He's a trailblazing spiritual leader, civil rights activist and Dhurili clan leader who has been hailed Australia's Mahatma Ghandi. Now, as Reverend Dr Djiniyini Gondarra prepares the next generation for leadership, he wants Australia to know why he's planning to vote against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
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00:00 A civil rights leader walks the red carpet with a message for Australia.
00:07 Give us back what was lost. Give us back what belonged to us.
00:13 Now nearly 80, there's a new film about the ailing Durruli clan leader's life to pass
00:18 on the flame.
00:20 When he started sharing his life story with me, I just thought wow, we have a Gandhi in
00:27 our own country.
00:29 Australia's first Aboriginal Methodist minister, Dr Gondara, watched his Arnhem Land home change,
00:35 from the mission days to the introduction of welfare and the pain inflicted on his people
00:40 by the NT intervention.
00:42 I don't think you can respect power structures in these communities when clearly those structures
00:48 have failed to deliver.
00:50 You and I are subject to the law. We should be treated equally.
00:59 After travelling the world calling for protection of Indigenous rights through a treaty, Dr
01:03 Gondara remains unconvinced about a voice to parliament.
01:07 Despite consulting on the Uluru Statement from the Heart, he's planning to vote no at
01:12 the upcoming referendum.
01:14 As a leader of the nation and of the church and for my ceremony, I say voice is not going
01:24 to make a difference.
01:26 Whatever leaders make decisions, we follow that. We apply to that. We are subject to
01:35 that rule, the law.
01:39 On Yolngu country, it's an unfolding conversation. At the Garma Festival, these leaders said
01:44 they were supporting a yes vote, but like others in the debate, for Dr Gondara, it's
01:49 treaty or nothing.
01:50 You can't keep on treating me like a little boy or little girl in my own country.
01:58 A call to listen in to a leading voice in the fight for Aboriginal justice.
02:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]