NAIDOC Week 2024
(delivered as a video message)
Hello to you all.
This NAIDOC Week, I’m joining you from Government House in Yarralumla, on the lands of the traditional custodians, the Ngunnawal, and I pay my respects to their elders past and present and extend that respect to other families with connection to the country.
In Adelaide over the weekend the winners of the National NAIDOC Week Awards were announced.
In a week of celebrations around the country, the NAIDOC Week Awards are an opportunity to acknowledge the very best contributions and excellence of First Nations people.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 National NAIDOC Week Awards.
In your leadership you exemplify what it means to care. Care for country, for people, for communities and beyond.
I’m delighted to share with the country the full list of winners, many of whom I’ve known for many years or who have connections Simeon’s and my family.
The winner of the most important award – the Lifetime Achievement Award – is Auntie Dulcie Flower AM, who is recognised for her advocacy and community development.
We celebrate, too, Aunty Muriel Bamblett, winner of Person of the Year for her commitment to the welfare of Aboriginal people.
Aunty Millie Ingram, winner of the Female Elder of the Year is joined by Mr Kim Collard, winner of the Male Elder of the Year.
Alex Winwood, winner of the Sportsperson of the Year, is a world class boxer who represented Australia at the Tokyo Olympics and is a role model for his community.
Dante Rodrigues is also recognised for his sporting prowess and his mental health advocacy as winner of the Youth of the Year.
Winner of the Creative Talent Award for her exceptional artistry as an actor, singer and creative is Naarah.
Alick Tipoti, who is very well known to my husband’s family through connections to the Torres Strait, is winner of the Caring for Country and Culture Award.
The members of the Warlpiri Education and Training Trust are winners of the Education Award, and winner of the Innovation Award for his groundbreaking work in advancing machine learning models is Tui Nolan.
Some of you I look forward to seeing in the months ahead, including Auntie Millie Ingram, who I will be joining in Sydney to celebrate NAIDOC Week later in the week.
You are inspirational and we all have so much to learn from you.
You work in ways that enrich your communities and this nation.
As performers and painters, teachers and mentors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs, athletes and activists.
... with the energy of youth and the wisdom of experience, you live out your commitment to shaping a brighter future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Your work calls to young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to stand tall in your heritage, and it is an invitation for us all to forge a future built on an unyielding spirit.
So, congratulations and thank you to all the winners of the 2024 National NAIDOC Week Awards.
Through your work, we see the uplifting power of kindness, care and the respect is made real in communities across the country.
These are themes I want to pursue as your Governor-General, and I will be listening intently to First Nations’ experience and excellence, as I will with other communities around the country.
I’m delighted to share in this week of activities and events across Australia, including yarning circles with local Elders here in Canberra.
And I’m pleased to see that opportunities to recognise current and former First Nations service men and women will also be an important part of NAIDOC Week.
So as the rain closes in here in Canberra in keeping with 2024’s theme of ‘keep the fire burning’, I hope all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people celebrate well this week and that all Australians take the time to listen, learn and celebrate with you.