Arabic version: ذكرى إضراب ويف هيل تستقطب الآلاف

According to ABC News, more than 1,000 people marched from Kalkarindji to the banks of the Victoria River to mark 60 years since the Wave Hill Walk-Off, during the annual Gurindji Freedom Day Festival. The 1966 action, led by Vincent Lingiari, began as a strike over pay and conditions for Aboriginal workers before becoming a call for land to be returned to the Gurindji people.

The walk-off brought national attention to harsh living conditions and poor wages for Aboriginal pastoral workers and became a pivotal event in Australia’s land rights movement. Nine years after the strike began, the Gurindji became the first Aboriginal people to receive land back from the Commonwealth. Brian Manning Junior, son of a key unionist who helped bring attention to the strike, told younger Gurindji people the anniversary was their story and encouraged them to stand up for their community.

Gurindji traditional owner Roslyn Frith described her people as “silent achievers”, while Kerry Gibbs helped lead the anniversary march in a restored Bedford truck similar to those used to carry supplies to strikers in 1966. He said flour, sugar and beef delivered by unionists were vital, and that supporters feared retribution while travelling from Darwin. The Royal Australian Mint has also issued thousands of 50-cent coins featuring artwork of Aboriginal families walking along a fence-line. Gurindji traditional owner Rob Roy said elders had worked closely on the design, which carries the word “unity”. He said progress had followed the walk-off, but housing, education and health remained struggles, and Vincent Lingiari’s vision of economic prosperity had not yet been fully realised.