Earlier this week Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu’s manager Mark Grose, alleged that over Easter, the blind indigenous singer and songwriter almost bled to death while awaiting surgery at Royal Darwin Hospital for a pre-existing condition. Grose also alleged that medical staff made assumptions on Yunupingu based on race and wrote Gurrumul off as “a drinker", when the multi-award-winning singer’s condition was the result of contacting hepatitis B as a child.On Wednesday Northern Territory Health Minister John Elferink speaking on 105.7 ABC Darwin radio alleged that Skinnyfish Music, the management company that Grose directs, helped create media coverage based around race when their artists were set to release new material.
"The organisation continues to raise issues of racial abuse at about the time when their talent is about to release albums or is on the touring circuit," Mr. Elferink said.We reached out to Grose to find out what he thought of the Health Minister’s allegations. “That suggestion by a senior minister is completely repulsive and I reject it absolutely. His suggestion is based on two previous occasions where I, or someone associated with Skinnyfish, have spoken up when confronted with racist incidents. I aim to step up and call racism or racial profiling out when I see it,” he said.We asked if he believed racial profiling was pervasive in the Northern Territory. “I think racial profiling is pervasive through out society, and I believe Gurrumul ended up in ICU unnecessarily due to either incompetence or racial profiling. I am happy for the hospital or the minister to give me an alternative reason why he was not treated quicker than he was. So far no one has suggested any other reasonable explanation.”At the time of publishing the Northern Territory Department of Health hadn't responded to NOISEY’s questions about why Gurumul had not been treated quicker over Easter.This morning Gurrumul underwent surgery in the Royal Darwin Hospital to stop internal bleeding.
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