Australian leaders gather in Northeast Arnhem Land for Yunupingu memorial
Leaders from across the country have gathered in Arnhem Land to remember the life and legacy of Gumatj Elder Yunupingu. See the photos.
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Leaders of the country, Territory and Northeast Arnhem Land have gathered to remember and celebrate the life of venerated Elder Yunupingu.
Among them was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles and NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy.
The community came together to honour the powerful activist Thursday after he died on April 3 aged 74.
Mr Albanese last week said the country had lost a leader, statesman, painter, dancer, singer and musician in Yunupingu.
“He was Australian of the Year in 1978; a Member of the Order of Australia; a national treasure; a remarkable member of a remarkable family; a great Yolngu man; an extraordinary Australian; and a man who stood tall in his beloved country and worked to lift our entire continent in the process,” he said.
“Yunupingu is gone, but the gurtha, the great tongue of flame and truth with which he spoke to us, is still right here, and it lights the path ahead for us.”
Ms Fyles said Yunupingu’s legacy lay in his strong leadership and advocacy for land rights.
“To Yunupingu’s family I express my sincere condolences on your loss. Our nation has lost a treasure,” she said.
“His leadership, his strength for land rights and justice makes me proud to be a Territorian. Yunupingu was a visionary.
“While his legacy will never be bested, it is my hope that it continues for generations to come.”
Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden in April said the Gumatj leader was a “giant of the nation”.
“He was first and foremost a leader of his people, whose welfare was his most pressing concern and responsibility,” Ms Bowden said.
“His name is synonymous with some of the nation’s most significant events – the Yirrkala Bark Petitions, the Gove Land Rights case, the Land Rights Act, the Barunga Statement, the Native Title Act and the Voice,” she said.
‘Authority, power and grace’: Prime Minister to attend Yunupingu memorial
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney will travel to northeast Arnhem Land this week to celebrate the life of respected Indigenous Elder Yunupingu.
The ministers will attend the influential activist’s public memorial along with Assistant Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy on Thursday following his death last month aged 74.
Speaking to a condolence motion in the federal parliament last week, Mr Albanese remembered Yunupingu as someone who saw the “realisation” of a greater Australia, rather than its reinvention.
“Yunupingu walked in two worlds with authority, power and grace, and he worked to make them whole,” he said.
“Yunupingu understood a fundamental truth: if you want to make your voice count you have to make sure that it is heard.”
Mr Albanese said the Yolngu leader spoke to him at Garma last year after he confirmed the wording for the referendum question on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and asked: “Are you serious this time?”
“When I spoke with him just before the end, on the very day that we announced the words in the legislation that have been brought before this parliament, I told him I was hopeful we would get there,” he said.
“He responded ‘You spoke truth’ — three powerful words that will forever be with me.”
Ms Burney said Yunupingu had “every reason to be sceptical, every reason to not trust government” after witnessing “many broken promises” over the years.
“He fought all his life for his people, for land rights and for the recognition of his people,” she said.
“I hope it gave him some comfort in his final days to know that we have made great progress on what he often described as the most serious business in this country — reconciliation — to finally recognise the 65,000 years of shared history and continuous connection to this land by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”
Ms Burney said Yunupingu helped draft the Yirrkala bark petitions in 1963, acted as an interpreter for Justice Edward Woodward, was recognised as Australian of the year in 1978, and handed the Barunga Statement to then prime minister Bob Hawke in 1988.
“His legacy to us as a nation was a life of truth-telling; of makarrata, a coming together after a struggle; of healing the divisions of the past; of passionate belief in his people and in the Australian people,” she said.
Solomon MP Luke Gosling said he was saddened to hear of Yunupingu’s passing on April 3.
“He was a proud and fierce warrior for his people, he forcefully engaged with power across politics to drive better outcomes for his people,” he said.
Mr Gosling said Yunupingu’s success in developing training facilities and business enterprises on Country was key for economic development across the NT.
“There has been real leadership, and we saw that exemplified with the successful launch of rockets by Equatorial Launch Australia from the Arnhem Space Centre,” he said.
“It really highlights the breadth of Yunupingu’s vision — the Gumatj clan, with Yunupingu’s leadership, are also open to engagement with defence in a variety of ways.
“His people are truly the custodians of the land, the sea and the sky, and I’m proud to be part of a government that is working to finally realise his aspiration at a broader level.”
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the measure of a man was the worth of the thing he cared about.
“Yunupingu cared about many things. He cared about his Yolngu people, he cared about his and their land, he cared about justice,” he said.
“Yunupingu wanted independence for his people, seeing his people as the source of salvation, solutions and self-determination.”
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