Manslaughter
Rupert Murdoch's assertion in response to the Select Committee's report that the people he met in the desert were all happy and well fed prompted William Grayden to organise a return party to the Warburton Ranges area, this time with a movie camera. Pastor Doug Nicholls from Victoria was invited to join the group which set out in February 1957 to film these desert nomads.
Pastor Doug Nicholls distributes food to a malnourished group, February 1957
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The film, later called Manslaughter when it was shown on television, was hastily processed in Perth and shown to horrified audiences. It showed stick-limbed children with the swollen bellies of malnutrition, babies sucking frantically at empty breasts and toddlers too weak or lethargic to brush away the hundreds of flies feeding at their eyes.
The film was screened in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney as well as in country towns. It was shown to politicians in Parliament House, to community groups such as the Kings Cross Film Club, and in the Sydney Town Hall. Many white Australians were shocked by what they saw. Outraged, they wrote to the Prime Minister, insisting that the Commonwealth government take action.
A Melbourne suburban newspaper challenged readers: 'READ THIS AND THEN SEE IF YOU'RE STILL PROUD TO BE AN AUSTRALIAN. IF YOU'RE NOT DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT'.
Responses from the Prime Minister's Department emphasised state governments' responsibility for Aboriginal welfare.
Members of the public, however, rejected this response from the federal government. The Women's Christian Temperance Union put out a pamphlet, Analysis of Mr Rupert Murdoch's Article on the West Australian Natives, which refuted the statements made by Murdoch. This was widely distributed.
Meetings were held to discuss community action, a 'Save the Aborigines Committee' was established in Melbourne, and 800 pounds were raised in Melbourne alone to assist West Australian natives.
Further resources
Doug Nicholls
Women's Christian Temperance Union
Next: The Warburton Ranges controversy, 1957 / Activists organise