The Gove Peninsula is at the northeastern corner of

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The peninsula became strategically important during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when a

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

base was constructed at what is now

Gove Airport Gove Airport (also known as Gove-Nhulunbuy Airport) is on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia. It services the mining town of Nhulunbuy and several Aboriginal communities including Yirrkala. The airport is located sout ...

. The peninsula was involved in a famous court case known as the

Gove land rights case ''Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd'', also known as the Gove land rights case because its subject was land known as the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory, was the first litigation on native title in Australia, and the first significant lega ...

, when local Yolngu people tried to claim

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

over their traditional lands in 1971, after the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

had granted a mineral lease to a

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

mining company without consulting the local peoples. Today the land is owned by the Yolngu people.

Location

The Gove Peninsula is on the west coast of the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...

within

, a vast tract of Aboriginal-owned land on the

coastline. The township of

Nhulunbuy Nhulunbuy () is a township that is the sixth largest population centre in the Northern Territory of Australia. Nhulunbuy was created on the Gove Peninsula in north-east Arnhem Land when a bauxite mine and a deep water port were established ...

is the main commercial and service centre of the Peninsula and is 600 kilometres east of Darwin.

History

Modern

As Europeans started land exploration throughout the

and subsequently settled closer to Yolngu homelands, conflicts with the Yolngu became more frequent. In 1931, an area of was proclaimed as an

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th c ...

, named

Aboriginal Reserve. Land on the peninsula was famously part of the 1971 ''

Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd ''Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd'', also known as the Gove land rights case because its subject was land known as the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory, was the first litigation on native title in Australia, and the first significant lega ...

'', aka the Gove land rights case, a milestone in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia. The

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...

s, elders of various clans of the local Yolngu people, claimed they enjoyed

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

over their land, and sought the freedom to occupy their lands. The ruling went against them, as

native title in Australia Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

had not yet been recognised, but the principles on which the case were based were overturned in the Mabo case 21 years later. Today the Land Trust holds about as Aboriginal freehold land (with the exception of mining leases). The Gove Peninsula was heavily involved in the defence of Australia during

. Three operational air squadrons were based there at an airfield on the site of the present Gove airport and at a flying boat base at

Drimmie Head The Gove Peninsula is at the northeastern corner of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The peninsula became strategically important during World War II when a Royal Australian Air Force base was constructed at what is now Go ...

. The Peninsula derives its name from a RAAF

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

who died in a mid-air collision.

Geography

Topography

The Gove Peninsula is nearly pristine, apart from Nhulunbuy, along with the

mine and associated alumina refinery which brought the town into existence and closed in 2014. There are savannah woodlands,

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

monsoon forest Seasonal tropical forest, also known as moist deciduous, semi-evergreen seasonal, tropical mixed or monsoon forests, typically contain a range of tree species: only some of which drop some or all of their leaves during the dry season. This tropic ...

s and rocky

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

s stretched across its huge area, as well as many beaches, bays and

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s. Melville Bay () is the large bay between the peninsula and the mainland, and there are many unnamed beaches both within the bay and on the western side of the peninsula, as well as named beaches (such as Ski Beach and Wallaby Beach). Other popular locations around the peninsula include: *Nanydjaka (Cape Arnhem) *Lurrupukurru (Oyster Beach) *Rangura (Caves Beach) *Baringura (Little Bondi) *Ngumuy (Turtle Beach) *Garanhan (Macassan(s) Beach) *Binydjarrŋa/Daliwuy (Daliwoi) Bay There are three coastal

walking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. T ...

s: Daliwuy to Garanhan (), Garanhan to Ngumuy () and Ngumuy to Baringura (). Informative signposts explaining Yolngu culture's relationship to the land is provided on these marked trails.

Ecosystem and coastal waters

Ecosystems on the Gove Peninsula and in its coastal waters are of great conservation significance, being largely undisturbed due to isolation, huge area and sparse population. The waters provide a shallow-water tropical

marine ecosystem Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surf ...

, with varying habitats for marine and estaurine wildlife, and include

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s, beds of

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

tidal flats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

, salt pans and

saltmarsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es.

