Minister for Indigenous Australians to deliver Lingiari lecture

The Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP, will deliver the 19th Annual Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture at CDU’s Casuarina campus on Thursday 15 August.

Mr Wyatt’s lecture, titled “Looking Forward, Looking Back”, will describe the journey of Indigenous Australians as being like a pendulum that has swung with the political and legal winds of change; as well as exploring the opportunity of Constitutional Recognition.

“As the first Aboriginal Minister for Indigenous Australians, I am in a position to help shift the pendulum, not just with my hand, or the hands of my family and community, but with the hands of all Australians,” Minister Wyatt said.

“In looking back, we explore the truth of our history and help demystify the myths of the past so as to celebrate our lands and waters, and the languages and stories that have been passed on from generation to generation in the oldest continuing cultures on earth.”

“This informs the way we are looking forward – we are not looking out on a trackless landscape; there are tracks and songlines created by people who have gone before. Symbolically and pragmatically, that is the point at which we find ourselves today: looking forward, looking back.”

CDU’s Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Sue Carthew said the university was proud to host the Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture, which had become a tradition for the university and for Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.

“We are delighted that Minister Wyatt will present the lecture. He has achieved many ‘firsts’ as an Indigenous Australian and is held in high esteem across the wider community,” Professor Carthew said.   

Mr Wyatt was appointed this year as the Minister for Indigenous Australians, making him the first Aboriginal person to hold the federal ministry, and the first Aboriginal person to sit in Cabinet. In 2010 he was the first Indigenous person elected to the House of Representatives

The Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture commemorates the anniversary of the “Wave Hill Walk-Off” in 1966 when Gurindji people withdrew their labour in protest against poor pay and conditions. Their strike continued for eight years. The lecture is part of the Gurindji Freedom Day Festival events.

The 19th Annual Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture will be held at the CDU Amphitheatre, Thursday 15 August starting at 6:00pm.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Please RSVP to E: rsvp.opvcil@cdu.edu.au