RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2017–18              UPDATED 11 July 2017

Indigenous parliamentarians, federal and state: a quick guide

Hannah Gobbett

Politics and Public Administration Section

This Quick Guide provides information about Indigenous Australian federal and state parliamentarians, from the election of the first Indigenous Australian to the Federal Parliament—former senator Neville Bonner—until September 2016.

For the purposes of this Quick Guide, ‘Indigenous parliamentarian’ refers to a parliamentarian who identifies as Indigenous or as having Indigenous ancestry. This Quick Guide lists the name, party, dates in office, chamber, state/electorate and significant firsts.

The 45th Parliament currently includes five Indigenous parliamentarians—three senators and two members of the House of Representatives. Ken Wyatt AM, MP is the Member for Hasluck (WA) and Linda Burney, MP is the Member for Barton (NSW), while the Senate includes senators Patrick (Pat) Dodson (ALP), Jacqui Lambie (IND) and Malarndirri McCarthy (ALP).

This information is compiled from a range of sources including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Handbook, The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, state parliaments, political websites and personal biographies. Where available, a hyperlink to biographies has been included.

The Parliamentary Library would appreciate receiving additional information or corrections that may assist in compiling future updates.

Abbreviations

AD

Australian Democrats

LA

Legislative Assembly

ALP

Australian Labor Party

LC

Legislative Council

CLP

Country Liberal Party

HA

House of Assembly

IND

Independent

LIB

Liberal Party of Australia

The Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Queensland have unicameral parliaments.

NP

National Party

PUP

Palmer United Party

Indigenous federal parliamentarians

•        Neville Bonner (Senate, Qld, LIB; IND) was the first Indigenous member of parliament in 1971.

•        Ken Wyatt (House of Representatives, WA, LIB) is the first Indigenous member of the House of Representatives, elected in 2010. He is also the first Indigenous member of parliament to hold a ministerial position as the Assistant Minister for Health from 30 September 2015.

•        Linda Burney (House of Representatives, NSW, ALP) is the first Indigenous female member of the House of Representatives, elected in 2016. She was also the first and only Indigenous member of the New South Wales Parliament, having been elected in 2003.

•        Nova Peris, OAM (Senate, NT, ALP) was the first female Indigenous senator, serving from 2013 to 2016.

•        Joanna Lindgren (Senate, Qld, LIB), who served from 2015 to 2016, is the great-niece of Neville Bonner.

•        David Kennedy was the first Indigenous individual to be elected to both a state parliament and the Federal Parliament, having served as the ALP Member for Bendigo (1969–1972) prior to entering the Victorian Parliament in 1982 (MLA, ALP). However, his Indigenous heritage was not known when he entered both parliaments nor did he self-identify as Indigenous at that time.[1] For these reasons Neville Bonner is recorded as the first Indigenous federal parliamentarian.

•        Linda Burney and Malarndirri McCarthy are the first Indigenous women to be elected to both a state/territory parliament and the Federal Parliament. They served in the New South Wales and Northern Territory parliaments, respectively, prior to being elected to the Federal Parliament. For further information see the ‘Indigenous state parliamentarians’ section below.

Name

Party

First

Chamber

State or electorate

From

To

David Kennedy

ALP

House

Bendigo (Vic.)

*07.06.1969

02.12.1972

Neville Bonner

LIB;

IND from Feb. 1983

Indigenous member of parliament

Senate

Queensland

*11.06.1971

04.02.1983

Aden Ridgeway

AD

Senate

New South Wales

01.07.1999

30.06.2005

Kenneth (Ken) Wyatt

LIB

Indigenous member of the House of Representatives

House

Hasluck (WA)

21.08.2010

current

Nova Peris

ALP

Female Indigenous senator

Senate

Northern Territory

07.09.2013

09.05.2016

Jacqui Lambie

PUP;

IND from Nov. 2014

Senate

Tasmania

01.07.2014

current

Joanna Lindgren

LIB

Senate

Queensland

*21.05.2015

02.07.2016

Patrick (Pat) Dodson

ALP

Senate

Western Australia

*28.04.2016

current

Linda Burney

ALP

Female Indigenous member of the House of Representatives

House

Barton (NSW)

02.07.2016

current

Malarndirri McCarthy

ALP

Senate

Northern Territory

02.07.2016

current

* Selected under Section 15 of the Australian Constitution in the Senate or at a by-election in the House of Representatives.

