25 years on, Yothu Yindi’s ‘Treaty’ is more important now than ever
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25 years on, Yothu Yindi’s ‘Treaty’ is more important now than ever

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It was 1988 – 200 years after the First Fleet sailed into Botany Bay. Buoyed by political goodwill, Prime Minister Bob Hawke attended the Barunga Festival in the Northern Territory, where he was issued with what would become known as the Barunga Statement. Written on a 1.2 metre piece of composite wood, the document outlined the wishes of Australia’s Indigenous peoples for recognition of their original title, as well as the safeguarding of their land rights, language and customs. In response to the Barunga Statement, Hawke said he hoped an Australian treaty would be concluded by 1990. It didn’t happen.

When Hawke was ousted from power by Paul Keating in 1991, he used his final act as Prime Minister to hang the Barunga Statement in Parliament House, just one minute before Keating was sworn in. “Its presence here calls on those who follow me,” he said. “It demands of them that they continue efforts, that they find solutions to the abundant problems that still face the Aboriginal people of this country.”

Hawke’s political decline coincided with the rise of Yothu Yindi, a traditional/rock group made up of Yolngu and non-Indigenous musicians. Formed in 1985, the band were still relatively at the turn of the decade. A US tour with Midnight Oil had earned them a recording deal with Mushroom Records, but mainstream success remained elusive. Even ‘Treaty’, now recognised by APRA as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time, was a commercial failure. The protest song, written in collaboration with Paul Kelly, was missing a platform from which to be noticed. It needed an edge.

Enter Razor Recordings founder Gavin Campbell, one of Australia’s most forward-thinking DJs in the ‘80s and ‘90s. A voracious consumer of new trends, Campbell was running clubs with dancefloors that were years ahead of the Melbourne mainstream. He was also a man in need of a hit, with a young label poised to fold. Campbell had assembled a crack production team with Paul Main and Robert Goodge under the name Filthy Lucre, with the express purpose of releasing local dance content. Unfortunately for them, their futurist output simply wasn’t making the numbers. Desperate, Campbell remembers walking into the Mushroom offices and seeing “what actually looked like an Indigenous ceremony with a Mushroom logo on it.”

He’d stumbled upon something fresh, but also palatable to local ears. He’d found Yothu Yindi.”I instantly knew what I had to do, what I could do,” he says. “I vetted the band’s catalogue and found what I believed to be the strongest Yolngu Matha vocal there, which of course was ‘Treaty’.”

Treaty (Filthy Lucre remix) exploded across radio stations and dancefloors around the world with its driving rhythms and unique sound. With the industry finally paying attention, ‘Treaty’then went on to win Single of the Year and Song of the Year at the ARIAs. Twenty-five years later, Campbell believes that the song still has a lot to say about the Australian government’s lip-service to Indigenous affairs.

“It calls out the hypocrisy and bullshit beautifully. Phrases like ‘talking politicians’ and ‘words are easy, words are cheap, much cheaper than our priceless land’ really do show the political game up for what it is,” Campbell says.

“I believe that it needed to be said back in the late ’80s and it very much needs to be said again. Only this time we are making sure that this project says it in a way that will resonate with all ages and inspire Australians to get on board with this once and for all.”

The Treaty Project aims to update its message to appeal to old fans and new. That’s meant an expanded lineup, with Campbell taking an active live role alongside plenty of new blood.

“There will be ten people onstage. Three original members of Yothu Yindi and a new Yolngu Matha language vocalist are travelling from Arnhem Land. Singer Yirrmal, who is based in Geelong, is the son of original member Witiyana.”

Those who haven’t heard Yirrmal are in for a pleasant surprise. The young vocalist is an incredible talent whose performance on Q&A had the audience visibly moved. “I think that Yirrmal will be a mesmerising figure. His voice is outstanding and is matched by his passion. We have a new song which has a special section where Yirrmal will dance traditionally. The theatre of that will be a strong moment.”

It won’t be the only theatrics nor commanding presence found onstage. “The burlesque queen of NT, Constantina Bush, is joining us, along with multi-instrumentalist Ania Reynolds who is musical director of Circus Oz, and guitarist Megan Bernard. Our special guest on some dates is Goanna frontman Shane Howard. Eight Yothu Yindi songs have been remixed by some of Melbourne’s best dance producers and we also have four new songs written for this show.”

In addition, a new electronic focus will move away from the sound of previous Yothu Yindi incarnations. “There won’t be a lot of rock in the mix. We do have the traditional band elements, like guitar, bass and keyboards but the style of the new remixes is very much modern electronic. Malangay is one of the best yidaki players in the country, which is what Yolngu people call a didgeridoo. Along with the other Indigenous members of the band, the traditional elements will be very strong. In fact, it is the most important part of the music.”

The strength of the live show still carries a purpose, one which Campbell and the band hope to spread far and wide. Australia is the only country in the world that doesn’t have a treaty between its Indigenous population and colonial settlers, and that’s something that needs to change, for all of our sakes.

“Hopefully, The Treaty Project will be seen by as many people as possible in this run of shows, as we would like to be considered a special events act. This type of raising awareness activism, as theatre and entertainment on a large scale, while effective and inspiring, is not enough,” Campbell says.

“We need an ongoing conversation among Australians to raise awareness at the grassroots level – in homes, around the kitchen table, at the footy at halftime, in high schools at lunchtime, wherever it doesn’t already happen. That conversation will evolve into a better awareness of our past, present and future, the good the bad and the ugly. We need to discuss genocide, for example, or we will never mature as a nation. In fact, a treaty without the acknowledgement of this country’s dark past would be a hollow one.”