Vincent Lingiari - Wave Hill Walk-Off

Wave Hill Walk-Off

Wave Hill Cattle Station is located approximately 600 km south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. From the late nineteenth century it was run by the British pastoral company, Vesteys. Vesteys employed the local Indigenous people, the Gurindji, to work on Wave Hill. But working conditions were extremely poor and wages were very low when compared to those of non Indigenous employees.

In 1966, Lingiari, a member of the Gurindji who had worked at Wave Hill, and recently returned from a period of hospitalisation in Darwin, led a walk-off of indigenous employees of Wave Hill as a protest against the work and pay conditions. While there had been complaints from Indigenous employees about conditions on Wave Hill over many years, including an inquiry during the 1930s that was critical of Vestey's employment practices, the walk-off had a focus that was aimed at a wider target than Vestey's. Before 1968 it was illegal to pay an indigenous worker more than a specified amount in goods and money. In many cases, the government benefits for which Indigenous employees were eligible were paid into pastoral companies’ accounts, rather than to the individuals.

The protesters established the Wattie Creek Camp and demanded the return of some of their traditional lands. So began the eight-year fight by the Gurindji people to obtain title to their land.