Linda Burney reveals remote Voice campaign plans, Larrakia Cultural Centre update

The Indigenous Australians Minister says Voice campaign teams will soon reach remote communities while revealing a new federal bureaucrat has been appointed to oversee Alice Springs’ crisis funding.

The Indigenous Australians Minister says remote Territory communities will have a chance to learn about the Voice referendum in the coming weeks.

Linda Burney was in Darwin on Wednesday for a Joint Council on Closing the Gap meeting in Darwin before heading to Katherine and the Barunga Festival.

In an exclusive interview with this publication Ms Burney said she was “very conscious of the issues being expressed by remote communities” regarding the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

She said once parliament had passed legislation allowing the referendum this month several teams, including education services and Yes campaigns, would go all over Australia to spread the word.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and Larrakia Development Corporation chair Mark Motlop also provided an update on the Larrakia Cultural Centre construction. Picture: Supplied

She also defended her government’s decision to withhold almost two-fifths of a $250m investment for Central Australia and revealed a new federal public servant had been appointed to oversee the funding package.

“We’ve now got a Aboriginal leadership group for Central Australia – there’s Dorelle Anderson working from the Territory perspective and we’ve just appointed someone at the federal level who will drive that disbursement of that money,” she said on Wednesday.

Ms Burney did not reveal further details but said “he’s going to be a very inward focused bureaucrat … very experienced at making sure that government’s work properly”.

The $250m package was announced at the height of Alice Springs’ crime crisis earlier this year, shortly after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a snap visit to the town.

Budget details last month revealed only $155.7m of the pool had been allocated, with some money to flow over the next five years.

Ms Burney said the funds would not be “dumped out” but instead go where the community wanted it to be spent.

“We are taking our time to make sure it’s going to where it needs to go,” she said.

It comes after Ms Burney and NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy announced the first 15 recipients of an $81.5m justice reinvestment package, with Darwin, Katherine, Groote Eylandt and Lajamanu set to benefit.

Ms Burney also visited the Larrakia Cultural Centre development at Stokes Hill, which has received a $56m grant from the Aboriginal Benefits Account, funded by mining royalties.

The Larrakia Cultural Centre in Darwin is expected to be open by 2025. Design: Supplied

Previously the project was priced at $40m, while the Territory government approved the transfer of crown land worth $16.9m.

Construction is set to start later this year and be complete by 2025.

Larrakia Development Corporation chair Mark Motlop, whose organisation is managing the project, said the vision for the centre first emerged in 2002.

“This has been a long journey and we are the closest we have ever been to fulfilling an agreement to restore the importance of the Larrakia people, language, history and culture to the Northern Territory and the world,” he said.

“The centre will be a place that connects our people to their ancestral treasurers, language and stories.”

Originally published as Linda Burney reveals remote Voice campaign plans, Larrakia Cultural Centre update