Fireman,waterside worker, saxophonist, manager of the Darwin Workers' Club, the late Brian Manning,next to his Bedford truck , now in the national collection, Canberra, speaking at a rally.
Involved in many campaigns, he was closely associated with the crusading editor of the Northern Territory News, the late "Big Jim" Bowditch. One of the campaigns involved the so called Stayput Malays , former pearl divers the federal government wanted to deport from Darwin.
To prevent them being arrested , Manning and Bowditch , late at night , sped down the track with the Malays to escape the tightening police dragnet .
A tyre blew on the car Bowditch was drving with the stayputs and ran into the bush; no one was hurt. Manning provided a spare tyre , and the Malays were hidden on a farm near Batchelor , eventually allowed to remain in Australia.
Manning was involved in the East Timor freedom struggle , his truck, below, supports Fretilin and rails against the cover up over the murder of the Balibo Five and Roger East . There is a large Waterside Workers' Federation sign on the front.
The truck was used to run supplies and supporters to the Gurindji strikers who were backed by wharfies , other organisations and Communist author Frank Hardy , resulting in Aboriginal land rights. (Photos, from various collections, forwarded by Rob Wesley-Smith .)
. 
