The Australian newspaper has reported today that its controversial cartoonist Bill Leak has died in a NSW hospital this morning aged 61 after a suspected heart attack.
Leak won nine Walkley awards and 19 Stanley awards for his work, which often attracted criticism - usually for being racist.
He made headlines last year after The Australian published one of his cartoons which depicted a drunk Aboriginal man unable to remember his son's name saw him and the newspaper investigated for breaching section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act.
The cartoon was published in response to the ABC's Four Corners report into the treatment of children in Don Dale's Detention Centre in the Northern Territory.
The image sparked controversy and outrage from several prominent Indigenous figures labelling it as racist and an 'attack on vulnerable people in our society.'
More than 700 complaints, mostly from individuals, but also from leading Indigenous groups and associations, were filed in response.
The Press Council stated that promoting free speech through The Australian of two opinion pieces on Indigenous issues in the News Corp broadsheet would be an appropriate response.
“The Press Council understands and actively champions the notion that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are the essential underpinnings of a liberal democracy, ensuring that citizens are able to hold powerful individuals and interests accountable, and to promote the contest of ideas that best enables sound policy making, good government and a strong and open society."
The Bill Leak cartoon that has caused controversy. Source: The Australian
Mr Leak's cartoon threw him into a battle with the Human Rights Commission after three people lodged a complaint under section 18c of the Act.
Twenty-five year old Melissa Dinnison was one of three Indigenous people to bring a complaint to the Commission.
Another of Bill Leak's cartoons depicting Indigenous peoples protesting outside Parliament Source: Supplied
She claimed after lodging her complaint her privacy was breached by the Australian newspaper.
“Accessing our private social media accounts seems like they just want to prove what they can do to me," she told NITV.
“I didn’t ask for this at all. I just thought I was exercising my rights. I read on their website [Human Rights Commission] what the process was before I did it, so I presumed it was going to be confidential, like it was meant to."
The image, however, did spark a positive reaction, seeing a trend in #IndigenousDads which encouraged Indigenous fathers and families to use social media to share photos and memories of their positive family life to promote Indigenous fathers and prove Bill Leak's cartoon was incorrect.
