In August 1996 Sir William Deane, Governor General of Australia, delivered the inaugural Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture in Darwin, to commemorate the day, 40 years earlier, when Vincent Lingiari led members of his Gurindji tribe and other groups off Wave Hill Station, 600 kilometres south-west of Katherine in the Northern Territory, to a river bed nearby.
The immediate catalyst for the strike was the refusal of Vestey's Manager (Wave Hill was leased by the British Vestey group of companies) to meet Vincent Lingiari's request that Aboriginal stockmen be paid $25 a week. But what was apparently an industrial dispute over appalling working and living conditions, soon revealed itself as a demand by the Gurindji people for the return of their traditional lands.
The ripples from the walk-off and strike, which lasted seven years, kept travelling outwards across Australia, gathering the force of a wave which eventually reshaped the agenda of relationships between Indigenous Australians and the wider society. Finally, in 1975, the then Prime minister, Gough Whitlam, handed back to the Gurindji people the rights to some of their traditional lands.
In his lecture, Some Signposts from Daguragu, Sir William traces the story of the events at Wave Hill and discusses their historical significance. Most importantly, Sir William analyses aspects of the settlement at Daguragu which, he suggests, can be seen as signposts on the way to reconciliation. He identifies eight signposts which provide a set of principles for a broader discussion about the essential features of what he calls a true national reconciliation.
The eight signposts he spoke about are:
He concluded by saying: "It should be apparent from the totality of what I have said that I am convinced that until true reconciliation with its Indigenous peoples is reached, Australia is a diminished nation...."
He added: "I would also respectfully suggest to the members of the Commonwealth Parliament, and State and Territory Legislatures, that they give consideration to affirming their support for true national reconciliation, again for most but not the first time for some, by passing formal resolutions expressing that support."
(The full text of Sir William's inaugural lecture and the texts of subsequent Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lectures can be found at www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/IndigLRes/car)