Place names

Some place names were assigned to various places on the northern coast of Australia by the

Macassan Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan ...

traders and Dutch and English explorers, including

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

before the 20th century, including

Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura Sea is ...

and Arnhem Land (early alternative spelling: "Arnheim Land"). Flinders named Point Dundas,

, Melville Bay and Mount Saunders. However, an increasing number of non-Aboriginal people started arriving in the 20th century and assigning names. The airstrip constructed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was the first place to be named Gove, after Pilot Officer William Gove, who was killed on 20 April 1943 in an air accident on the peninsula. In the late 1960s and through the 1970s, many Yolngu people objected to the renaming of many places with English names, including Nhulunbuy. They presented a bark

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

was to the

Commonwealth Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...

in 1968 about the renaming of Nhulunbuy. Linguist

Raymattja Marika Raymattja Marika , also known as Gunutjpitt Gunuwanga, (1959 – 11 May 2008) was a Yolngu leader, scholar, educator, translator, linguist and cultural advocate for Aboriginal Australians. She was a Director of Reconciliation Australia and a m ...

and Melanie Wilkinson have recorded the origin and meaning of the Yolŋu place names, many of which relate to the stories of ancestral beings known as Wuyal (aka Birrinydjalki or Gandjalala), the "Sugar Bag Hunters", who had originally been Wäwilak and then Mandhalpuy. Eventually the Yolngu prevailed and the name Nhulunbuy was retained, but within the town, there are only two other Yolngu-derived names: Wuyal Road and the Rotary Marika Lookout, named after Dr Marika's father,

Roy Marika Roy Dadaynga Marika (1925 – 1993) was an Aboriginal Australian artist and Indigenous land rights in Australia, Indigenous rights activist. He was a member of the Marika family, brother of Mawalan 1 Marika, Mathaman Marika, Milirrpum Marika and ...

Climate

Situated just 12 degrees south of the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

, the Gove Peninsula has a monsoon climate. The non-

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

people of the

tropics recognise two distinct seasons, the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

from May to October, and the wet from November to April. During the dry, temperatures range from 15 to 18 degrees Celsius at night to 28 to 30 degrees Celsius during the day. There is virtually no rainfall, clear blue skies and cool ocean breezes. The

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

brings the monsoon weather with hot and humid days ranging from 31 to 35 degrees Celsius and warm nights.

Yolngu seasons

Yolngu however recognise eight seasons derived from changing behaviours and patterns apparent in the land,

flora and fauna In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi; ...

, as follows: *''Dhuludur'' (‘the Pre-wet season’, October–November) when the weather is erratic, ‘female’ thunder and lightning storms are frequent, turtles and Threadfin Salmon are hunted, and the ‘male’ thunder shrinks the waterholes. *''Bärra’mirri'' (‘the season of Heavy Rain and Growth’, December–January) when there are heavy rains and prolific plant growth, the

Magpie Geese The magpie goose (''Anseranas semipalmata'') is the sole living representative species of the family Anseranatidae. This common waterbird is found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. As the species is prone to wandering, especially wh ...

arrive and

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

are harvested. *''Mayaltha'' (‘the Flowering season’, February–March) when there are bright sunny days but little bush tucker, flies arrive and

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

larvae are abundant in the pools. *''Midawarr'' (‘the Fruiting season’, March–April) when the east wind signals a time of abundant bush foods, including fruits, nuts and

barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer'') or Asian sea bass, is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, South ...

. *''Ngathangamakulingamirri'' (‘a two-week Harvest season’, April) *''Dharratharramirri'' (‘the Early Dry season’, May–July) when the

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...

(south-southeast) arrive, the bush is fired,

Magpie Lark The magpie-lark (''Grallina cyanoleuca''), also known as wee magpie, peewee, peewit or mudlark, is a passerine bird native to Australia, Timor and southern New Guinea. The male and female both have black and white plumage, though with different ...

flocks arrive and sharks and

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

s give birth. *''Burrugumirri'' (‘the time of the Birthing of Sharks and Stingrays’, three weeks in July to August) *''Rarrandharr'' (‘the Main Dry season’, August–October) when warm southeast winds blow, the soil is hot, young sharks and stingrays are hunted, and the stringybark flowers.

