Vale former staff member Michael Stewart

27th October 2014  

The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council is saddened to hear of the passing of former staff member Michael Stewart.

Mr Stewart joined NSWALC in September 2005, first as the Director of Network Services and then Director of the Southern Zone.  He left in 2008 due to poor health.

NSWALC Chairman Craig Cromelin said Mr Stewart spent a short time at NSWALC but a lifetime dedicated to Aboriginal Affairs.

"Mr Stewart was smart, articulate and a real visionary who was well known throughout NSW and across the country because of his work as senior bureaucrat at both State and Federal level".  Chairman Cromelin said.

"Those who worked with him and knew him personally will also remember his love of Karaoke". 

Mr Stewart headed up the Aboriginal Development Commission before it merged with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and became the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) in 1990.

With the merge imminent, Mr Stewart moved to Sydney to head up the Office of Aboriginal Affairs which later became the Department of Aboriginal Affairs under the Bob Carr Government, making Mr Stewart the first Director General of DAA in NSW.  

"We'd like offer our deepest condolences to the family of Michael Stewart at this time, a man who was able to influence policy very early on." Chairman Craig Cromelin said.

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Media Contact: Angela Bates 0475 387 606