The broken promise that has loomed over 25 years of Garma

Australia Broadcast Center

31-07-2025

From the pain of a broken political promise and one community's desire to push forward, the Garma festival was born.
Warning: This story contains images of Indigenous people who have died.
The event, now celebrating its 25th year, will this weekend draw thousands of people from across Australia and around the world to a remote corner of Arnhem Land.
The Yolŋu people have for decades been tireless fighters for land rights, economic empowerment, and First Nations decision-making, but know more must be done.
From the Gumatj clan's ceremonial grounds, the festival has become a powerful political platform, where the nation's leaders come to listen.
"We are still here, our languages, our clan languages are still strong, we still dance, it's been passed down for thousands of years," Yolŋu elder Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs said.
The prime minister and several of his senior ministers are expected to attend this weekend, along with representatives from the NT government and leaders of key national and state agencies.
This year's festival comes at a time when many First Nations communities are once again searching for a way forward.
On the minds of many is the lack of progress following the 2023 rejected Voice referendum, rising deaths in custody, and Closing the Gap targets that are not being met.
Governments in Queensland and the Northern Territory have wound back treaty and truth-telling processes, and tough-on-crime policies are leading to a rise in youth incarceration.
Just three years ago, Anthony Albanese came to Garma to announce the words that would be put to the Australian public at the Voice referendum, underlining his desire for change.
The Yolŋu leaders at Garma played a key role in advocating for constitutional reform and the Voice in recent years, seeing it as a key in their fight for equity and agency.
But the Last year on festival grounds, Mr Albanese said "together, we gave our all, and we fell short," but promised his government "remained committed to Makarrata".
Makarrata is a Yolŋu word, now used to refer to a truth-telling, healing, and justice process, is one of the unfulfilled desires of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
But since then, there has been no clear direction from the Albanese government about when or what that looks like.
"A lot of people are still thinking about treaty, referendum, but [this year], mostly I think conversation will be on education," Ms Ganambarr-Stubbs said.
The Yolŋu elder has fought for decades for on-country learning and language programs.
"There are little communities right across north-east Arnhem Land, that have no jobs, or people can't find jobs," she said.
"There is a problem with literacy and lack of English, and we have always wanted to change that."
At last year's festival, the prime minister said the government would switch its focus in Indigenous policy towards the economic empowerment of First Nations communities.
He also pledged $20 million for a new tertiary education centre to be led by Yolŋu people and called the Garma Institute.
The festival's theme this year is "law of the land standing firm".
It is run by the Yothu Yindi foundation, which represents the five clans of the Yolŋu people — Gumatj, Rirratjingu, Djapu, Galpu, Wangurri.
It shares its name with the popular band, whose founding members were also integral in setting up the community organisation.
Djawa Yunupingu is now the foundation's chairman and wrote about the original aspiration of the festival's organisers in this year's welcome brochure.
"My brothers stood on the escarpment at Gulkula, looked out and said: 'This is our place, a place of our ancestors, our father's country, and we should celebrate this place," he wrote.
His brothers, Mandawuy Yunupingu and Galarrwuy Yunupingu, were Australians of the Year who were propelled onto the national stage with their band Yothu Yindi.
Garma was born in 1999, about eight years after the band had released their hit single, Treaty, and more than a decade on since First Nations people had been promised one by the nation's leader.
"It was a time when it was painful to drive the Central Arnhem Highway to Barunga, because it reminded us too much of the hollow words of a prime minister," Djawa Yunupingu wrote.
That prime minister was Labor leader Bob Hawke, who in 1988 told a gathering at Barunga Festival in the Northern Territory, "There will be a treaty."
"Only to walk away from us, like his words were writing in the sand," wrote Mr Yunupingu.
"In our law, words of promise are sacred, so from that disappointment, my brothers wanted to start something new and make a new pathway."
The community refused to let broken political promises hold them back, said Denise Bowden, Yothu Yindi chief executive.
"In terms of how our community leads, we lead and we're prepared to be at the table to talk through any of those challenging incidents," she said.
"I think the success story for this region is we don't wait for policymakers to implement these decisions, we move ahead as best we possibly can."
The Garma festival has been designed to celebrate the strength and survival of the Yolŋu people's culture and customs, and celebrate the creative success of their small community.
But, despite their national leadership and abundant talent, the Yolŋu people are burdened by poor health and social outcomes.
Their people are expected to die younger and poorer than non-Indigenous Australians, their children less likely to finish school or get jobs.
"You will feel some of this grief in the air at Garma this year as Yolŋu people face up to the loss of special people who leave us too young and too often," wrote Mr Yunupingu.
The community has pushed ahead with trying to bring reforms to their people, and with each festival hope those who come to listen will help them bring about change.
The festival will attract important leaders, but Denise Bowden hopes they do more than just listen to the story and struggle of the Yolŋu people.
"It's really important to listen, but it's also important to do. I sometimes feel we overlook the action part of our society.
"We tend to find things too hard in the Indigenous affairs, but the doing part is really important."