Yunupingu’s words to Anthony Albenese after prime minister vowed to bring in Indigenous Voice

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed that one of the most cherished memories of his life is the last words spoken to him by the recently deceased indigenous land rights crusader Yunupingu.

Speaking from Adelaide on Monday, Mr Albanese called Yunupingu, who died Monday morning aged 75, “one of the greatest Australians”. He is remembered as a ‘giant of the nation’ by the Yothu Yindi Foundation which he chaired.

Yunupingu was “an extraordinary leader not only of the Yolngu people and Indigenous Australians, but of all Australians,” Mr Albanese said.

The prime minister said he met Yunupingu at the Garma Festival held last July at the ancestral home of the Northeast Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land native elder.

Mr Albanese said he had told Yunupingu that his government would continue with an indigenous vote in parliament.

Yunupingu responded by asking, “Are you serious?”.

The prime minister explained that the reaction was “because he (Yunupingu) had been let down so many times in the past.”

“I had the opportunity and great honor to speak with him that afternoon,” Albanese told media.

“He was surrounded by his loved ones and by his community and he said to me that afternoon, and I’ll never forget it, he said to me ‘you were telling the truth’.

“And that was one of the most heartwarming things anyone could have ever said to me in my life.”

Albanese noted that Yunupingu had been “a confidant” of every prime minister, including himself, since Liberal leader Billy McMahon in the early 1970s.

Aboriginal land rights leader Yunupingu died peacefully at his home in Arnhem Land aged 74 (pictured)

“We mourn with his people today and we pay tribute to a lifetime of advocating for the rights of Aboriginal people in this land.” said Mr Albanian.

“He was a major focus in the development of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

“A wonderful, kind request to promote reconciliation in this country and when it happened in 2017, he talked about lighting a fire.

“I think today is a day when I will definitely recommit myself to doing everything I can to make sure that referendum is held at the end of this year.”

Australians will be asked in that referendum whether Indigenous peoples can lodge protests with parliament by the Voice, an advisory group to the federal parliament and executive branch.

Yunupingu (pictured) was a former longtime chairman of the Northern Land Council and advocated for local employment and self-determination

After attending Methodist Bible College in Brisbane after leaving school, Yunupingu acted as a court interpreter for his father in Australia’s first Indigenous title trial, the Gove Land Rights case.

In 1963 he assisted in drafting the first Yirrkala bark petition to be presented to the Australian Parliament.

From 1973 to 1974 he advised the Whitlam Government’s Royal Commission into Land Rights in the NT, and worked with the Fraser Government on the enactment of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.

During this time, along with other Yolngu leaders, he also led the revival of the homeland movement and was a long-time chairman of the Northern Land Council, promoting employment and self-determination for indigenous peoples.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured center right) speaks at Monday’s press conference with South Australian Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas behind him

In 1999 he founded Garma Festival together with his brother.

His daughter Binmila Yunupingu said the family mourned with “deep love and great sadness… the keeper of our sacred fire, the leader of our clan and the pioneer of our future.”

“The loss to our family and community is great. We are hurting, but we honor him and remember with love all he has done for us,” she said.

“We remember him for his fierce leadership and all-out strength for Yolngu and for Aboriginal people across Australia. He always lived by our laws.’

Mr Albanese was at the Osborne Naval Shipyard to hold a joint press conference with South Australian Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas to promote the construction of nuclear submarines there under the AUKUS defense pact with the US and Britain.