Doorstop, Garma Festival

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Thanks very much. As I said in my address, it really is an honour to be here and to be so graciously welcomed by the Yolŋu, by the Gumatj. It is also a great honour to be here with my friend and colleague Malarndirri McCarthy, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, and I was pleased to lead a delegation of very senior ministers covering many different portfolios, and it is an opportunity to engage, to learn, and to come together. As I spoke about, we were also pleased to welcome Pacific Island representatives here to Garma. And I made the point that Australia is made stronger by recognising the connections between First Nations Australians and the people of the Pacific and of Southeast Asia, and by building on those connections. And we saw an example of that today. I'm very pleased to be part of it. It's a great honour to be here. Happy to take questions.

Journalist: Firstly, just to the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, you just heard a call from the community here for a breakaway land council representing the Dilak clans in North-East Arnhem Land. You're the decision maker on this. What will your decision be?

Malarndirri McCarthy, Minister for Indigenous Australians: I'm very aware that North-East Arnhem Land has been thinking about this for many years. I think it's important to hear what Djawa had to say today and it's also important to hear what the Northern Land Council has to say. There'll be obviously formal processes that need to be followed under the Commonwealth Aboriginal Land Rights Act, which I will obviously wait until I have a formal request.

Journalist: If you've had all the clan leaders here saying this is what they want, and you've had Pacific leaders here that you've been telling this First Nations foreign policy approach, you respect the wishes of the Traditional Owners, haven't the Traditional Owners here just spoken?

Minister for Indigenous Australians: They have, that's what I just said. I've just heard from them, but there are also other Traditional Owners from the surrounding areas of the Northern Land Council that I need to hear from. And I think it's really important that the Dilak have come forward publicly now to say what they'd like to do. We're seeing massive change here in North-East Arnhem Land with the closure of Rio Tinto, a re-setting if you like and what the future might look like here and I think it's an exciting time.

Journalist: Do you appreciate Malarndirri that over recent years there's been criticisms that the Northern Land Council has been too slow in delivering land tenure to Traditional Owner groups and a group like the Dilak Land Council could help in skipping that middleman essentially?

Minister for Indigenous Australians: I think we are a lot of steps ahead of ourselves at the moment Matt. I think today has been significant in the way in which Djawa Yunupiŋu expressed the wishes of the North-East Arnhem Land Traditional Owners. He expressed it by thanking the Northern Land Council Chair, Matty Ryan, for protecting the Traditional Owners and I think that is a really important point in all of this. There was absolute respect and I think that was important too, because they know that there's still many steps to go before anything is official. But as this festival is all about this weekend with Bukmak, it's about everyone together. And that is really the key message here, is how do we move forward together with all these different requests?

Journalist: Is there a possibility that this will lead to further schisms, other groups wanting to make their own land councils as well?

Minister for Indigenous Australians: Well, let's just deal with the Dilak Council here. They've been in place for many decades in terms of an awareness by Western governments, if you like, but they've obviously been around for thousands of years in terms of Yolŋu culture and the way that Yolŋu Law has taken place. So, let's just take our time with working through this place, one step at a time.

Journalist: May I ask, are you worried that in principle that a breakup of this current land council system could mean a breakup of power?

Minister for Indigenous Australians: It doesn't worry me when First Nations people have aspirations. I think it's really important that we listen to what those aspirations are. We've just heard here today how First Nations people want to look forward and I don't think we should be afraid of that.

Journalist: Is the current system working well enough, do you believe, or are there too many delays within the Northern and Central Land Councils?

Minister for Indigenous Australians: Let's remember this is 50 years. 50 years since the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. More than 30 of that was fighting governments, in particular the conservative government, the CLP of the day, to fight them. If you look at my example of the Yanyuwa, it took us nearly 40 years of that 50 to actually claim that land back. So, when a people spend so much time struggling in the courts, you can understand why there would be frustration post the win as to what they do next. So, it's not that easy, Matt. There's some real complexities here that I need to deal with.

Journalist: Much of what is represented here at this festival in terms of Indigenous funding, in terms of the legislation that underpins things like land rights and Native Title are actually things that One Nation wants to dismantle if it was to ever win government in this country. What's your message to them?

Minister for Indigenous Australians: I say to the people of Australia, stand strong together in solidarity. We are a country that's multicultural. We are a country that has many First Nations clan groups. We are a country embracing our Pacific brothers and sisters. That's who we are, and that's who we should be proud of.

Journalist: Can I ask the Foreign Minister quickly, how do our strategic partners view Indigenous engagement, and are there plans to expand that?

Foreign Minister: I actually was looking at what Prime Minister Matthew Wale, the newly elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, said. He said that the respect we show, that Australia shows its first people, shows that Australians respect Pacific Islanders. I think that says everything.

Journalist: Luke Gosling is here today. Do you continue to back him, to hold the role of Special Envoy?

Foreign Minister: Luke's entitled to the same legal process that you would be entitled to in this situation and I'm sure that legal process will work through as well.

Journalist: And you back him in keeping the role at this time?

Foreign Minister: I think he's entitled to the same assumptions and presumptions that every Australian has. Okay, thank you.