NT Australian of the Year, NLC chairman Dr Bush-Blanasi dies aged 61

Long-time Northern Land Council chairman and 2023 NT Australian of the Year Dr Bush-Blanasi has died aged 61.

Northern Land Council chairman Dr Bush-Blanasi. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Long-time Northern Land Council chairman and 2023 NT Australian of the Year Dr Bush-Blanasi has passed away aged 61 following a short illness.

He was surrounded by members of his extended family when he passed away at Royal Darwin Hospital on Sunday.

Dr Bush-Blanasi was a Yolngu man with country in the Blue Mud Bay region of East Arnhem Land and was a claimant in the High Court case of that name that resulted in Traditional Owners taking ownership of 85 per cent of the NT’s intertidal zone.

He was a long-term resident of the Wugularr (Beswick) community east of Katherine.

Dr Bush-Blanasi had been the chairman of the NLC for four terms and had served as an NLC member for nine terms.

He spent decades fighting at the local and national level to empower Indigenous Australians and was an advocate for major land rights and native title claims, bush vote enrolment, education and remote healthcare, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As NLC chairman, Dr Bush-Blanasi was instrumental in securing sea country rights in Arnhem Land for Traditional Owners and the 2022 incorporation the Aboriginal Sea Company. In 2022 he was appointed co-Chair of the interim board to establish the Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation (NTAIC).

He was a long-serving board member of the North Australian Indigenous Land & Sea Management Alliance, a member of the Aboriginal Housing Northern Territory Aboriginal Corporation (AHANT) and ] the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APONT).

He was an accomplished artist and founding member of the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA) and was a founding director of the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association (TEABBA).

Dr Bush-Blanasi was a vocal advocate for the Yes case in last month’s Voice referendum after the Territory’s four land councils came together in support of the proposed constitutional amendment.

Education, domestic violence and the rights of women were all community issues that Dr Bush-Blanasi was proud to take a strong stand on.

He was a strong supporter of the Learning On Country program, a joint venture between the administrators of 17 remote schools, the NLC and Aboriginal ranger groups that provides a pathway between education and employment. In 2022 Learning On Country celebrated its 10th anniversary and Dr Bush-Blanasi looked forward to it being adopted in other communities across Australia.

He was a vigorous campaigner against the scourge of domestic violence in the Northern Territory and he had always promoted the rights and interests of women, particularly within the NLC where women have achieved employment parity with men. In March 2019 he was proud to appoint Marion Scrymgour as the CEO of the NLC, the first such appointment in Australia.

Details of the memorial service for Dr Bush-Blanasi will be advised as they come to hand.