28 Oct 2016

NZ unionist remembered as a fighter for Pacific rights

7:49 pm on 28 October 2016

One of New Zealand's leading trade unionists has been remembered as a tenacious fighter for workers' rights across the entire Pacific region.

Helen Kelly, life-long unionist, has died aged 52.

Helen Kelly died two weeks ago, aged 52. Photo: RNZ/Rebekah Parsons-King

Helen Kelly, who until last year was the president of the Council of Trade Unions, died a fortnight ago of lung cancer at the age of 52.

A memorial service for Ms Kelly was held on Friday in Wellington, where the Australian union leader, Ged Kearney, recalled a trip to Fiji with Ms Kelly a few years ago.

The pair had been warned by the Fijian Government they would not be welcome there - but as Ms Kearney recalls, Helen Kelly wasn't easily deterred.

"The [Fiji] Attorney General got wind that Helen and I were coming and he put out a press release saying 'don't come, you're not welcome.' And Helen looked at me dead in the eye - she happened to be in Australia at the time - and she said, 'what do you reckon?,' recalled Ms Kearney to bouts of laughter in a packed auditorium. "I knew we had to go."

"I can say by the end of the four or five hours that we were detained by the Fijian authorities, I was so sorry for the Fijian authorities."

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney at Helen Kelly's memorial service.

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney at Helen Kelly's memorial service. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King