The government will forge forward towards a referendum, despite avid pressure from No campaigns to abandon the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
In his keynote address at Garma Festival on Saturday, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his dedication to achieving a successful referendum by the end of the year.
“Today I can promise all of you, and all Australians, there will be no delaying or deferring this referendum," he said.
“We will not deny the urgency of this moment. We will not kick the can down the road. We will not abandon substance for symbolism, or retreat to platitudes at the expense of progress.
“Prime Ministers and Governments may have come and gone but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been very clear.
“The form of constitutional recognition they are seeking is a Voice."
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What is Garma and how did it begin?
He said the Voice was about "advice" that will ensure government "benefits from the perspectives and experience of people on the ground".
"So we listen to communities, make better decisions and achieve better results.
"Here at Garma, you don't need to imagine what that would look like. You can see it, all around you."
Mr Albanese said despite having "no guarantee of success", there was no "reason to delay".
"It's why we have to hold on to the courage of our convictions," he said.
Taking aim at the No campaign
The Prime Minister acknowledged the No camp, taking aim at Peter Dutton.
Mr Dutton is not attending the festival, nor did he in 2022. On Wednesday, Mr Albanese propositioned Mr Dutton with an invitation to travel with him to Garma, which was not taken up.
“There are some in the No camp, including the Leader of the Federal Liberal Party, who say they support Constitutional Recognition but only a legislated Voice," Mr Albanese said.
“Not only does this mean rejecting the form of recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have requested.
“Their commitment to legislate a Voice also undermines every other argument they make against it."
He noted that the entire reason for recognition through the Voice, was so that it "can't simply be abolished by the stroke of a pen".
“So it will have [the] stability to plan for the long-term, for the generational challenges we are facing but also the generational progress we can make, for lasting national unity.
“So it will have [the] stability to plan for the long-term, for the generational challenges we are facing but also the generational progress we can make, for lasting national unity," he said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Bungul on Friday afternoon. Credit: Tamati Smith/Getty Images
Honouring Yunupingu
In his address, the Prime Minister honoured the legacy and life of his friend, Yunupingu.
Yunupingu was one of the founders of Garma festival, establishing the first at Gulkula in 1999. The staunch land rights activist, and Yolngu Elder passed away in April.
This is the first Garma without him.
Mr Albanese acknowledged his absence, saying he's a "man its hard to imagine Garma without".
“Even as I look out on this crowd, I somehow expect to see him looking back," he said.
“Yunupingu walked in two worlds: with authority, power and grace. And he sought, always, to make those two worlds whole.”
At Garma Festival in 2022, Mr Albanese confirmed his government's promise of a referendum and announced the draft wording for the question Australians will vote on.
He recited an exchange between the pair, saying Yunupingu had asked him "Are you serious?"
"And in our last conversation, on the very last day, that I stood alongside the Referendum Working Group to announce the clear proposition that every Australian will be voting on, he told me: 'You spoke truth'."
Mr Albanese said Yunuipingu’s aspirations, the “embrace of both” cultures for the “betterment of both” was the same aspiration as the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
“Even in expressing the most fundamental and elemental hope every parent has for their child: the chance to flourish, the opportunity of a better life even in that moment, there is still that spirit of generosity to others, the offer of a gift to us all,” he said.
“The understanding that both our worlds have so much to gain from listening to each other, learning from each other, working together.”
Mr Albanese concluded his address, making one last attempt at pushing for a successful referendum.
"This year, on referendum day, the power to reach for a better Australia is in our hands," he said.
"Let's vote yes for recognition, let's vote yes for a Voice and let's vote yes for the better future that both will deliver, for all of us."
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