Nova Peris (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to pay tribute to a great Northern Territorian and Yolngu leader who passed away last month in north-east Arnhem Land. Last Friday, at Yirrkala, I attended the state memorial service for Mr Wunungmurra. Mr Wunungmurra was born at Yirrkala in 1946. He grew to be a ceremonial leader of the Dhawangu nation of north-east Arnhem Land. His homeland is Gurrumurru. In the Yothu Yindi Foundation's statement on his passing, he was acknowledged as a senior dilak, a friend of all Yolngu people, a careful adviser in difficult times and a man who has shown his people that there is a place for Yolngu people in the future. Yothu Yindi chairman Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu, a cousin and life-long friend, said Mr Wunungmurra was passionate about Yolngu education and employment. He said:

We were sent by our fathers to Methodist Bible College to be leaders of the future. Far from our families we supported each other and began a life-long collaboration on behalf of our people.

My cousin served his people always and was a close adviser to the Yolngu leadership, as well as playing his own role.

He was also a brilliant sportsman and a champion footballer who showed many young Yolngu men how to play the game.

An educator and a teacher at Yirrkala school, Mr Wunungmurra also served with distinction as the chairperson of Layhnapuy Homelands, the Yambirrpa School Council and the Northern Land Council. He was a key player in the establishment of the Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation and was instrumental in forming their cultural integrity policy. He also helped establish Miwatj Aboriginal Legal Service as well setting up the Dhimurru ranger groups. As one of 12 signatories to the landmark 1963 Yirrkala bark petition, and interpreter in the Gove land rights case, Mr Wunungmurra was honoured at the recent Garma Festival for his lifetime of advocacy on behalf of his Yolngu people. The citation of that award described him as one of the greatest of modern Yolngu leaders and a trusted confidante of many.

In 2007, Mr Wunungmurra was elected the chairman of the Northern Land Council, the peak Aboriginal land rights body for the Top End of the Northern Territory, a position in which he served with distinction for two terms. In an open letter to the Northern Territory Chief Minister at the time, Terry Mills, published in the Northern Territory News in 2013, he said:

In 1963 I signed the historic bark petition which opposed the Gove refinery and bauxite mine and started the land rights movement, and which is now displayed in Parliament House, Canberra.

In 2011 I signed the historic mining agreement with Rio Tinto Alcan which guarantees the refinery and bauxite mine for another 42 years.

How the wheel turns!

What was conflict is now agreement, what was dispute is now Yolngu and Balanda people working together.

This was a great achievement.

The current NLC Chairman, Mr Samuel Bush-Blanasi remembered Mr Wunungmurra recently, saying:

In his last report as NLC chairman, Mr Wunungmurra wrote that land and culture underpinned the existence and survival of Aboriginal people, and he said the NT Aboriginal Land Rights Act had to be protected and preserved.

His life was dedicated to land rights, and he was a fierce protector of those rights. My father and this old man worked together at the Northern Land Council. My father is the executive member for West Arnhem at the NLC, and he always spoke fondly of Mr Wunungmurra as chairman. They became great friends as result of their work together. They both believed in the importance of protecting the land rights of everyone in the Top End, and of Aboriginal people across Australia.

He always believed that to walk in two worlds Yolngu children needed a good education. He cared about his people. He understood his people. He was able to deal with his people so well because he had the thoughtfulness and vision for them. Mr Wunungmurra's long-term dream was to see Aboriginal people and their culturally inherited rights enshrined in the Australian constitution. He understood the good that could come from this change. Sadly, he never got the chance to see this dream come true. But his efforts to achieve this goal will never be forgotten. I applaud the Northern Territory government for offering his family a state memorial service. I will end with one of Mr Wunungmurra's favourite quotes:

Do not walk behind me, as I may not lead.

Do not walk in front of me, as I may not follow.

Walk beside me and we can truly walk together.

Every Yolngu child can live their dreams. But they must learn to walk in two worlds.

My deepest condolences go to his family, his friends, the Yolngu people and his colleagues at the Northern Land Council.