In brief
- The Northern Territory town of Nhulunbuy faces an uncertain future as major companies depart and jobs dry up.
- Woolworths is considering closing its Nhulumbuy store, where food has to be brought in by boat.
Wanyubi Marika feels a heavy responsibility as he swaps the golden sands of Yolgnu country for the polished boards of Parliament House.
As his Rirratjingu Clan delegation meets with federal ministers to help secure the future of his town in remote north-east Arnhem Land, there are already signs the population and services are shrinking.
"There's a bit of a fear for Nhulunbuy to die," Wanyubi Marika told SBS News.
Nhulunbuy, on the Northern Territory's Gove Peninsula, faces an uncertain future as Rio Tinto winds down its bauxite mine — the town's biggest employer that's underwritten the local economy for decades.
According to the last Census in 2021, the population was just over 3,000 people, and the area is home to 13 Yolgnu Aboriginal clans, including Rirratjingu, who have responsibility for Nhulunbuy itself.
The town is a hub for a network of other small communities and homelands. Local clans estimate Nhulunbuy serves up to 10,000 people.
The mine's closure is expected to trigger an exodus of Balanda — non-Indigenous people — from the area.
But while there are big plans to lean into cultural tourism and a range of economic developments from fuel stations to property sales, a grim reality for Nhulunbuy is biting.
While the mine was operating, Woolworths opened a supermarket in the town, bringing the food in by ocean barge on a painstaking journey.
In such a tiny and far-flung place, the supermarket has been an important drawcard in attracting mine workers along with Balanda staff for essential jobs in health services, education and policing.
Bilingual education leader Yalmay Marika-Yunupingu, who is also part of the Canberra delegation, is really worried that Woolworths may walk away, leaving kids without healthy food.
"We don’t want to lose Nhulunbuy, we want Woolies to stay," she said.
"People rely on the supermarket."
'Our most difficult store to access'
Rio Tinto says it's winding up mining operations by the end of the decade, though Woolworths is looking to find another organisation to take over its operations in Nhulunbuy much sooner.
"Nhulunbuy is one of our most remote stores. All stock is delivered by ocean barge, making it our most difficult store to access," a Woolworths spokesperson said.
"Our store was established to serve the community that grew around the local mine. With Rio Tinto's planned exit, we are considering how the mine's closure will impact our store's viability."
The major Australian supermarket is in talks with an organisation it has not named, about handing over its store next year in a phased transition.
"We are in close consultation with our Nhulunbuy team members and traditional owners, and we understand the importance of providing certainty for our customers and team as soon as we can," the spokesperson said.
Part of Rirratjingu Clan delegation's visit to Capital Hill is about lobbying the federal government to help encourage Woolworths to stay.
They also want the government to commit to providing essential services to the town, and supporting its economic future.
The Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy, who is a federal senator representing the Northern Territory including Arnhem Land, knows the region's potential and limitations.
She was among a string of Cabinet ministers who met with the clan representatives.
"Minister McCarthy was pleased to meet with the board of Rirratjingu in Canberra last week and recognises their strong advocacy on behalf of the Nhulunbuy region," a government spokesperson said.
"The federal government is committed to working with Yolŋu Traditional Owners and the Northern Territory Government to ensure a positive future for Nhulunbuy."
'I would like people to stay'
The federal government first approved mining on the Arnhem Land Reserve in 1963, sparking a wave of protest from the Yolgnu clans over a lack of consultation and consent.
In response,13 clans wrote the Yirrkala bark petitions and sent them to Canberra, expressing their unhappiness that a deal had been made without them and that it encroached on sacred sites.
The clans unsuccessfully tried to take the mining company, then Nabalco, to the NT Supreme Court.
But they did manage to make change.
Their advocacy led to the Northern Territory creating the first land rights legislation in Australia.
Wanyubi Marika, Yalmay Yunupingu and founding member of the Yothu Yindu band Witiyana Marika all travelled to Canberra for the meetings and visited the the historic petition's public display — under low light to preserve the delicate documents.
Witiyana Marika has travelled the world with Yothu Yindi, spreading a message about land rights that sprang directly from his own community experiences.
"My vision, accepted through protest, was not to desecrate sacred sites," he said. "We have rights, the founding fathers of the land rights stood and fought."
But he wants to create a community where Balanda people feel comfortable remaining, rather than leaving with the mine.
"I would like to see our people, our family, Balanda people, to stay," he said. "That's their home and they have a business, and we would like to have Balanda families in our arms and beside us, not to go."
He says the continued forced removal of children and youth incarceration also needs to be addressed by the Territory and federal governments.
"The other thing I would like to see the health department the government, to ban, or just not steal the babies from their mothers and taken away now," he said.
"As well, young, young juveniles are put in jail for no reason."
As chairperson of Rirratjingu Aboriginal Corporation, Wanyubi Marika hopes mine site regeneration will bring good jobs and that the region can be rebranded as an international tourism destination for those wanting to experience life among descendants of the world's oldest continuous culture.
"We are private sector, we invest locally, but governments need to provide the essential services, schools and roads," he said.
"We have a vision to show ourselves, investing for our economic survival."
"We want to be heard. This is our voice now. Always was, always will be," Wityana Marika added.
For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.
