Sans gumboots , Darwin agronomist, Rob Wesley-Smith , speaking during the launch in the Northern Territory Library , NT Legislative Assembly, of the book, A Handful of Sand, by Charlie Ward , about the walk off by Gurindji stockmen from the English owned Vesteys Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory 50 years ago . Ward is next to Wes ; Murray McLoughlin , left , Northern Land Council media officer , a former ABC reporter, was the MC .
As reported previously in this blog, Rob was present when PM Gough Whitlam in 1975 handed over the Gurindji land to Vincent Lingiari , the historic moment captured in a famous photograph showing the PM pouring sand into the hand of Lingiari . What is more , Rob took the original photograph of the event , below, which was restaged for the travelling media .
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More details about the involvement of Wesley-Smith and others in the Gurindji struggle will be included in an upcoming post .
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