He went on to run cattle camps and manage cattle stations, and run an insurance company. And was then elected to parliament for 12 years.

He received a bush apprenticeship that would alter his destiny and ignite a passion and love for the Outback under the guidance of his heroes – pioneers, stockmen and giants of the bush: the Duracks, Quiltys, Underwoods and Aboriginal stockmen.

Roger Steele was born on 29 May 1939. He was a Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1987. He became a senior member in Paul Everingham’s Ministry, serving across portfolios of Tourism, Transport and Industry, Industrial Development, Primary Production, andMinister Assisting the Treasurer, and became the Speaker from 1984 to 1986.

He once famously said that the percheron horsehair of the Speaker’s wig was the closest he had been to the bush for a while.

In 1988, he became the Northern Territory Assistant Commissioner of the World Expo and in 1989 the Chief Executive of the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, which gave him the opportunity to highlight the importance of women in the Outback and the contribution of Aboriginal pastoral workers.

Steve Vivian described Roger – or Stainless as he is known to his friends – as one of the most respected and respectful bushmen the Territory has known.

In mid-1980, Roger met Reg and Enid Durack and advised them that Bullita Station was to be part of a great new Outback national park. As a Minister of the Territory Government, he persuaded Cabinet to support his vision and he is proud to be the founder of the Gregory National Park, which he named after the explorer Augustus Charles Gregory.

When he received his Order of Australia medal at the level of OAM (Medal of the Order) in 2021, Roger said he was not a “gong sort” of person but accepted it on behalf of all the people who had mentored and guided him.

Roger did three trips from Humbert River to the Wyndham meatworks in Western Australia with Charlie Schultz, a 1600-kilometre round trip. Another Western Australian trip was from Limbunya to Nicholson.

He completed the Murranji with Pic Willetts four times, twice with plant horses and twice with bullocks, 1000 kilometres of the hardest stock route in Australia with the fiercest reputation – from Wave Hill to Dajarra, one of the longest cattle drives, which took more thanr 16 weeks, then Limbunyah Station to No 8 bore at Elliott.

His Queensland droving experience included from the Dajarra railhead with cows to Sudan in the Northern Territory, Avon Downs with steers to the railhead at Mount Isa, Mittabah Bore with cows to Morestone Station and Yelvertoft Station to Mount Isa railhead.

These droving achievements took place from 1953 to 1959, from the time he was 14 years of age until he turned 20 – about 8000 head of cattle in all were shifted and covered around 15,000 kilometrres of the Territory, Western Australia and Queensland on horseback.

Being a cattleman drover gave him considerable leverage as a stockman. Station jobs were plentiful, and it was an important part of his personal growth. Roger worked in an environment when the Australian Aboriginal pastoral workers were at their peak of involvement and of high value in the cattle industry, another aspect of life that seems like a dream to him today.

Mates of the Murranji

You will be able to read Roger’s full story of those droving days, told in his own words, in the Mates of the Murranji coffee table book written and compiled by Barry Coulter due for release in 2026.

If you would like to join the Mates of the Murranji, email contact@matesofthemurranji.com.au