Antinuclear

When he was a child playing in the red sand of his Outback community of Wallatina in South Australia, Mr Lester saw a black mist floating across the plains. The British Government had conducted two nuclear explosions at Emu Field, 480km northwest of Woomera, on October 15, 1953, and an unexpected wind change would change Mr Lester’s life.

“It was coming straight over, and blocked the sunshine,” Mr Lester said in 2015. “It was like a cloud, a thin cloud, blocking the sun.”

The fallout blew over his remote home, which, he claimed throughout his life, robbed him of his eyesight, and made his countrymen deathly ill.

“It went right across from here, 70 miles (110km) across,” he said. “A black mist. And after that, all the people, we all got sick. Vomiting, diarrhoea, sore eyes, skin rash.”

Mr Lester fought relentlessly to shine a light on the repercussions on Aboriginal people by the British tests. He organised a legal team and travelled to London, where he demanded justice. The agitation eventually helped trigger the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia.

Lack of evidence to prove the radiation had made his people sick meant the commission ended without closure — though it could not rule out that Mr Lester had lost his sight due to the black mist.

It did result in group compensation for the Maralinga Tjarutja people and long-term clean-up operations to restore the land. Aside from his anti-nuclear advocacy, Mr Lester was a respected community leader and worked to preserve indigenous languages.

He worked in Alice Springs, on a mission then as a linguist, and helped lead the Institute of Aboriginal Development.

Also woven in to his rich lifetime were ­marriage, fatherhood, directorship of the Pitjantjatjara Council, running cattle and working mines.

His children have taken up the call for his lifelong battle for justice. His eldest daughter, Karina Lester, recently travelled to New York for UN negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

State Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher said he knew Mr Lester for almost 20 years. “My thoughts are with his family, who carry on his work of activism, standing up for the rights and views of Anangu and preserving culture and language,” Mr Maher said.

The State Government is consulting with Mr Lester’s family to determine its wishes for a memorial service.  ■ Mr Lester’s name and image were used with permission from his family.