespread. He worked for many years to establish and/or contribute to the development of organisations such as the Central Land Council where I worked with Harold many years ago and where he was for a time their deputy director; Central Australian Aboriginal congress; Yipirinya School; Northern Territory Stolen Generations Corporation; and the Australian Labor Party where he was twice a candidate for the Centralian seat in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly—in 1990 in the division of Sadadeen as it was then named; and in 2001 in the division of MacDonnell, now known as Namatjira. Harold also travelled internationally to learn from and work with First Nations representatives and community leaders, including in Canada, the Philippines, the United States and Aotearoa.

His final passion and greatest pride was his determination and tenacious leadership in the establishment of the Desert Knowledge Precinct, an intercultural knowledge-sharing initiative south of Heavitree Gap in Alice Springs. Harold held the position of Intercultural Elder-in-Residence of the precinct and he continued to work there to provide advice to the consultancy right up until his passing.

He was a well-known Aussie rules footballer, representing Pioneers, North Adelaide, Buffaloes football club in Darwin. He played in several premiership seasons and was a very good sportsman.

Stolen from his family and homelands as a small boy in 1957, Harold found his way back to his own country and remained there as a tireless fighter for his people and contributed to the many causes and organisations in Darwin and Central Australia. Taken too soon, he will be deeply missed. Harold's legacy lives in the memory and in the hearts and minds of family and friends. May he rest in peace.