The government inquiry instituted to investigate the movement’s impact on pastoral labour in the area was undertaken by Sir Ross McDonald, who had previously been Minister for Native Affairs in the McLarty Liberal Government, and magistrate F.E.A. Bateman. This is their report.

Report of Cooperative Movement's Impact on Pastoral Labour
Citation

Report by Sir Ross McDonald and F.E.A. Bateman on Native Group at Marble Bar, Don McLeod Papers, State Library of Western Australia, MS 5525A/2.

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Native-Labour Drift Worries Pastoralists

Submitted by scollini on Thu, 09/27/2018 - 14:57

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A cooperative mining company, Northern Development and Mining (or NODOM) was established at the end of 1951. The success of the mining venture led the government to withdraw its opposition to the movement. By 1952, upward of 700 people were involved in the independent mining community, and the local pastoral industry was facing even greater labour shortage than during the strike. As a result, a Committee of Inquiry was appointed by the government to investigate the circumstances in which marrngu were leaving the stations.