Thea’s husband, Ralph Hayes was the manager for Lord Vestey on Wave Hill when Gough Whitlam handed the transfer of pastoral lease to the Gurindji People at Daguragu on August 16th 1974.. He had been a jackaroo, a stockman, and an overseer at Wave Hill, and after managing Gordon Downs Station, in the Kimberley, was returned to Wave Hill station to manage in 1969.