Vale Mandela

The Chancellor, Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC, today paid tribute to the late Nelson Mandela, whom he came to know well as Australia's Foreign Minister in the 1990s. "He was my hero, and one for the ages," Professor Evans said. Listen to Chancellor Evans speak about Mandela's passing. "Without Nelson Mandela, South Africa's apartheid nightmare would, eventually, have come to an end. But without his towering moral and political leadership, the transition would have been long, ugly and bloody beyond measure." When Nelson Mandela was released from Robben Island Prison in February 1990, one of his most immediate priorities was to thank those who had been most supportive of the anti-apartheid movement. Chancellor Evans says he was incredibly lucky when, in his capacity as Australia's Foreign Minister, he was one of the very first foreign officials to greet Mandela in Zambia (where he had come to meet his ANC colleagues in exile) a few days after his release from prison. "I was captivated by his huge smile, his warmth and his lucid intelligence.