Demographics

On the night of the 2001 Census there were 13,080 people living in the East Arnhem region, which covers most of the Gove Peninsula. Of these 60.7% were Aboriginal people. On the night of the 2001 Census there were 3,766 people living in the "Urban Centre" of Nhulunbuy. Of these 7.3% were Indigenous. Based on a 2004 NT Government Socio-Economic Snapshot, there is a population of 14,115 within the Gove Peninsula (East Arnhem Region), of which almost 64% are

Indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, and a population of nearly 4,000 in

, the majority being non-Indigenous people. Those people not living in Nhulunbuy live in surrounding communities and traditional homelands. In the five years to 2004, the population declined in Nhulunbuy and

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba'' meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "Large Island" in ...

and increased in the non-urban areas. At the 2016 census, Nhulunbuy SSC (urban area) had a population of 3,240, with a median age of 32. Only 2.8% were Indigenous. Nhulunbuy Indigenous region had 9,559 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander residents, with 97.7% of these Aboriginal, 0.5

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...

, and 1.9% both.

Yolngu people

Owned by the traditional Aboriginal owners, the Yolngu people, it is a place rich in culture with Yolngu maintaining strong ties with their land, religion and traditions. Rather than the name of a clan or family group, Yolngu is the word that Aboriginal people from East Arnhem Land, including the Gove Peninsula, use to refer to themselves. The main five clan groups of the region are Gumatj, Rirratjingu, Djapu, Madarrpa and Dhalwangu. The prominent Marika family, many from Yirrkala, includes a number of artists and

land rights Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...

activists, including

Banduk Marika Banduk Mamburra Wananamba Marika (13 October 1954 – 12 July 2021) was an artist and printmaker from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. She was a member of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people, whose traditional land is Yalangb ...

(13 October 1954 – 12 July 2021);

Roy Dadaynga Marika Roy Dadaynga Marika (1925 – 1993) was an Aboriginal Australian artist and Indigenous rights activist. He was a member of the Marika family, brother of Mawalan 1 Marika, Mathaman Marika, Milirrpum Marika and Dhunggala Marika. He was the leade ...

(c.1925– 1993); and

Wandjuk Marika Wandjuk Djuwakan Marika OBE (1927 or 1930 – 16 June 1987), was an Aboriginal Australian painter, actor, composer and Indigenous land rights activist. He was a member of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land in ...

(1927–1987). Educator and linguist

(c.1959 – 11 May 2008) was NT

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

in 2007.

Yingiya Mark Guyula Yingiya Mark Guyula is an Australian politician and a Yolŋu man of the Djambarrpuyŋu clan and the Liya-Dhälinymirr people. He is an independent member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for the seat of Mulka in north-east Arnhe ...

is the only independent Indigenous

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the Northern Territory , representing the

electoral division of Mulka Mulka is an electoral division of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in Australia. It was created in a 2019 redistribution for the 2020 general election, replacing the electoral division of Nhulunbuy Nhulunbuy was an electoral divisi ...

, formerly the

electoral division of Nhulunbuy Nhulunbuy was an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1974, and is named after the remote town of the same name. Nhulunbuy is a rural electorate on the Territory's northeast c ...

. The Yolngu people call white people " balanda" (probably derived from the word "Hollander" –

Dutch person The Dutch (Dutch language, Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, ...

Communities

Yirrkala Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land. Its population comprises predominantly ...

lies south-east of Nhulunbuy. It comprises a predominantly Aboriginal population of about 809 people (

2016 Australian Census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an incre ...

). *Gunyangara, also known as Marngarr or Ski Beach, has a population of around 280, mostly people of the Gumatj clan, with family names Yunupingu, Burarrwanga and Munungirritj. It is situated on Drimmie Head in Melville Bay, west of Nhulunbuy and adjacent to Gove Port. It has an airstrip and full-time doctor and health clinic. There are

Makassan Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan ...

historic sites on the island, which is joined to the Gove Peninsula by a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

built during World War II to provide access to the

Catalina Catalina may refer to: Arts and media * ''The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show * ''Catalina'' (novel), a 1948 novel by W. Somerset Maugham * Catalina (''My Name Is Earl''), character from the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' ...

