JOHN PILGER, activist, radical journalist, broadcaster and exposer of injustice and the crimes of the powerful, died over the weekend.

Tributes were paid to the principled investigator whose articles, films and books lifted the stones beneath which squirmed the institutionalised racism of the country of his birth, Australia, against indigenous Australians.

His work targeted the imperialism and corruption which drove wars including Vietnam and the two wars on Iraq, and in his adopted homeland, Britain, the forces at work in the continuing destruction of the National Health Service.

Mr Pilger died in London on Saturday December 30. He was 84.

Born in Bondi in New South Wales, he moved to Britain in the 1960s.

He worked at the Daily Mirror, using its mass circulation to reach a wide, working-class audience.

After being sacked when the paper was taken over by corrupt publisher Robert Maxwell, Mr Pilger found no shortage of outlets for his radical journalism including ITV’s World in Action and Reuters international news agency.

He made more than 50 documentary films whose subjects ranged from the thalidomide scandal in the 1970s to ITV’s Breaking the Silence, Truth and Lies in the War on Terror in 2003.

More recently, Mr Pilger was a committed supporter of fellow journalist Julian Assange, who exposed US war crimes in Iraq, and who has been in custody in Britain for five years facing extradition to the US.

Mr Assange’s wife, Stella, posted on social media: “Our dear, dear John Pilger has left us.

“He was one of the greats. A consistent ally of the dispossessed, John dedicated his life to telling their stories and awoke the world to the greatest injustices.

“He showed great empathy for the weak and was unflinching with the powerful.

“John was one of Julian’s most vocal champions but they also became the closest of friends. He fought for Julian’s freedom until the end.”

John Rees, writer, academic and national officer of Stop the War Coalition, a cause Mr Pilger supported, said: “He was a great investigative journalist, as the world knows. He was an unrepentant socialist, naturally a radical. And he was a loyal and warm friend and comrade.”

Mr Pilger leaves his partner Jane, son and daughter Sam and Zoe, and his grandchildren.