GurrumulEarlier this week, Indigenous musician Gurrumul Yunupingu's manager, Mark Grose, accused Royal Darwin Hospital of racial profiling towards his client, after Gurrumul was made to wait eight hours with internal bleeding before receiving treatment, leading the musician to be admitted into the ER.
The accusations continue to get uglier, as in a conversation with Gurrumul's private doctor Paul Lawton on ABC Darwin, Northern Territory Health Minister John Elferink has claimed that Gurrumul's team at Skinnyfish Music had created a publicity stunt to sell more records and concert tickets.
As ABC reports, Elferink said, "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."
Dr Lawton discarded the claims, stating he was not affiliated with Skinnyfish Music and that the statement was "incorrect".
"I don't represent Skinnyfish. I've got nothing to do with Skinnyfish, Minister. You're talking about another issue not relevant to this situation," Dr Lawton said.
The discussion comes after Gurrumul himself requested his medical records be released to the media, after Grose claimed the hospital made assumptions that Gurrumul had a history of alcohol abuse, when his liver disease is related to contracting Hepatitis B as a child.
Image via ABC
Dr Lawton continued, "We know that racial profiling happens at RDH because of nationally published data. We know that it happens at NT hospitals. We know it happens right around Australia."
