‘First Lady’ Jodie Haydon Joins Anthony Albanese on Major Trip, Declaring The Voice WILL Succeed
Anthony Albanese has declared that ‘The Voice’ to Parliament will succeed during a meeting with Aboriginal elders at the Garma Festival, Australia’s largest indigenous cultural gathering.
“I’m here to tell you my word matters, and we’ll let the Australian people know it and together we’ll be able to secure a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum because there’s everything to gain and nothing to lose from this.” ‘ Albanese said.
“I am very sure that the Australians will listen to the kind and generous request of the Australian indigenous people to listen and to undertake this journey of reconciliation.”
‘First Lady’ Jodie Haydon joined Anthony Albanese on his trip to the Garma Festival
During his trip, Mr. Albanese also announced that people in the remote northeast of Arnhem Land will be able to access a $6.4 million tertiary institution to improve their job and learning prospects.
The Yothu Yindi Foundation will receive funds from the Aboriginal Benefit Account for the design and development of the Garma Institute.
The foundation already offers a Yolngu-focused curriculum for school students through the Dhupuma Barker School in Gunyangara, 1,000 km east of Darwin.
The independent bilingual school has driven strong attendance rates and improved educational outcomes.
The institute will provide students with a path to continue their higher education.
Mr. Albanese said it was important for students to be able to live and learn in the country.
“This has been a long aspiration of the Yolngu people,” he said.
“This partnership shows how governments can work together with communities, meeting their needs and helping them realize their full potential.”
Australian Indigenous Minister Linda Burney said the Garma Institute would give Yolngu people the chance to continue their education without having to leave family.
Yothu Yindi Foundation CEO Denise Bowden said it was “innovative and exciting work.”
The benefit account receives money from the Commonwealth based on the value of royalties generated from mining on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory.
The four NT land councils receive money to administer the account, which also provides funds for projects that benefit NT Aboriginal people.
In November last year, Ms Burney announced changes to the benefit account, establishing a new Aboriginal-led Commonwealth corporate entity to manage the process, the NT Aboriginal Investment Corporation.
Ms Burney said that upon establishing the corporation she would shift profit account decision-making from Canberra to NT, a process that began in 2021 under the chairmanship of coalition minister Ken Wyatt.
In 2007, changes to the Land Rights Act meant that while the benefits account’s aboriginal advisory committee could make recommendations, it was the minister who had ultimate control over how and where the money was spent.
Since then, ministers in Labor and coalition governments have been criticized for allocating funds to pet projects outside of advisory committee recommendations and for covering account budget shortfalls.
According to the corporation’s website, it began legal operations on November 15, 2022, and the first concession process under the new system was opened in April.
A spokesperson for Ms. Burney told the AAP that the funds for the Garma Institute had been allocated before the new arrangements took effect.
Consultations with the community and stakeholders on the facility’s curriculum would begin at this year’s Garma Festival.
