GARMA 2022: Truly Transformational

I was at the last, 2019 GARMA.?The mood then I would best describe as bleak and angry.?The then government was still resisting the opportunity presented to them for a dialogue about the Uluru Statement from the Heart.?The Indigenous Affairs Minister at the time, Hon. Ken Wyatt put constitutional recognition and a version of the voice to parliament back on the national agenda in a speech during Naidoc week. Wyatt, the first Indigenous person to hold the portfolio, promised to work towards holding a referendum on Indigenous recognition within three years.?Three years came and went, but in the meantime a virus, Covid-19, came from nowhere and took over the world, shunning all into our homes and putting a stop to any in person dialogue on constitutional reform on hold.?A referendum did not ensue.

I was delighted to head back to GARMA this year.?After a two years hiatus due to Covid, what a GARMA festival it was.?Held from the 29th of July through to the 1st of August, with over 2,800 delegates congregating on the red sands, camping on the traditional grounds of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people in Yirrkala, about 18km southeast of Nhulunbuy, we witnessed one of the most upbeat GARMAs of our time.?Notably, Yirrkala played a pivotal role in the development of the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians when the document Bark Petition was created at Yirrkala in 1963 and sent to the Federal Government to protest at the Prime Minister's announcement that a parcel of their land was to be sold to a bauxite mining company.

As usual, Garma opened in spectacular style with the Yolngu performing a traditional welcome, known as bunggul. ?The iconic red dirt provided a stunning contrast, as the ancient sound of the yidaki (didjeridoo), rhythm of the bilma (clapsticks), and voices of the Yolngu songmen echoed throughout.?Like bees attracted to nectar, the music and the hospitality drew in the biggest names in Indigenous leadership, politics, non-profits, business and media.?Most notably, the Prime Minister of Australia Hon. Anthony Albanese was greeted to a warm welcome by the Gumatj clan.??

Perhaps Covid allowed Australia to reflect.?The change in the mood of Australian voters who voted in an agenda for climate, integrity and indigenous constitutional reform was clear at GARMA.?As Thomas Mayer, one of the leaders of the Uluru Statement process, said in 2019, "We wrote the Uluru Statement to the Australian people so it wasn't for the Prime Minister to say 'no', it was for the Australian people to get behind." The new is proposing to add three sentences to the Constitution, in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the First Peoples of Australia:

·??????There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

·??????The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to Parliament and the Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

·??????The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

The Prime Minister, in a speech that in my view was comparable to the Keating Redfern speech, was appealing to Australians to put things right through constitutional recognition and a process to enshrine a forum for an indigenous view in Parliament. However, it is clear that further engagement and clarity will be needed before a date for a referendum is set.?But, this should be seen as an exciting opportunity to bring together the views of the various aboriginal communities, the educate and engage non-indigenous communities and to work with leaders of private and public sectors to make history.

EY[1] was one of the first corporates in Australia to come out in support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart[2] which speaks to the work that must be done to bring about real change and secure the social, political and economic future of First Nations people.?As such, our engagement in the conversation and next steps is important.?We look forward to engaging with the wider business community and our people, including our indigenous leaders within EY to continue reaffirming our commitment as EY to advocating for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in Parliament enshrined in the Constitution, thereby not only bringing the wisdom of the oldest continuing civilisation into our nation’s constitution, but creating a formal channel for representations on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to be made to the Parliament and Executive Government.

On a personal note, GARMA has always presented an immense learning opportunity for me, and has helped me deliver on my role leading EY’s reconciliation action plan. It is not unusual for me to meet with, and discuss emerging issues with my counterparts in other corporates, as well as non-profits. This year, I bumped into a very old and dear colleague of mine, Travis Hughes , who is leading transition at AGL.?Our discussion at the ‘health’ session at GARMA must have had something to do with what he did next, which was to buy me a copy of Why Warriors Lie Down and Die by Richard Trudgen.?I read the book on the way back from Arnhem land and am now convinced that preventative health as a policy measure that is developed and implemented by communities will be one of the key cornerstones of closing gaps.?Part of the solution will be to rediscover old knowledge and to treat food as medicine as had been done for thousands of years, and in another part of the world, as Hippocrates once famously said.

[1] https://www.ey.com/au/en/newsroom/news-releases/news-ey-welcomes-the-final-report-of-the-referendum-council

[2] https://www.1voiceuluru.org/the-statement