SHORTLY before Neville Bonner's death in 1999 aged 76, I was on my way to lunch in a taxi with him — a good mate of more than 30 years.

The driver obviously recognised him — who didn't? — and had a newspaper on the front seat open at a story about a crackpot theory that Aborigines had once been cannibals. Nudging him, I said loudly: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Neville, but today you will have to be satisfied with a bit of dead animal."

Bonner's rich, warm laughter burst out and the taxi almost slewed off the street. We had given the driver a story he is probably still telling to this day.

Bonner was a remarkable, inspiring and humble man — who else would have flown to Canberra as he did in August 1971 to be sworn in as the first Aborigine in the federal parliament with $5 in the pocket of his only suit?

He was born in 1922, his mother an Aborigine and his father an English migrant who went home before he was born under a tree on an island in the mouth of the Tweed River — Aboriginal women were not allowed to go to hospital in those days.

When he was about five, they went to live with his grandparents outside Lismore, literally in a hollow his grandfather cut from under lantana bushes.

His mother died early and he was raised by his grandmother. He was denied the right to attend school until he was 14, but his gran insisted he "speak properly".

When she died, the teenager packed his swag and headed bush. It was a tough life — cane-cutting, scrub-felling, timber-cutting, he did the lot.

Married in 1943, he settled on Palm Island and fathered five sons. During his 16 years there he developed an interest in improving the life of his people.

After leaving the island with his family, Bonner joined OPAL — One People of Australia League — helping Aborigines with welfare, housing and education.

In 1967, when Aborigines won the right to vote, Bonner joined the Liberal Party.

He became a member of the Liberal state executive and, in 1971, was selected to fill a casual Senate vacancy. His career was to last until June 1983.

A determined but always gentle man, Bonner was a firm advocate for his people, often ruffling the feathers of more senior colleagues and causing deep suspicion among the then Country Party, the Liberals' more conservative coalition partners.

He was prepared to cross the floor of Parliament on important issues and he made some powerful enemies.

His career ended when the party dropped him from a winnable position on their Senate ticket and he resigned to campaign as an independent, coming impressively close to scoring a major upset.