In 1966, Aboriginal stockmen went on strike at Wave Hill station in the Northern Territory.
Under the leadership of a Gurindji man, Vincent Lingiari, the strikers set up camp at Wattie Creek. Over time, the industrial dispute with the Vestey family turned into a demand for land rights.
Nine years later, in 1975, the Whitlam Government resolved the dispute and title to the land was granted to the Gurindji people.
During the ceremony to grant the land title, Whitlam symbolically poured sand into Lingiari’s hand.