Territory teenagers have advocated for the Voice to Parliament at Garma 2023
‘We are not the leaders of tomorrow. Instead we are the leaders of today’. Territory teenagers have taken their stand calling on the adults of Australia to vote Yes. Read their plea.
Northern Territory
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First Nations children have urged older generations to get behind the Voice to parliament, calling on the adults of Australia to vote in the interests of its young leaders.
Yolngu Elder Djapirri Munnungirritj smiled and watched as the children performed traditional dances under the gadayka (stringybark) canopy of the cultural forum on the closing day of Garma on Monday.
“After four days of engagement and interaction, the youth forum of Garma reminds us that they are the future, and the future of the Earth,” she said.
She called on the crowd to listen to the voices of the youth, their care, passions and ambition.
Darwin teenager Tyrell said the change he wanted to see for Australia was right there on the Garma grounds, with the cross cultural, two-way learning between black and balanda (non-Indigenous) people.
While he was years off being able to vote, Tyrell shared his support for the Yes campaign in the upcoming referendum.
“What needs to change is that we need to start looking toward the future, for a brighter start,” the teenager said
“We all live at the same time, we breathe the same air, we walk on the same dirt.
“We need to respect both laws/lores and both cultures.”
“Senior leaders needed to start noticing there is a generation rising up.
“We are not the leaders of tomorrow. Instead we are the leaders of today.”
This call for the voice was echoed by other students from Darwin to Nhulunbuy’s Dhupama Barker school, with Ruby also advocating for a yes vote.
“The voice to parliament is more than a recommendation, it’s hope,” Ruby said.
“It’s hope for a better tomorrow in which we can work together for a balanced nation.”
But the teenagers told the crowd that merely voting yes was not enough.
The youth forum representatives also called for real change to address youth incarceration rates, more cross-cultural exchanges, and for not just the ability to speak – but for the voice of First Nations people to be heard, celebrated and elevated.
The young people were able to share these messages directly with the Prime Minister, when Anthony Albanese visited their section of Garma over the four-day festival.
The youth forum also included Yolngu dyeing, weaving, songwriting drumming, and dancing workshops, and tutorials on augmented reality, robotics, photography and musical sessions with King Stingray and J-Milla.
Darwin student Tamé said seeing Yolngu in language on their Country had opened his eyes to new possibilities as a young Indigenous man.
“The festival has honestly, truthfully changed my life for the better,” he said.
But the children acknowledged that not everyone was lucky enough to attend the Garma Festival, with many remote Territory kids priced out by the cost of flights.
“Perhaps there could be a way for businesses to sponsor a couple of young people,” one young woman told the crowd.
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