Jack Thompson delivers 23rd Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture at CDU

A beloved Aussie actor who lived as a stockman in the 50s hopes to shed light on why the Wave Hill Walk-off happened when he delivers a prestigious memorial lecture.

Jack Thompson AO will deliver the 23rd Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture. Picture: Peter Brew-Bevan

A beloved Australian actor and First Nations advocate is set to take Territorians on an unscripted journey through time during the 23rd Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture.

Jack Thompson – known for films such as Australia and The Great Gatsby, as well as his charity work – will deliver the annual lecture at Charles Darwin University at 5.30pm on August 7.

Mr Thompson will open a window in time to show how Gurindji leader Vincent Lingiari’s Walk-off at Wave Hill Station in 1966 changed the tide for First Nations people.

He said he was the “only white stockman” at Elkedra Station in 1955 but was treated “like family” by the station’s First Nations stockmen.

“I learned about their culture and language and their Country which had been theirs for thousands of years and was so familiar to them,” Mr Thompson said.

“I started on two pound 10 a week in pay, but the Indigenous workers got much less than that, so hopefully from my story the audience can better understand the time and why the Walk-off happened.”

“Vincent Lingiari was the public face of the land rights movement and the moment the Prime Minister poured red dirt in Vincent’s hands was so important.”

The annual memorial lecture has commemorated Lingiari’s walk-off for 23 years, which triggered national change around First Nations land and employment rights.

The last memorial lecture was delivered by journalist and author Professor Stan Grant Jr. and was titled ‘Two kinds of time: how we can meet each other again in Australia’.

CDU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor of First Nations Leadership and Engagement Professor Reuben Bolt said he looked forward to the “insightful lecture”.

“The Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture is such an important event in our calendar as it commemorates the legacy of the Wave Hill Walk-off which was such a significant turning point for First Nations people’s rights,” he said.

Anyone can register to attend the lecture here.