Latest addition to the extensive collection of Darwin agronomist and activist Rob Wesley-Smith ,80, are photos of a demonstration and march against Malcolm Fraser , nicknamed the Crazy Grazier , following the 1975 sacking of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by the Governor- General , Sir John Kerr .
That's ALP Senator Ted Robertson , above, speaking from the back of a Bedford truck owned by Brian Manning , another great activist , the vehicle , used in many campaigns and parades , ending up in Canberra in the national collection .
Robertson is seen marching behind another placard supporting Whitlam , Cyclone Tracy damaged buildings including Brown's Mart , minus the roof , on the side .
A teacher in Western Australia and an ALP member there , the late senator , 1929-1991, came to the Territory in the Education Department and was an active member of the ALP, chairman of both the Regional Council for Social Services and the NT Council of Social Services . He was elected to the Senate in 1975, one of the two first senators fom the Territory .
His online Senate parliamentary biography states he had been his own man , and that he had strongly advocated for self determination in East Timor . Furthermore, he had passionately stated that Australia could have prevented the subjugation of East Timor by Indonesia in l975,if it had stood firm , made courageous statements about the situation .
In view of the latest suggestion to base American B-52 bombers in the Territory , it is interesting to note Robertson had spoken out about the proposed Darwin stopover of the planes and the use of the Pine Gap Joint Defence base in Alice Springs . In the event of a nuclear war, he said , both places would become prime targets. The Darwin Aviation Museum now displays a B-52. Robertson also opposed uranium mining .
An "iconic figure of the Northern Territory Labor movement " - John William " Curly " Nixon- is captured with the microphone in the following action photograph . Nixon first came to the Territory in 1949, served in the Korean War, was a delegate to the North Australian Workers' Union, president of the Waterside Workers' Federation, served on the Trades and Labour Council and was closely involved with the Darwin Workers' Club.
He campaigned for Aboriginal land rights, opposed uranium mining, died in 2016.
Wesley-Smith has added the photographs to a file he is building up on the ALP in the Northern Territory and is is attempting to identify as many people as possible .
FOOTNOTE : Another Bedford truck was bought by Brian Manning's son and is used in parades and demos in Darwin .
