State funeral to be held in Darwin for NLC chairman Dr Bush-Blanasi
Popular and effective Northern Territory leader Dr Bush-Blanasi will be buried with full state honours. See what’s planned.
Indigenous Affairs
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A state funeral for late Northern Land Council chairman and former NT Australian of the Year, Dr Bush-Blanasi, will be held in Darwin at 10.30am on Friday December 15.
The location is yet to be determined but it is understood seating will be reserved for immediate family and those attending in an official capacity with all other seating to be in order of arrival.
Further details about the location will be made available when determined.
Mr Bush-Blanasi, 61, died earlier this month after a short illness.
A Yolngu man with country in East Arnhem Land’s Blue Mud Bay region, Dr Bush Blanasi was a claimant in the High Court case that resulted in Traditional Owners taking ownership of 85 per cent of the NT’s intertidal zone.
A long-term resident of the Beswick community east of Katherine, Dr Bush-Blanasi served four terms as NLC chairman and nine terms as an NLC member.
As NLC chairman, Dr Bush-Blanasi helped secure 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.
He was a long-serving board member of the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance, a member of the Aboriginal Housing Northern Territory Aboriginal Corporation and the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory.
He was also an accomplished artist and founding member of the Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists as well as a founding director of the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association.
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 announced as the NT’s 2023 Australian of the Year in November last year.
Anybody hoping to attend the state funeral in an official capacity should contact Protocol NT on 8999 6238 or email protocol.cmc@nt.gov.au by close of business on December 14.
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