flying boat base. Since silting has occurred, Drimmie Head is also sometimes referred to as a peninsula. Drimmie Head was named by

on 14 February 1803 as he sailed around the island and it reminded him of a place in Scotland. *Birritjimi, also known as Wallaby Beach, comprises a stretch of beach in Melville Bay. The north-facing part of beach is Birritjimi Beach, and as it curves around to face northwest, the stretch beyond the creek mouth is known as Wallaby Beach. There is a group of homes constructed in the 1970s to provide accommodation for

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

mining executives, inhabited mainly by members of the Gurruwiwi family and other members of the

Galpu The Dangu (Dhaŋu, Dhangu) are an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory, one of many Yolŋu peoples. They are, according to Norman Tindale, to be carefully distinguished from the Djaŋu. Two prominent clans of ...

clan. Some healthcare is provided by mobile units operating out of clinics in Nhulunbuy and Gunyangara. Birritjimi is the home of

yiḏaki The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

master and elder of the Galpu clan,

Djalu Gurruwiwi Djalu Gurruwiwi, also written Djalu ( – 12 May 2022), was a Yolngu man from Arnhem Land in northern Australia, known worldwide for his skill as a player, maker and spiritual keeper of the yiḏaki (didgeridoo). He was also a respected arti ...

. Rio Tinto handed over the homes to

traditional owner Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

s represented by Rirratjingu Aboriginal Corporation in 2008. the houses are in very poor condition and are facing demolition, as they are no longer deemed safe. The

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

is providing emergency repairs and assistance, but says that the

Northern Land Council The Northern Land Council (NLC) is a land council representing the Aboriginal peoples of the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia, with its head office in Darwin. While the NLC was established in 1974, its origins began in the strugg ...

is responsible for the maintenance of the homes. Rirratjingu has applied to the

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

for funds to help move the residents to Nhulunbuy, Gunyangara and Yirrkala, but Djalu and his son Larry Gurruwiwi are reluctant to leave Birritjimi.

Governance

There are 10 local councils in the region which administer the townships of Nhulunbuy and Angurugu and a number of local communities that primarily service Indigenous people.

Economy

Mining

Nhulunbuy is a purpose-built town developed by the former owner of Alcan Gove (

Nabalco Nabalco, (North Australian Bauxite and Alumina Company) was a mining and extraction company set up in 1964 to exploit bauxite reserves on the Gove Peninsula, Australia. Nabalco was renamed ''Alcan Gove Pty Ltd'' in 2002. Nabalco was formed from ...

), a huge

mine and now closed alumina refinery . The town is built on a Special Purpose Lease on Aboriginal land and as of 2007 was the largest town in East Arnhem Land, the fourth largest town in the

and the administrative centre for the region. The Commonwealth Government carried out mineral explorations in the 1950s and was successful in discovering a bauxite deposit that covered and contained an estimated 250 million tonnes. After initial resistance to mining by the government Nabalco was set up and was granted a lease with a commitment to build a township, port facility and mine. The construction of the mine lead to the Gove land rights case (see above), which initially resulted in ruling in favour of the mineral company. The market economy of the Gove Peninsula was centred on the Alcan Gove Mine, located on leasehold land within the boundaries of Aboriginal freehold land. In November 2013 Rio Tinto announced the closure of the mine associated alumina refinery (but not the bauxite mine) in July 2014 with the loss of 1,100 jobs, or almost 25% of the town's population. The population had already dropped by mid 2014, with some of the workforce retained to monitor the shutdown and survey holding ponds full of toxic compounds but most will be gone by January 2015. A range of measures were announced to support the town and its former workers through the closure and the following three years, but locals anticipated further cuts to services since the school, hospital, power plant and flights were backed by Rio Tinto. The closure of the mine also left flights on the Darwin-Nhulunbuy route to fall to around 50-60% full, causing Qantas to suspend flights on the route from 17 August 2015. Rio Tinto announced that the bauxite mine would be closed by 2030 or sooner.

Spaceport

The

Arnhem Space Centre The Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) is Australia's first and only commercial spaceport, located near Nhulunbuy, in Arnhem Land, Australia. It is owned and operated by Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), and it is the site of NASA's first non-orbi ...

has created employment for local people, and brought

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

staff and many tourists to the town when three rockets were launched in mid-2022, booking out accommodation for weeks. The longterm future of the site is not known, but the owners of the project, Equatorial Launch Australia, has indicated that there are other space companies interested in using the rocket launch pad, and NASA has confirmed that it will use the facility again in the future.

