The South Australian Labor Premier, Don Dunstan, used a speech in Melbourne on July 24, 1978 to announce that his government would legislate for land rights for the Pitjantjatjara people.

Dunstan delivered the A.A. Calwell Memorial Lecture, named in honour of Arthur Calwell, leader of the ALP from 1960 to 1967. The lecture was hosted by the Monash University ALP Supporters Club and delivered in the Robert Blackwood Hall.

Legislation was introduced after this speech to recognise the traditional land rights of the Pitjantjatjara people. The government lost office before the Bill was passed. The Anungu elders negotiated with the Liberal government of David Tonkin and legislation was finally passed in 1981. South Australia was the first state to recognise land rights with a direct communal title. [Read more…]