Albanese accused of using Garma as ‘performative opportunity’ after damning Closing The Gap findings
Labor has been accused of using the nation’s biggest festival of Indigenous culture to spruik talking points, rather than address hardships facing Aboriginal people.
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Labor has been accused of using the nation’s biggest festival of Indigenous culture to spruik talking points rather than address the hardships facing Aboriginal people, particularly in the Northern Territory.
Three years after using the 2022 Garma festival to launch the Voice Referendum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised by his once allies, the co-architects of the Uluru Statement.
On Friday co-chairs Megan Davis and Pat Anderson released a joint statement accusing Labor of using Garma as a “performative opportunity for the government to repeat their talking points” while ignores the failure detailed in the latest Closing The Gap report.
“Our children are being locked up, our elders are dying, and our people are continuing to live in a country where their rights are neglected,” Ms Davis and Ms Anderson said in a joint statement.
“Their voices and calls for help are falling on deaf ears.”
Their rebuke comes after the Closing The Gap report stated that Australia was set to miss its 2031 targets, with national trends going backwards for Indigenous incarceration, children’s development, children in out-of-home care and suicide rates were worsening.
Ms Davis and Ms Anderson said the results should come as no surprise, following the rejection of the Voice referendum.
“During the referendum campaign, one slogan was ‘a vote No was a vote for the status quo’ — and here we are,” they said.
They said their people would not “lap up” the government’s talking points at this year’s Garma festival.
“This isn’t about Garma, it is about the disappointment we feel this week … at the sheer magnitude of how different this year could have been if we had a Voice,” they said.
Mr Albanese has faced pressure to introduce consequences for states and Territories in their failure to comply with the Closing The Gap agreement, with Ms Davis and Anderson asking “where is the accountability?”.
“The agreement is not legal, and it is not binding,” they said.
The Northern Territory — where Garma is hosted — is once again the worst performing jurisdiction, going backwards on eight of the 15 recorded targets.
The Closing The Gap report found Aboriginal women were dying earlier, there were more babies in an unhealthy birthrate and kids not on the right developmental track, lower preschool enrolments, and less young people in school, education or training, fewer adults in employment and more adults and children in prison.
In the opening address to the Garma Festival, Gumatj Corporation board member and operations co-ordinator Michael Yunupingu said while there were Aboriginal-led solutions out there, the hardships facing his people was “relentless”.
“From growing up in an environment where substance abuse and unemployment is the norm, to family humbug and never ending funerals to experiencing too many losses of our family members for health issues that could have been prevented,” Mr Yunupingu said.
“These are the things that confront us right now, it is relentless, it is never ending and it is mentally draining.
“To break this cycle takes a lot of work, dedication, and support from the right people.”
“To break generations of inequality and inequity takes even more work.”
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare acknowledged more was needed to get education targets on track, highlighting upcoming reforms to remove the activity test for early childhood education, easier Indigenous teacher qualification pathways, and a “Gonski” type approach to university education to improve Indigenous completion rates.
Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory chief executive John Paterson highlighted that alongside the Closing The Gap findings, the 2025 NAPLAN results showed that Territory students have gone backwards in nearly every indicator.
Dr Paterson said about 70 per cent of Indigenous students required extra support compared to about 10 per cent of non-Indigenous students.
He said he was deeply concerned by the latest Closing The Gap report, warning the NT was “being left behind”.
“The NT is home to some of the highest levels of disadvantage in the country, yet too many targets are going backwards,” Dr Paterson said.
“Every Australian deserves access to safe, quality health care and education.
“We wouldn’t accept these conditions elsewhere, and we should not accept them for Aboriginal people in the NT.”
Dr Paterson said the Closing The Gap justice targets were expected to worsen, with prison and youth detention rates spiking following ‘tough on crime’ reforms.
Freedom of Information requests exposed there were 19 incidents where young people self harmed while in police watch houses in six months.
Children’s Ground Chair William Tilmouth said the “situation was especially stark” in the Territory, with the data following “disturbing developments” with tough law and order laws being rushed through parliament.
“The Northern Territory and Australian governments continue to delay progress, even when it comes at no cost to them,” Mr Tilmouth said.
“This reality is killing our people and our culture.
“Our children continue to be locked up and our families put under enormous stress.”
Mr Tilmouth said “government inertia” was stalling meaningful investment in community-led solutions.
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