NEIL MITCHELL 3AW: On the line is Senator for the Northern Territory, Malarndirri McCarthy, good morning.
MALARNDIRRI: Good morning Neil and good morning to your
listeners.
MITCHELL: Now you’re a Yanyuwa woman, what’s you’re feeling about this?
MCCARTHY: Look I'm feeling enormously proud of the Anangu and I just want to congratulate
them on their strength of culture and ceremony and just their generosity over many the decades
to teach people about the importance of their culture so yeah feeling a little bit emotional
really.
MITCHELL: So why is today an important day? Why is it emotional?
MCCARTHY: Emotional in the sense I was only a teenage girl when the Rock was handed back
to the Anangu in terms of Northern Territory Aboriginal land rights. So when at the time
I was still at school I just thought, wow wow you know. And you kind of grow up with
that sense of Australia is looking good. It’s starting to recognise the First Nations people
and acknowledge the importance. It was certainly a difficult time then Neil where criticism
was said if you hand the Rock over, the sky’s going to cave in and it’s the end of the
world. I’ve seen a little bit of that similar kind of conversation in the last couple of
months leading up to this but I think Australia’s a much better place in terms of wanting to
understand and appreciate our first people.
MITCHELL: Have you climbed it?
MCCARTHY: No, never, never.
MITCHELL: You wouldn’t.
MCCARTHY: No, it just never was important to me, I respected the Anangu. I always knew
that it was special to them and a sacred place and I guess it just reminds me of places out
on Yanyuwa country back in the Gulf of Carpentaria where I know there are just some places are
sacred and you just respect that.
MITCHELL: I know you’re not a local but can you explain to me why it is sacred to
the locals?
MCCARTHY: Sure, for the Anangu, and it’s always best for it to come from an Anangu
but what I’ve learnt from them and I thank them for that, is that it’s really about
what they call the Tjukurrpa. And the Tjukurrpa for your listeners means songlines. In my
language, we call it the Kujika and the songline is the map, the story of country. And there
are so many than interrelate in terms of the surrounding areas of Uluru. And they come
to gather there. And whenever I go to Mutitjulu, which is the community right next to the Rock
where the Anangu families are, they do explain in great detail the significance of sites
around The Rock in terms of stories that’ve belongs to them from thousands of years.
MITCHELL: What will happen to people who insist and try to climb the rock? Will they be charged,
will they be fined?
MCCARTHY: Well I imagine they would be, Neil. In fact that is something I will be asking
when I go out there at the weekend because the closing ceremony is actually Sunday evening
at Sunset and these are important questions. What does happen from here in terms of the
safety of people but also the fact that if people can’t climb what are the punishments
that come with that? And I think it’s important to get those messages out and I know Parks
Australia will certainly have that ready
MITCHELL: Thank you very much
for your time. I certainly appreciate it. Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, a Yanuya woman.