‘First lady’ Jodie Haydon joins Anthony Albanese on an important journey – where he declares that The Voice WILL succeed

Anthony Albanese has stated that ‘The Voice’ will succeed to Parliament in meeting with Aboriginal elders at the Garma Festival – Australia’s largest Indigenous cultural gathering.

“I’m here to tell you that my word matters and we will put it to the Australian people and together we will succeed in securing a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum because there is everything to gain and nothing to lose. ,’ Albanian said.

“I have every confidence that Australians will heed the gracious and generous request of Indigenous Australians to listen and embark on that journey of reconciliation.”

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 employment and learning opportunities.

The Yothu Yindi Foundation receives funding from the Aboriginal Benefit Account for the design and development of the Garma Institute.

The foundation already offers a Yolngu-focused curriculum to students through the Dhupuma Barker School in Gunyangara, 1,000 km east of Darwin.

The independent bilingual school has led to strong attendance rates and improved educational outcomes.

The institute will provide the students with a pathway to continue their higher education.

Mr Albanese said it is important that students can live and learn on the land.

“This has been a long aspiration of the Yolngu people,” he said.

“This partnership shows how governments can work alongside communities, meet their needs and help them realize their full potential.”

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said the Garma Institute would give the Yolngu people the chance to continue their education without having to move away from family.

Denise Bowden, general manager of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, said it was “pioneering and exciting work.”

The benefit account receives money from the Commonwealth based on the value of royalties generated by mining on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory.

The four NT land councils receive money for administration of the account, which also funds projects that benefit the NT Aboriginal people.

Last November, Ms Burney announced changes to the benefit bill, creating a new Aboriginal-led corporate Commonwealth entity to manage the process, the NT Aboriginal Investment Corporation.

Ms Burney said at the time that the creation of the company would shift decision-making over the benefits bill from Canberra to the NT, a process that began in 2021 under Coalition Secretary Ken Wyatt.

In 2007, changes to the Land Rights Act allowed the Aboriginal benefit bill advisory committee to make recommendations, but left the minister with ultimate control over how and where the money was spent.

Since that time, Labor ministers and coalition governments have been criticized for allocating funds to pet projects outside of the advisory committee’s recommendations and for filling budget deficits from the bill.

According to the company’s website, it started legal on November 15, 2022, and the first grant process under the new system started in April.

A spokesperson for Ms Burney told AAP that the funds for the Garma Institute were allocated before the new arrangements came into effect.

Consultation with the community and stakeholders on the facility’s curriculum would begin at this year’s Garma Festival.