Ashburton Aboriginal Corporation was invited to attend the Annual Yule River Bush Meeting. Indigenous leaders from across Western Australia’s Northwest have used the meeting to call on federal and state governments to take a genuine, grassroots approach to dealing with their remote communities.
Nora and Richard Marles
The Yule River bush meeting brings together community leaders from across the Pilbara to discuss the issues and challenges facing their towns, as well as giving them the opportunity to put requests and policy proposals directly to ministers.
With an audience including federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney, her WA counterpart Tony Buti and Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles, the leaders issued a six-point call for action and change on education, health, housing, wellbeing, community safety and systemic reform.
After the official discussion, the Acting Prime Minister took the opportunity to talk to AAC Community Liaison Officer Nora Cooke and a few other Elders from the Pilbara to better understand the needs of the communities in Northwest Australia.
This year’s bush meeting was the first one to be held after the COVID pandemic. Overall, the meeting was a great success and showed how engaged the local stakeholders are to making positive changes in their communities. AAC feels privileged to have been a part of this important meeting.