Peace activist Owen Wilkes dies

Peace activist Owen Wilkes, once jailed for pulling the supposedly neutral Norwegian government up for harbouring an American military base, has died.

Mr Wilkes was also a prominent figure on the South Island's West Coast for building a pioneering solar house at Punakaiki, later torn down by the local council.

Former Buller Mayor Pat O'Dea described Mr Wilkes as one of the first alternative lifestylers on the West Coast, noting the county council had demolished his house because it didn't have a permit.

"He took council on head-on," Mr O'Dea said.

Mr Wilkes made an immense contribution to the global anti-war movement, undertaking painstaking research.

He was jailed, but quickly released, in Norway for pointing out its government was harbouring an American military base when Norway was meant to be neutral.

At the time he was working for the Norwegian Peace Research Institute.

Buller conservationist Peter Lusk said Mr Wilkes was an up-front activist, a great organiser and always in the front lines. "He was never scared to face up to cops and pro-war politicians."

Born in Christchurch, he visited the West Coast as a teenager with Canterbury University, to study moa bones in the Metro Cave.

He was involved in the first studies of moa hunters' sites at Carter's Beach near Westport and the Heaphy river mouth.

Mr Lusk said he had never met anyone with the energy of Mr Wilkes. "He'd labour all day on the land, research way into the night and still be first up in the morning," he said.

Contemporary activist Roger Brookes said Mr Wilkes was given an award from Sweden for his work promoting international peace.

Mr Brookes said Mr Wilkes had fought for what he believed in and was incredibly resourceful. "He was quite an extraordinary guy."

Mr Wilkes died suddenly in Waikato. He was in his early 60s.

- nzpa