Lingiari Electorate: Community Events

Ms SCRYMGOUR (Lingiari) (19:35): I rise today to share with you some of the exciting events that have taken place in my electorate over the past few weeks. Just the other week my team and I attended the 2025 Barunga Festival on Bagala country. This was a beautiful celebration of music and culture, bringing people together from all walks of life to celebrate in the rich history and diversity of the Bagala people.

Barunga is a place of politics. It has a long, strong history of advocacy in the Aboriginal rights movement. It was the home of the Barunga Statement, a powerful, gracious document handed to the Commonwealth government in 1988 calling for Indigenous rights and self-determination. The Barunga Statement hangs in this building today, a testament to the strength and perseverance of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The festival is also a huge boost to the local businesses and to the local community, and it was great to see so many groups set up, selling wares and services. These festivals are an important part of the economic autonomy for remote communities, and I'm proud to be part of a federal government that backs them.

Another exciting event that recently took place in my home island community is the Tiwi Islands football grand final. There are not many events like the Tiwi grand final, but this year the event carried greater significance. It was the first year the grand final was held on the same day as the Tiwi Cultural Festival. This was a huge boon for the island and for local businesses but also a fantastic opportunity for people from the community to come together.

Congratulations are in order to the Imalu Tigers. They're not my team, but certainly the Imalu Tigers from the Pirlangimpi community played a terrific game and fought hard for the victory. This was an emotional and a long time in the making. I know for all the Garden Point mob this would've been a special moment, and I want to give a shoutout to the runner-up, the Muluwurri Magpies, who have the same colours as Collingwood, as they were unbeaten all season. For the women's grand final, the magpies were able to bring it home, putting on a fantastic performance. You made Milikapiti proud.

For anyone who has witnessed it, the Tiwi Islands grand final is more than just football, particularly with this year's being held on the same day as the cultural festival. It is about culture, dance, art and the community. Our footy is about culture and art. That is the wonderful thing that makes my home, the Tiwi Islands, the beautiful place that it is. The federal government strongly supported both of these events and the impact, and we certainly have seen the impact that they have had. I was certainly glad to see, for both of these festivals, the federal funding that supported both events to go ahead.

Another event that is coming up in the Northern Territory calendar is the Gurindji Freedom Day Festival. This year will mark 50 years since the then prime minister Gough Whitlam poured the red dirt of the Gurindji country through Vincent Lingiari's hands. This was a momentous occasion. For 50 years the successors of Lingiari have been working to safeguard land rights, particularly in the Northern Territory, to ensure Aboriginal people and their connection to land is protected. The long crusade waged by Vincent Lingiari in the Gurindji is something we must never ever take for granted.

We've seen the Liberals and the Country Liberal Party try and attack our land councils in the Northern Territory. In doing this, they are directly subverting the land rights we fought so hard to achieve. This years 50-year anniversary is a moment to showcase the vibrant history and culture of the Territory, and I'm looking forward to travelling to Kalkarindji in August for this important celebration and sitting down with people. These festivals are beautiful events. They contribute so much to the fabric of the Northern Territory.

For all of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we've been here for countless generations. We know how special and unique our culture is, and all of those communities are certainly proud to celebrate and put it on show for everybody. It is important to show the positive side of our culture with our art and by celebrating that through these festivals. I know there have been many visitors to a lot of these events, and I'm looking forward to going.