Transport

It is possible to hire four wheel drives, conventional vehicles or bicycles in Nhulunbuy and an airport bus and taxi company service the town.

Air

The

is located 13 km from the town centre of Nhulunbuy. AirNorth has a daily flight to Gove from Cairns and Darwin which then connect to cities around the world. Qantas used to run a daily flight but when the refinery closed they discontinued this service. The Cairns – Gove flight is 1 hour and 40 minutes duration and Darwin – Gove is 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Road

The most direct route to Nhulunbuy from a major Highway is via the Central Arnhem Road which leaves the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australia, Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and sou ...

52km south of Katherine. The first 30 kilometres are sealed and then the rest is a gravel road. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is recommended, particularly for the two major river crossings, the Wilton River near Bulman Aboriginals Community and the

Goyder River The Goyder River is a river in the Northern Territory, Australia. Description The headwaters of the river rise at the base of the Mitchell Ranges and are fed by spring discharge from an extensive dolomite aquifer that supports areas of rainf ...

, about 300 kilometres from Nhulunbuy. Fuel needs to be carried as travellers may not be able to purchase fuel along the way. The Central Arnhem Road is 682 kilometres long, plus the 52 kilometres from Katherine to the turnoff makes a long drive, approximately 8 or 9 hours drive with good conditions. Travellers require a permit as the road runs across many Yolngu Clan lands.

Education

Nhulunbuy has one public primary school, which incorporates pre-school, and one public secondary school which provides education to a Year 12 level. There is also a private school, Nhulunbuy Christian College, which provides education from Transition to Year 10. Yirrkala has a primary school which supports further afield community schools.

Society and culture

Yolngu culture and ties to the land are still very strong and sacred. Many people still live mainly a traditional life. The Garma Festival, which celebrates Yolngu culture, is held each August at Gulkula, attracting thousands from around Australia and the world to enjoy and learn from

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, dance, art and craft, and sport. There are three art centres on the peninsula: Nambara Arts and Crafts near Nhulunbuy, Buku Larrngay Mulka in Yirrkala, and Elcho Island Arts, producing work that is known worldwide.

Music

, including the Gove Peninsula, is home to what is commonly referred to as the

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

, known as the yidaki locally, and Yolngu are master players and craftsmen of the instrument. In this region, the rhythms, techniques and compositions endemic to the people are of outstanding musical interest. Didgeridoos from north-east Arnhem Land are instruments of the highest cultural integrity. The use of the didgeridoo in this part of Australia continues as an unbroken tradition since time immemorial. In recent times, the

Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi (Yolŋu Matha, Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal and ''List of English words of Malay origin#B, balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as ...

band and

- "Mr Didgeridoo" - has done much to popularise the yidaki around the world. Yidaki are commonly made in north-east Arnhem Land from ''gadayka'' - '' Eucalyptus tetradonta'' or Stringybark, ''gungurru'' - '' Eucalyptus miniata'' or Woolybutt, and ''badawili'' - '' Eucalyptus ferruginea'' or Rusty Bloodwood.North-east Arnhem Land Didgeridoos , iDIDJ Australia

Sport and recreation

Sport is a big part of the lives of people in Nhulunbuy and there are facilities including a sports ground, golf course, yacht club, swimming pool, fishing club, surf-lifesaving club, speedway and skate park. ;Sailing Gove Harbour is a popular stop off point for yachts sailing the northern coast of Australia or heading to the countries to the north of Australia and beyond. Apart from the months of December to April when cyclones can affect the coast line, the waters surrounding the Gove Peninsula provide excellent sailing conditions.
The Gove Boat Club
is often packed full of visiting yachties from all over the world and the club often holds regattas and other annual events.

Footnotes

References

External links

*
Gove Online
- An e-newspaper dedicated to Nhulunbuy on the Gove peninsula, and this remote East Arnhem Land region. Includes news, articles, community notices and events.

{{Authority control Arnhem Land Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Peninsulas of the Northern Territory