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His love lives on around world

Zak Harvey was a lover, not a fighter. He loved to travel, to fish, to laugh, to drink and he loved his mates and family.

He was full of love into his final, fateful moment when an over-exuberant display of affection cost him his life.

It was outside a nightclub at 5am in April last year when he drunkenly hugged off-duty doorman Patrick Lilii, who instinctively pushed him away.

Mr Lilii could only watch as the 32-year-old toppled over, cracked his head and never woke up. He was cleared last week of any criminal behaviour.

Now Zak's younger brother Ben has paid tribute to a life well lived and to make it clear he wants no grudges towards the man who accidentally ended it.

"I don't think Zak would want bad blood, aggression, resentment or any of that hostility hanging around," Ben said.

"That definitely wasn't his nature. He was never a fighter or an aggressive person.

"And the thing that makes this a sad story is that he did really live his life well … and seemed to understand the value of a day."

That life started on Christmas Island, where his parents met and married in the late 70s. The first white child born on the island in decades, he moved to the mainland with his family but with wide eyes and wanderlust.

One of the "nerdy crew" at school, Zak embraced technology and travel, combining his work with an insatiable urge to see the world. That took him to America, the Sahara, Europe, South-East Asia - and was about to take him through the heart of Australia when he died.

That death touched people worldwide, with hundreds of Buddhists holding a prayer vigil for him in South America.

Messages from Buenos Aires, Chile and Vietnam all said the same thing: "What a great bloke."

Like them, his family and friends can't believe he's gone, even after reliving Zak's final moments in a Perth court last week.

Mr Lilii was charged with assault causing death and prosecutor James Mactaggart alleged his reaction to the hug was unnecessary and without "authority, justification or excuse".

But Mr Lilii told how Mr Harvey popped "out of nowhere", wrapped his arms around his neck and would not get off.

After tears from both families at security footage, the jury found Mr Lilii was not criminally to blame for pushing Zak away.

It is a decision Ben Harvey endorses. "I don't think Mr Lilii would have had any reason to expect what he did would have led to what it did," he said.

"I don't think there is any sense to be made of it or any reason."

Ben now just wants to "think about the nice things" about his big brother Zak.