Anthony Albanese has defended breaking his promise to attend the Garma Festival every year, stating he hasn’t “had a day off all year”. At last year’s event, Albanese vowed to attend the country’s largest Indigenous gathering for as long as he remained prime minister. “I commit here that, every single year that I have the great honour to be Australia’s prime minister, I will be here and engaged with you,” he told the Garma Key Forum. Last week the ABC reported that the prime minister would not travel to the Northern Territory for the festival, which kicks off on July 31. The decision has drawn criticism from Indigenous leaders and opposition figures, who view the commitment as a key demonstration of respect for First Nations peoples.
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Asked whether this constitutes a broken promise, Albanese said, “I haven’t had a day off all year.” “And this weekend, in a few days, I’ll be in another remote part of the Northern Territory,” he said. “I will be on leave at that time, but I will be at another festival in the Northern Territory in the coming days. I’ve been to Garma every year that it’s been held since I’ve been Labor leader in 2019.” Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy will attend the four-day festival in north-east Arnhem Land, ensuring that the government has a senior presence at the event, which is seen as a crucial forum for dialogue between governments and Indigenous communities.
Hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation and the local Yolnu peoples, Garma is a gathering of leaders, families, cultural custodians and guests from across the country and is one of the most significant forums for discussing Indigenous affairs. In a statement, the Yothu Yindi Foundation said: “Mr Albanese is a good friend of the Festival, and has been to every Garma since 2019.” The foundation added that they understand the demands of the prime minister’s schedule and welcomed the attendance of senior ministers. However, some Indigenous leaders have expressed disappointment, arguing that the prime minister’s personal attendance sends an important symbolic message about the priority his government places on Indigenous issues.
