The region in which our Nagambie home nestles is one of Australia’s greatest wine growing areas. Just five minutes away are two of the finest in Tahbilk and Mitchelton wineries. Tahbilk is one of Australia’s oldest wineries and still has the original heritage listed buildings.
A few kilometers further is Mitchelton winery in stark contrast. An extremely modern facility with luxury accommodation, day spa, award wining restaurant, and of course Cellar Door sales! None of these were the reason for our visit, although significant attention was paid to the cellar door tasting area!
The reason for our visit was to spend some time in the Aboriginal Art Gallery – the largest in Victoria and view the message stick vehicle.
Michael Butler was an Australian journalist active during the late 1960s and 1970s whose work increasingly crossed from reporting into direct cultural and political activism. Rather than writing about Aboriginal systems of law and communication from a distance, Butler chose to demonstrate them in practice. The Message Stick Vehicle was the result.
When Michael Butler acquired the old army ambulance, he transformed it into a modern carrier of the Aboriginal message stick. Inside, it held a traditional message stick given by elders, symbolising communication, safe passage, and responsibility. The choice of a military ambulance was intentional; a vehicle once used for war and injury became a tool that upheld Aboriginal tradition, law, and connection.
As Butler drove the ambulance around Australia, the vehicle became part of the message. People who met the journey painted, signed, and marked its bodywork. Rock musicians, actors, politicians, and public figures added names and symbols to the old army panels. The once uniform khaki vehicle turned into a colorful surface of protest and recognition. Among those who signed were political leaders like prime ministers Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, along with influential artists such as Jack Thompson, David Gulpilil, Peter Garrett, Margaret RoadKnight, all linked to the protest culture of that era.
By the end of its journeys, the former ambulance no longer represented military order or emergency response. It had become a rolling document of witness and endorsement — a message stick on wheels. Scarred, dusty, and crowded with paint and signatures, the vehicle embodied a powerful reversal: a machine built for war redeployed to carry law, memory, and recognition across the continent.
Perhaps the most famous signature.
Galarrwuy Yunupingu activist, lead singer and artist.
