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Oodnadatta on 5 August. The expedition had travelled more than 3 500 kilometres and 43 000 square kilometres
were correctly mapped in detail. ‘Careful astronomical, meteorological and magnetic observations were taken...
several hundred excellent photographs were taken... the habits and customs of the blacks was embraced... large
collections were made in many of the departments of science—botany and zoology, ornithology and conchology,
petrology and ethnology, geology and anthropology... The journey from start to finish was accomplished without
a single mishap.’ Winnecke even kept his boots throughout the expedition!
Between expeditions to the Northern Territory, Winnecke was involved in a number of similar journeys to
investigate the pastoral potential in the unsettled areas of South Australia. His recurring expeditions to these
inhospitable areas, and his faith in their future, were well summed when he later wrote: ‘I am astounded at the use
of the word desert. The Northern Territory will, in my opinion, be a great productive country when opened up.’
Winnecke died on 17 September 1902.
Aldine History of South Australia, vol 2, 1890; E Hill, The Territory, 1970; National Trust of Australia (NT), General History of the Arltunga
Goldfields, nd; RGSA, The Horn Scientific Exploring Expedition, nd; SAPP, 1883; J Stratton (ed), Biographical Index of South Australia
1836–1885, 1980; Australasian, 20 September 1902; M C Hartwig, ‘The Progress of White Settlement in the Alice Springs District and its
Effects upon the Aboriginal Inhabitants, 1860–1894’, unpublished PhD Thesis, Adelaide University, 1965.
RUARY BUCKNALL, Vol 1.
WIRINYKARI: see BEETALOO BILL, JANGARI
WISE, FRANK JOSEPH SCOTT (1897–1986), agriculturalist, politician and Administrator, was born in
Ipswich, Queensland, on 30 May 1897 to Charles Edward Wise, an English born salesman, and his wife Emily
Gertrude, nee Gordon. He was educated at state schools in Queensland and the Gatton Agricultural College, where
he received a Diploma in Agriculture, specialising in tropical agriculture. After working as a farm hand, in 1920
he became a Field Officer with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and in 1922 an Assistant Agricultural
Instructor. For much of the period between 1923 and 1933 he advised the Western Australian government on
tropical agriculture.
In 1933, Wise was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as a Labor member. He held several
ministerial portfolios after 1935 and between 1945 and 1947 was Premier and Treasurer of the state. His government
was defeated in the elections of 1947. From then until his appointment as Administrator of the Northern Territory
in 1951, he was Leader of the Opposition.
Wise had a sound background for administering the Territory in a difficult period. The Administrator’s job also
included being President of the Legislative Council and here his political experience served him well. As Fred
Walker later wrote, ‘Perhaps the most important attribute [Wise] brought to the Council was his awareness of the
impropriety of the presiding officer entering into debate, and as a result the proceedings moved closer to those of
a Westminster style parliament.’
Paul Hasluck, the Liberal Minister for Territories who appointed Wise as Administrator, subsequently stated
that he ‘brought to that post the prestige of high offices he had previously held, a width of political experience and
recognised standing in the field of northern development’. Despite their political differences, the two men worked
together closely. Hasluck gave Wise much of the credit for the rebuilding of Darwin during the 1950s. ‘In my
opinion’, Hasluck continued, ‘Wise had a triple achievement. The first was that he gave the people of the Territory
a better conceit of themselves. The second was that he set them an example of normalcy. The third was that during
his term numerous material improvements were either completed or inaugurated.’ He was partly responsible, among
other things, for the Legislative Council obtaining its own building, the restoration of municipal government, the
steady growth in administrative services, the expansion of public works, the improvement of electricity and water
supplies, the commencement of harbour improvements in Darwin and the development of public housing and
hostels. ‘Wise’s administration’, according to Hasluck, ‘was a turning point in the Territory’s post war history.’
Wise married Elsie Hunter on 12 June 1922 and they had a son and two daughters. After Elsie’s death,
he married again on 11 November 1944 Patricia, daughter of APC McCormick. They had a son and two daughters.
Wise’s second family was with him in Darwin and assisted in the process of social transformation.
Wise returned to Western Australia in 1956, serving in the state’s Legislative Council between then and 1971.
He was a minister between 1958 and 1959 and Leader of the Opposition in the Council between 1963 and 1966.
In 1979, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (OA) He died in 1986.
P Hasluck, Pioneers of Post War Recovery, 1992; R McMullin, The Light on the Hill, 1991; F Walker, A Short History of the Legislative Council
of the Northern Territory, 1986; newspaper clippings from the National Library of Australia biographical index.
BARBARA JAMES and RHONDA JOLLY, Vol 2.
WONG, LINOY nee MOO (1891–1970), homemaker and matriarch, was born in Palmerston (Darwin) in 1891
the eldest daughter of Moo Yet For and Moo Wong See who had originally come from the Canton region of
China. Her father who was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade had travelled to the Northern Territory in 1879
to commence work at John Lewis’ station at Port Essington. Linoy had two older brothers, Pompey Moo and
Con Moo Fatt and two younger sisters Sue Quen Lee and Essie Yuen. Linoy spent a large part of her early years
in Brocks Creek where her father also worked on the gold fields.
Linoy was not able to attend school as she was required to help care for her brother Pompey’s young children.
She was 11 years older than her youngest sister Essie and was required to help care for her also. Regardless of this,