Guyula went on to work in
cross-cultural education, holding various roles in local schools, regional councils and community organisations. In 2016 he announced his candidacy for the
2016 Northern Territory election. Up against the incumbent
Labor member for
Nhulunbuy and Deputy Leader of the Opposition,
Lynne Walker, he campaigned on a platform of self-determination and Treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, in preference to the proposal for recognition of Indigenous Australians in the
Constitution of Australia. As returns came in on election night, Guyula gradually closed the gap with Walker, and eventually took a narrow lead as
Country Liberal preferences flowed overwhelmingly to him. After a recount, he won by eight votes. His victory came as a major upset, especially given Labor's landslide victory at that election; Walker would have become Deputy Chief Minister had she retained her seat. Shortly after the election, Guyula attracted criticism from the new Chief Minister,
Michael Gunner after he claimed with regards to domestic violence that "a lot of the time, women start the fighting and men end up in jail". Guyula has since said that many young people need support to build strong relationships, and that violence against women is not lawful in Yolngu culture, "As a senior leader, I need to be clear: the family violence we are seeing in our communities is not lawful – it is breaking the law". Shortly before being sworn into parliament, it was claimed that Guyula was a member of the Milingimbi Local Authority, and thus could be ineligible to run for parliament. The matter was referred to the
Court of Disputed Returns. The court dismissed the case on 1 December 2016, after reaching an agreement with the
Northern Territory Electoral Commission. In early 2017 Guyula used
parliamentary privilege to name nine children taken into care by the Northern Territory Government, who he alleged had been removed from their communities, contravening the principles of kinship care. Naming children in state care outside parliament is a criminal offence carrying a maximum two-year sentence of imprisonment. The names of the children were subsequently removed from
Hansard. Guyula defended his actions telling
NITV that "I had to name nine children according to our law, Indigenous law... The NT government are not following the law. They broke their own law". Although strongly criticising his actions, the NT Children's Commissioner remarked that she too was concerned not enough was being done to find out if Aboriginal children could be safely placed closer to home. After nearly three years of requesting that Standing Orders be amended so that he could speak his
first language of
Djambarrpuyŋu, he became the first parliamentarian in Australia to make a substantial speech in an Aboriginal language using an interpreter on the Chamber floor. In this speech he criticised successive
CLP and Labor governments for dismantling bi-lingual and culturally appropriate education, and for failing remote Aboriginal communities. At the 2018
Garma Festival he presented
Prince Charles with a traditional letter stick that asserted ongoing Yolŋu sovereignty and requested that Prince Charles mediate with the Federal Government to acknowledge Yolŋu sovereignty and promote a pathway to
Treaty. In that same year Guyula travelled to
New York to speak at the
United Nations's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to advocate for stronger international pressure on the Australian and Northern Territory governments to recognise Yolŋu sovereignty, to enter into treaty negotiations directly with Indigenous nations and to support their rights to bi-lingual education. In 2019, Guyula introduced a motion to parliament calling for a parliamentary committee to inquire into policing on Aboriginal land to build better relationships between communities and police, and to empower elders to uphold their cultural authority. Prior to this, it had been revealed by Guyula's questioning that 100% of children in detention in the NT are Indigenous. Guyula led opposition to the NT Government's proposed Burial and Cremations Bill in 2019, which could have seen Aboriginal people fined tens of thousands of dollars or imprisoned for up to two years for conducting traditional ceremonies as they are outside of government recognised cemeteries. Following his opposition, which was backed by Aboriginal land councils and justice agencies, the government withdrew the bill. Guyula remarked that governments are not listening to or respecting Aboriginal people and sovereignty; "I want to have a Government that is genuine about local decision-making and handing control back to the people. We shouldn’t have to fight for the livelihood of our culture. It should be a partnership". Guyula was reelected at the
2020 general election in a head-to-head rematch with Walker for the newly-created seat of
Mulka which replaced Nhulunbuy at that election. He picked up a 4.9-point swing in his favour. ==Political views==