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NT indigenous leaders seek meeting with PM

Lindsay Murdoch

4 August 2007 - Galarrwuy Yunupingu, former head of the Northern Land Council, said Aboriginal leaders from areas targeted in the intervention had decided to jointly call for the meeting because "it's quite a worrying time in the communities".

Mr Yunupingu said more than 30 indigenous leaders gathering at the Garma cultural festival in north-east Arnhem Land this weekend are united in their opposition to the way the Government is seizing control of the communities after an inquiry documented the widespread sexual abuse of indigenous children in the Northern Territory.

"We want to urge the Prime Minister to take on proper leadership … He has failed every step of the way since the announcement that the Government was taking control of the communities and our children," Mr Yunupingu said.

"He hasn't shown his face — we want to meet face to face with him," he said. "We want to sort out these problems together with the Prime Minister."

The meeting at the Garma site in bushland overlooking the Gulf of Carpentaria includes Patrick Dodson, known as the "father of reconciliation"; Pat Turner, one of Australia's most senior Aboriginal bureaucrats; Jackie Huggins, co-chairwoman of Reconciliation Australia; and Jack Ah Kit, a former NT government minister.

Mr Yunupingu, a former Australian of the Year, said he summoned the leaders to Garma because it was a deeply cultural place where "all the spirits are united".

It was the first time the territory's most senior indigenous leaders had met to discuss the intervention.

Today, the leaders will prepare a letter for Mr Howard detailing what they describe as their serious concerns, including what they see as an attack on land rights, lack of consultation and the scrapping of the permit system.

Olga Havnen, another prominent indigenous leader in the NT, said elders were upset that neither Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough nor Mr Howard had formally responded to concerns about the intervention that were detailed by a coalition of 60 Aboriginal, church and non-indigenous groups in Canberra on June 26.

Ms Havnen said the Government was rushing to pass legislation next week that would allow it to take control of 73 communities without any direct consultation with the people who would be affected.

"We want to fix the problems together … why won't they talk with us?" she said.

Mr Yunupingu said the Government had jeopardised its own ability to "have a process of goodwill" with people in the communities.

Mr Brough was scheduled to attend Garma, one of Australia's most prominent indigenous festivals, but cancelled.

More than 2000 people are attending the five-day festival hosted by Mr Yunupingu's Yolngu people.

Yolngu means "both ways learning", which organisers say implies a need for balance and negotiation.

Source: The Age

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