‘Australia’s Gandhi’ Yolngu Elder political activist, reverend Dr Gondarra OAM dies aged 79
A Territory Elder and spiritual leader who spent decades fighting for First Nations people has passed away in his sleep, surrounded by family. Read the tribute to the late reverend Dr Gondarra.
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A trailblazing spiritual leader known as “Australia’s Gandhi” has passed away aged 79 surrounded by family on his Elcho Island home.
The reverend Dr Gondarra OAM passed away in his sleep on Tuesday, June 18 at his home at of Galiwin’ku, off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
Loved ones said the 79-year-old spiritual leader, political activist, Yolngu Elder and leader of the Dhurili Clan nation spent his final months living in an overcrowded house with three other families with no running water at the time.
Dr Gondarra has been commemorated as a man who used his spirituality and culture as his foundation for a fight for freedom and justice for First Nations people, both within Australia and internationally.
Loved ones said his spirituality was the foundation for his political spirit, devoting his time to Indigenous development, reconciliation and empowerment.
The reverend was the first Indigenous moderator of the Northern Synod as part of the Uniting Church of Australia, and the first Indigenous representative on the World Council of Churches.
His work as a Theology lecturer at Nungalinya College is still used almost 50 years later.
But as a man of two worlds, the Reverend and Yolngu Elder saw how the church had been used as a tool of colonisation, writing extensively on his own cross-cultural Christian faith.
Mediators, academics, lawyers, judges and even Federal Police came to Dr Gondarra for lessons on cross cultural leadership training and traditional mediation practises under the Mawul Rom Project, with support from Charles Darwin University.
“He exemplified how to build bridges and inspired a vision of peace and healing in this country,” the Mawul Rom Board said.
“Through Mawul Rom he taught many hundreds of people from all walks of life a better way to deal with conflict.”
Dr Gondarra presented in the Aboriginal Deaths In Custody Report in 1991, and the Bringing Them Home Report in 1997, and was part of the Reconciliation Australia Board of Directors but left after the Howard Government did not take on their recommendations.
The Yolngu leader also showed the nation how empowered, self-determining communities could determine their own future.
The reverend spent 30 years as the first Yolngu Chairman of Arnhem Land Progress Association, over his term transforming the organisation from a collection of eight stores to the largest and most diverse Aboriginal Corporation in Australia.
“He was so widely respected, and people sought him out for his council, because he understood both worlds so well,” ALPA chief executive Alastair King said.
“He is an immeasurable loss to us all.”
However the reverend’s life changed in 2007, when the Intervention rolled into the Territory.
Dr Gondarra’s eldest daughter Biritjaluwuy said: “It’s like throwing a bomb in your face. That is what the Intervention did”.
She said the loss of his wife alongside the devastating impacts of the policies targeted on Indigenous communities meant the reverend started to battle with “the black dog” of depression.
“It was his unbreakable spirit that kept him coming back and what kept him alive until the age of 79, well beyond the life expectancy of an Indigenous male,” Biritjaluwuy said.
The respected leader spent the years called out the injustices he saw, stating: “They divide us and then they watch us fight amongst ourselves, so we never get to experience what real empowerment and freedom looks like”.
Dr Gondarra alongside journalist Jeff McMullen campaigned against the end of Intervention policies, including speaking to the United Nations about the human rights of Indigenous people.
“This remarkable man of principle was one of the prophetic voices, clear minded and always reasonable, who warned Government that the Northern Territory Intervention would be massively damaging to the rights of the First Peoples,” Mr McMullen said.
“He was never bitter or wallowing in hopelessness but reminded us all that we must heed our moral compass.”
Dr Gondarra came out in opposition to the Voice, saying it was a step backwards from the recognition of the sovereignty of the Yolngu nation, and just more hollow political games.
In his final years Dr Gondarra was co-producing an award-winning documentary about his life’s work, Ḻuku Ngärra: The Law of the Land.
“His fight was beyond the left and right, yes and no, and black and white polarising agendas of the system,” film director and friend Sinem Saban said.
“His fight has been what all great and selfless leaders strive for – the God- given political and spiritual freedom of all humanity.”
Independent representative for Mulka Yingiya Guyula announced his personal mentor’s passing on the floor of the parliament on Thursday.
“In some ways it is not a sad day, because he was here to do exactly what he did,” Mr Guyula said.
“As clan leader, he has left all of his teachings for us to pick up and continue.”
Dr Gondarra is survived by his eldest sister Rose, his children, and grandchildren.
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