Arabic version: إحياء إرث إضراب ومغادرة ويف هيل بعد 60 عاماً

According to ABC News, hundreds of people will gather in Kalkarindji this weekend to mark 60 years since Gurindji leader Vincent Lingiari led 200 Indigenous cattlemen and domestic servants off Wave Hill Station. The strike challenged Vestey Brothers’ refusal to pay wages equal to those of non-Indigenous workers and became a defining event in Australia’s land rights movement.

The walk-off followed a March 1966 ruling by the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission that Indigenous cattle station workers should no longer face wage discrimination, although the change was not due to take effect for three years. Workers also objected to the operator’s unwillingness to recognise their traditional ownership of the land.

Kalkarindji Gurindji traditional owner and elder Rob Roy said the action was a pivotal moment for fair wages and land rights. His parents, stockman Roy and domestic servant Maryanne, both joined the walk-off. Mr Roy said they left harsh living conditions, receiving rations including flour, sugar and tea rather than proper wages.

The struggle prompted then-prime minister Gough Whitlam in 1972 to commit to establishing Aboriginal rights to land. In 1975, Whitlam ceremonially poured soil into Mr Lingiari’s hands, and the federal government passed the Land Rights Act in 1976, enabling Northern Territory traditional owners to begin re-establishing ownership through the courts.

Mr Roy said more work was needed on medical care, housing and education, while calling for more young Indigenous people to work on their land. NT Cattlemen’s Association president Romy Carey said the association hopes to secure federal or Northern Territory government funding to restart its Pastoral Real Jobs Program, which offered accredited training and employment pathways.