Shows location of Gurindji (blue, near top left) in the Northern Territory

The Gurindji Strike lasted from 1966 to 1975 at Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. For a generation, Gurindji people had been forced to work for basic food and shelter, as well as small amount of cash in some few cases, by the Vestey meat company, which owned their land around Wattie Creek as tenant of the Australian Commonwealth. Led by their spokesman Vincent Lingiari, the workers walked off the job and began their 7 year strike. Offers of somewhat improved conditions were rejected, and the strike quickly became a campaign for the Vestey company to vacate the Gurindji land. In 1975, the Australian Labor Party government of Gough Whitlam finally negotiated with the Vesteys to give the Gurindji back a portion of their land. This was a landmark in the so-called land rights movement in Australia for Indigenous Australians to be given rights to their traditional lands. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (828x1167, 55 KB) Summary Shows location of Arrente, Anmatyerre, Alyawarre, Luritja, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Yolngu, Burarra, Gunivugi people, Gurindji. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (828x1167, 55 KB) Summary Shows location of Arrente, Anmatyerre, Alyawarre, Luritja, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Yolngu, Burarra, Gunivugi people, Gurindji. ... Motto: None Nickname: ? Other Australian states and territories Capital Darwin Government Administrator Chief Minister Const. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Wave Hill (28 acres) is a botanical garden in the Riverdale, The Bronx, New York City, New York. ... Cattle station is an Australian term for a large farm (Australian ranch), usually in the outback, whose main activity is the raising of cattle. ... Motto: None Nickname: ? Other Australian states and territories Capital Darwin Government Administrator Chief Minister Const. ... The Vestey Group (Vestey Group Ltd) (formerly Vestey Brothers) is a privately owned UK group of companies, comprised of an international food product business (that includes meats, dairy products, frozen vegetables,bakery products, food services and trading) and significant cattle ranching and sugar cane farming interests in Brazil and Venezuela. ... Lingiari with PM Gough Whitlam Vincent Lingiari (1908—1988), was an aboriginal rights activist who was awarded the order of Australia for his services to the aboriginal people. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... Edward Gough Whitlam (born 11 July 1916), Australian politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia, was the only Australian Prime Minister to be dismissed by the Governor-General. ... Land rights are those property rights that pertain to real estate, that is, land. ... A 19th century engraving of an indigenous Australian encampment. ...

This struggle was the inspiration behind Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody's popular protest song, "From Little Things Big Things Grow". Paul Kelly is a musician, singer and songwriter, born in South Australia in 1955, but long based in - and associated with - Melbourne, Australia. ...

External links

• MP Warren Snowdon's Speech to Parliament in honour of Vincen Lingiari
• GreenLeft Weekly article on the history of indigenous labour struggles in Australia
• GreenLeft Weekly transcipt of an oral history of the Wave Hill Station Strike
• ABC interview with Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody