Equal pay but no jobs

Vestey man said I’ll double your wages
Seven quid a week you'll have in your hand
Vincent said uhuh we’re not talking about wages
We’re sitting right here till we get our land

While the victory of the Gurindji Strike is symbolised in the sand pouring from Gough Whitlam’s hands into Vincent Lingiari’s, it was Malcom Fraser’s government that passed the Land Rights Act 1976. However, the Act excluded Aboriginal claims for pastoral leases. Therefore, the land that Aboriginal people had worked could not be used as their own.

The Gurindji people did establish the momentum for the productive involvement of Aboriginal people in their land. Land Councils and Land Corporations were borne out of the 1960s land rights movement and are now pioneering Aboriginal-run stations with the support of the Nothern Territory Government. This is one of the legacies of both the Gurindji strike and the historic contribution of Aboriginal stockworkers.

Forty years on from the Equal Wage decision, now should be a time of constructive reflection of the demands and achievements of the Gurindji people. Aboriginal workers were a casualty of the changing conditions on stations and the decisions of station managers that rendered their employment incompatible with station profits. The Equal Wage decision was the nail in the coffin. It reveals, if nothing else, that the future of Aboriginal Australians requires control of their own destinies - which the Gurindji people recognised - involving both labour and land.