Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will not attend this month's Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land, breaking a pledge he made just 12 months ago to travel to Australia's largest Indigenous cultural gathering each year he remains in office.
At the 2025 Garma Key Forum, Albanese told attendees: "I commit here that every single year that I have the great honour to be Australia's prime minister, I will be here and engaged with you." He added, "This is a journey that has a long way to go."
As first reported by the ABC, the prime minister will not attend the 2026 event, which runs from 31 July to 3 August, due to other commitments. His absence marks a significant shift from his previous attendance streak, which began in 2019.
Labor Ministers to Attend in Albanese's Place
Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy are among several Labor ministers scheduled to attend. McCarthy acknowledged the disappointment but welcomed the high-level representation.
"I know that he [Albanese] is trying to get to quite a few communities across Australia and I know it's disappointing for the Yolngu representatives and YYF in Garma," McCarthy told ABC Darwin on Friday. "But I am incredibly pleased that we've got Senator Penny Wong coming. I have to say, she's one of my favourites, and no disrespect to you, prime minister, but I think it's wonderful that the foreign minister is coming and certainly we've got so many ministers coming."
The Yothu Yindi Foundation, which hosts the event, issued a statement saying: "Mr Albanese is a good friend of the Festival, and has been to every Garma since 2019."
Reactions from Indigenous Leaders
Northern Land Council chair Matthew Ryan expressed disappointment, particularly given the challenges facing Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. "It is very disappointing to learn the prime minister will not attend the event, particularly at a time when Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory are facing so many challenges and strong commonwealth leadership is required," he said.
Professor Megan Davis, co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue, took a more measured view. "Going to Garma is not a public policy. It would be unfair to use attendance at Garma as an objective measure of a prime minister's political commitment to Indigenous policy," she said. "Our communities are concerned with actual federal policies and the failure of closing the gap, a problematic framework which Labor inherited from the LNP, which is like this ever-expanding, multi-headed serpent."
Albanese's History with Garma
Albanese used the 2022 Garma festival to unveil his preferred approach to a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament, which was defeated at the 2023 national vote. At the 2025 event, he announced a First Nations economic empowerment agenda and criticised the "dry gully" of culture wars that "lead us nowhere."
Hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation and the local Yolngu people, Garma is an annual celebration of Indigenous culture and tradition, bringing together community leaders, advocates, policymakers, business groups, and artists. Shadow Indigenous Minister Julian Leeser will also attend this year's festival.
