Aboriginal Elder Allan Carriage Will Be Missed

ABORIGINAL elder Allan Carriage has died, aged 69, doing what he loved best – fighting to protect the environment and Aboriginal heritage.

Mr Carriage (pictured), a member of the Wadi Wadi people and a passionate Wollondilly shire and Illawarra community man, died suddenly of a heart attack on March 9, after giving what has been dubbed as the “speech of his life” at a meeting about longwall mining in Sydney.

The father-of-three had been involved in creating Aboriginal language books, protecting Aboriginal heritage sites and fighting against longwall mining. Mr Carriage’s technical assistant and close friend Daniela Reverberi described him as a “knowledgeable man,” and their group as a “bunch of soul mates”.

“I think we’re all in mourning and he will most certainly be missed,” Ms Reverberi said.

“He was like a role model, someone to look up to, an egalitarian who treated men and women equally, and a person with a great sense of humour.

“But most importantly he was our friend, and it is disappointing to have to go on without him – he will leave a big hole that cannot be filled, particularly for our group, his family and his partner of 10 years, Janet Hunt.”

Mr Carriage’s funeral will be held on Friday at noon at Hansen and Cole at Kembla Grange.