Peter Dutton cites late land rights giant Yunupingu in his arguments against the Indigenous voice

Peter Dutton has come under fire for using the late land rights giant Yunupingu as an example of what can be achieved without an Indigenous voice to parliament.

Yunupingu speaking at Garma in 2019. Picture: Melanie Faith Dove

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has cited the late land rights giant Yunupingu as an example of what can be achieved without an Indigenous voice to parliament, saying he wants the clan boss’ leadership and the leadership of those around him to be replicated around Australia.

The remarks have stunned Indigenous leaders who know Yunupingu’s long and difficult struggles to be heard by Prime Ministers over decades, including when he asked the Morrison government for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. Yunupingu’s successes in creating an economy for his people were tempered by their serious health problems, their low life expectancy and the inconsistency of bureaucrats and governments from both sides of politics. He met every Prime Minister from Robert Menzies on and famously said of politicians: “They do not listen because they do not have to”.

The Gumatj clan leader died on his Arnhem Land homelands in April aged 73, having lived 23 years longer than the average Gumatj man.

In arguing against the voice on Wednesday, Mr Dutton said: “East Arnhem Land for example, they‘ve got a 90 per cent attendance rate at school. They’ve got a logging company. They’ve got a building company. They’ve got housing”.

“They’ve got a functioning society and in that instance it’s the leadership demonstrated by Yunupingu and others around him over a long period and we want that replicated elsewhere,” Mr Dutton said.

“We don’t want money diverted away from people most in need, particularly children, in Indigenous communities and there are many other reasons why this (voice) is not going to be the panacea for Indigenous Australians and I think instinctively that’s where millions of Australians, the majority of Australians, including now four out of 10 Labor voters who are voting against the voice, have landed.”
Dutton’s remarks have caused disquiet in northeast Arnhem Land.

Yunupingu’s younger brother Djawa Yunupingu, who has succeeded him as chair of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, told The Australian: “It saddens our family to see my brother’s name and legacy twisted like this”.

Yunupingu was a member of Anthony Albanese’s referendum working group for the voice in the final months of his life. Djawa and other senior cultural leaders from the local DIlak council in northeast Arnhem Land hope for a successful referendum on Saturday.

“He (Yunupingu) was a strong advocate for the voice, and Mr Dutton knows that,” Djawa said.
“He heard the same message loud and clear when he met with the 13-clan leadership of the Dilak Council, who also support a voice.”

Northern Territory health data published in 2020 found that in East Arnhem Land, where Yunupingu was born, lived and died, 58 per cent of people were in overcrowded housing and 29 per cent were homeless. In East Arnhem Land the median age at death of Aboriginal people is 54.5 years.

Asked about Mr Dutton’s comments in Adelaide, Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney said: “I am shocked at that statement. Yunupingu spent his entire life fighting for his people, fighting for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across this country and also advocating a voice to the parliament”.

“Quite frankly, Peter Dutton should apologise for taking the name of Yunupingu in vain,” she said.

“The idea that there isn‘t disadvantage in Arnhem Land, in north east Arnhem Land is patently ridiculous. Peter Dutton has no right. No right at all to use the name of Yunupingu in that way.”