Former Australian Democrats Senator, and pioneering environmentalist Dr John Coulter dies age 93 after an illness

Tributes have been paid to one of the state’s leading politicians and “pioneering” environmentalist after he died following a health battle.

Dr John Coulter after his resignation from Australian Democrats in Nov 2001. Picture: Leon Mead

Tributes have been paid to one of the state’s leading politicians and “pioneering” environmentalists after he died following a health battle.

Dr John Coulter was an SA senator for eight years, two as leader of the crossbench political party the Australian Democrats.

Tributes were paid to the former GP, and Adelaide Hills identity, after he died on Saturday in the Flinders Medical Centre’s hospice surrounded by close colleagues, family and friends.

He was 93.

In a lengthy tribute given to The Advertiser, his family said the “internationally respected environmentalist” had been diagnosed with Vexas Syndrome, a rare auto-immune condition, in February this year.

They said he was an “environmental intellectual giant with tireless tenacity and energy – a small person with a very large footprint”.

Natasha Stott-Despoja, who replaced him as a Democrat in the Senate after he stepped down due to illness, paid tribute to a “man before his time – a scientist and scholar, he was a pioneering environmentalist”.

“It was an honour to fill his Senate vacancy: my political aspirations were hugely supported by him,” she said.

“He was a man of absolute conviction and one of the few politicians who was never afraid of backlash or something not being popular.

“His scientific background led to nation-leading legislation including on the ethics of cloning and challenging the patenting of genes and gene sequences.

“I worked hard to try and continue his legacy. His is a fine one.”

His family said he moved to a 70-acre Adelaide Hills property at Bradbury, in 1972 when his son suffered a “life changing” brain injury after an accident.

The property, largely covered in natural vegetation, had extensive fire damage during the 2019 “Cherry Gardens” bushfire.

His family said a special “heritage overlay” covering more than 90 per cent of the property “should guarantee that there can be no future clearing, grazing or other use of the land”.

They said it can only be “preserved and maintained in its natural state”.

He said of his property, which he managed up until just before his death: “It’s a microcosm of how we should live with nature and not against nature. It’s a living representative sample of our relationship with nature”.

“We can enjoy but not destroy.”

He believed his most important political legacy was his role in supporting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission as well as a voice for Indigenous Australians directly to parliament.

He is survived by his daughter and three stepchildren. His second wife, Phyllis, died two years ago aged in her 80s.