Bajinda yamalu yinda ngarna Yanyuwa li-Anthawirriyarra.
I pay my respects to the Aṉangu people. I’m a Yanyuwa Garrwa woman from Borroloola in the Gulf Country.
We are known as li-Anthawirriyarra, which means our spiritual origin comes from the sea Country, and we are the carers of the seas and rivers of the north.
So, it's really beautiful to be here in the desert, with all of you, on Aṉangu Country.
I'm paying my respects deeply to our Elders, those with us, and those who are gone, but they stay here in our hearts, just like my Elders do as I travel.
Here, you have the Tjukurpa, where I come from, we say Kujika. Same, but just different languages.
So, my Kujika has taken me from Yanyuwa, Marra, Garrwa, Gudanji Country, right across all these Countries, to bring me here to the Aṉangu.
Where each of you have travelled from your lands and your Country. And that's sacred. It's a sacredness that I carry with me in the role that I have as the Minister for Indigenous Australians.
It's a real, beautiful honour, and one that I take with great care and warmth.
Because we are a strong people. We are a resilient people. And we do care.
We care for one another. We care for our children. But we care for Country.
And what is Country, if there's no people?
That's where the rangers are, where you come in. Your work.
When you care for Country, you are caring for families. You are caring for the strength of the history of our people and that knowledge. And you carry that.
You carry it through your songlines. And for me, we carry it through our rangers, the li-Anthawirriyarra rangers, through the canoes that sail the seas and the rivers.
They keep those stories strong.
But the country is crying, right around. Not just Australia, but around the globe.
We have brothers and sisters in the Pacific who look to us. From Fiji, Vanuatu, all of the places in the Pacific. They need us to do more. So, I work with the Prime Minister and his ministers, and our caucus, the Labor Government in Canberra, to see what we can do.
Right now, our Minister, Chris Bowen, is at COP31 in Türkiye, doing exactly that. Trying to move our country that little bit further.
It's not easy in the political world to do that. And it's not easy, in the ranger world, to do that either.
That's why this gathering, of all of you, over 70 groups, over 400 rangers here, is so important.
It's all about family. But it's also about the people who work with you. The people who've mentored you, who've guided you.
Your teachers. The people who teach you about how to combine your cultural knowledge with the technology of today.
Using drones, using the water sampling methods. It blows me away, that you can go and get all the samples in water, and then you can come back and tell people what kind of birds were drinking from that water hole. What kind of animals.
That sort of knowledge is not known at all in most parts of the country. And so, for our rangers, to be not only learning that, but doing that, it also shows that it's about caring for all animals.
We've seen the bird flu and what that can do to many parts of the country’s south. The work that you do with biosecurity, it matters, not just for you and your families and your community, but for our country as a whole, Australia.
I take this opportunity, too, to acknowledge Mike Kaiser who’s here, from DCCEEW, who works with my colleague, Minister Murray Watt, in the environment.
So, we are all conscious of just how important it is, the work that the rangers do.
Having some time with you in the desert though tells a different story. It's harder. It's harsher, and the challenge is pretty deep. It's hard work and it's hot work.
But I just want to say thank you for what you do and what you're trying to do.
Caring for Country matters. It's something that I'm taking with me, as I listen to rangers across Australia. And I'll be guided by you mob too.
It matters. I listen. Because what we want to do eventually is really be able to care for this country so that we can pass it on to the future generations, of all people who call Australia home.
To the nominees for tonight, all the best. And for those who are here watching, thinking if that's going be you, it'll be you.
You don't give up. Never give up. But also keep supporting one another.
And thank you again for inviting me to be here with you.
It's been a real pleasure.
Yo, Bauji Barra.