CONISTON, NT. — Coniston Station is a large cattle station in central Australia, about 300 km northwest of Alice Springs. Covering 2178 sq km, it is bordered by the Tanami Desert to the west.
The cattle station was founded by pastoralist Randall Stafford in 1923 and named after a town in his native England.
On August 7, 1928 the body of white dingo hunter Frederick Brooks was found on the property.
Traditional Aboriginal (First Nations) weapons lay nearby, implicating the local indigenous people.
Constable William Murray, officer in charge at Barrow Creek, investigated and concluded that the killing had been done by members of the Warlpiri, Anmatyerre and Kaytetye people.
Within a few days, Constable Murray began to take matters of ‘white justice’ into his own hands, instigating a series of revenge killings that came to be known as the Coniston Massacre.
This was the last known massacre of Australian Aborigines.
Between August 14 to 30, 1928, Murray shot at least 17 members of the Aboriginal tribes he believed were responsible, and claimed his actions were made in self-defence and that each tribal member he had killed owned some item belonging to Brooks.
Murray was never punished for his actions.
On the contrary, the Board of Enquiry members were selected to maximise damage-control.
It was believed at the time that Murray’s actions were appropriate for the circumstances.
The Central Land Council organised the seventy-fifth anniversary of the massacre, commemorated near Yuendumu on September 24, 2003.
