Remarks - Garma Festival

Transcript
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Prime Minister

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Galarrwuy. This is an extraordinary gift. Can I thank the Yolngu people as well for the extraordinary gift. This will take pride of place in my new home. I've moved back into public housing. But that is a very important personal gift. But can I say, and I'll have more to say about this tomorrow, can I thank the dancers for the extraordinary gift that they have just given us. Can I thank, on behalf of the Australian people, the Yolngu people, but also all First Nations people for the extraordinary gift and honour and privilege that non-Indigenous Australians have of living with the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet. We should cherish it. We should be proud of it. We should celebrate it. And we should recognise it in our national birth certificate, the Constitution of Australia. And my Government will be taking up your generous offer of the Uluru statement from the Heart, to walk with First Nations people towards reconciliation, to take that journey, to accept the generous and gracious offer which is beyond what could have been reasonably expected, given the history of this great island continent since 1788. We will walk on that journey. And together, we will get this done. Thank you.