Gurrumul’s manager withdraws bid to manage estate as third wife emerges

The Public Trustee will temporarily take control of late Territory music legend Gurrumul’s estate after the internationally acclaimed Yolngu singer’ friend and former manager bowed out of administering his assets.

THE Public Trustee will temporarily take control of late Territory music legend Gurrumul’s estate after the internationally acclaimed Yolngu singer’ friend and former manager bowed out of administering his assets.

Mark Grose had applied in the Supreme Court to administer Gurrumul’s estate based on a will that bequeathed half his posthumous income to his daughter, Jasmine Yunupingu, and the other half to his Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation.

But Mr Grose sought leave to withdraw the application on Wednesday after Justice Judith Kelly ruled there were others, including Gurrumul’s wife and de facto partner, who may have a legitimate claim to the estate.

Mr Grose’s lawyer, Christine Osborne, told Justice Kelly her client had made his original application “on the basis of the wishes communicated to him” by Gurrumul but had not appreciated the legal issues involved.

“My client’s got no resources to pursue the rabbit holes that you have recommended so my client doesn’t feel equipped to continue with the application and has made the incredibly difficult decision to withdraw the application,” she said.

“He doesn’t have the resources, emotionally or legally, to continue with this and there’s going to be some issues in relation to people that he’s very close to and so it’s really not appropriate for him to pursue the application.”

Jasmine Yunupingu’s lawyer, Sean Bowden, said he had learned there was potentially a third wife/de facto partner who may have an interest in the estate, which could be accommodated under Territory law.

Gurrumul’s estate will be transferred to the Public Trustee.

“It does allow an applicant to revert to traditional law and custom which may be entirely applicable in this situation, given the traditional society, the Yolngu society, from which the deceased comes,” he said.

“People know each other, people are close to each other and there’s a concern here to do this carefully and diligently and ensure that things are done right and the full community is in behind the final decision.”

In appointing the Public Trustee as interim administrator, Justice Kelly said Mr Grose should remain in the position while he transferred the assets and all interested parties were notified of the ruling.

“He might have to stay on the record for that interim period of time,” she said.

“He has been intermeddling in the affairs of the estate for five years and I don’t think he can just drop the bundle without handing it over, I don’t think that would be fair or just.”

Gurrumul died in 2017 before his final album, Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow), made Australian chart history by becoming the first Indigenous-language album to debut at number one.

The case returns to court on April 27.