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.

Indigenous state parliamentarians

•        Hyacinth Tungutalum (Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, CLP) was the first Indigenous person elected to any state/territory parliament, in October 1974.

•        Adam Giles (Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, CLP), was the first Indigenous head of government as the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 14 March 2013 to 27 August 2016.

•        Ernie Bridge (Western Australian Legislative Assembly, ALP; IND) was the first Indigenous Cabinet minister in any Australian government, as Minister for Water Resources, the North-West and Aboriginal Affairs, a position he held from July 1986 until February 1989.

•        Marion Scrymgour (Northern Territory Legislative Assembly) was the first female Indigenous minister in 2003; she was later appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, becoming (at that time) the highest-ranked Indigenous parliamentarian in Australian history.

•        Cyril and Andrew Kennedy were the first brothers of Indigenous heritage to serve concurrently in any state parliament, having both served in the Victorian Parliament from 1982 until 1992.

•        John Ah Kit and his daughter Ngaree Ah Kit are the first Indigenous father and daughter to serve in any state parliament, having both been elected to the Northern Territory Parliament.

Key

Δ First Indigenous parliamentarian in that state

Name

State

Party

Chamber

From

To

Linda Burney Δ

NSW

ALP

LA

22.03.2003

06.05.2016

Jai Rowell

NSW

LP

LA

26.03.2011

current

Eric Deeral Δ

Qld

NP

LA

07.12.1974

12.11.1977

Leeanne Enoch

Qld

ALP

LA

31.01.2015

current

William (Billy) Gordon

Qld

ALP; IND from Mar. 2015

LA

31.01.2015

current

Cyril Kennedy Δ

Vic.

ALP

LC

05.05.1979

2.10.1992

David (Andrew) Kennedy

Vic.

ALP

LA

03.04.1982
02.03.1985

01.03.1985
02.10.1992

Ernest (Ernie) Bridge Δ

WA

ALP; IND from Jul. 1996

LA

23.02.1980

10.02.2001

Carol Martin

WA

ALP

LA

10.02.2001

09.03.2013

Benjamin (Ben) Wyatt

WA

ALP

LA

11.03.2006

current

Josephine (Josie) Farrer

WA

ALP

LA

09.03.2013

current

Hyacinth Tungutalum Δ

NT

CLP

LA

19.10.1974

12.08.1977

Neville Perkins

NT

ALP

LA

13.08.1977

06.03.1981

Wesley Lanhupuy

NT

ALP

LA

03.12.1983

25.08.1995

Stanley Tipiloura

NT

ALP

LA

07.03.1987

20.09.1992

Maurice Rioli

NT

ALP

LA

07.11.1992

17.08.2001

John Ah Kit

NT

ALP

LA

07.10.1995

17.06.2005

Matthew Bonson

NT

ALP

LA

18.08.2001

08.08.2008

Elliot McAdam

NT

ALP

LA

18.08.2001

08.08.2008

Marion Scrymgour

NT

ALP; IND from June 2009; ALP from Aug. 2009

LA

18.08.2001

24.08.2012

Alison Anderson

NT

ALP; IND from Aug. 2009; CLP from Sept. 2011; PUP from Apr. 2014; IND from Nov. 2014

LA

08.06.2005

27.08.2016

Malarndirri McCarthy

NT

ALP

LA

08.06.2005

24.08.2012

Karl Hampton

NT

ALP

LA

23.09.2006

24.08.2012

Adam Giles

NT

CLP

LA

09.08.2008

27.08.2016

Bess Price

NT

CLP

LA

25.08.2012

27.08.2016

Francis Kurrupuwu

NT

CLP; PUP from Apr. 2014; CLP from Sept. 2014

LA

25.08.2012

27.08.2016

Larisa Lee

NT

CLP; PUP from May 2014; IND from Nov. 2014

LA

25.08.2012

27.08.2016

Kenneth (Ken) Vowles

NT

ALP

LA

25.08.2012

current

Ngaree Ah Kit

NT

ALP

LA

27.08.2016

current

Lawrence Costa

NT

ALP

LA

27.08.2016

current

Yingiya Mark Guyula

NT

IND

LA

27.08.2016

current

Chansey Paeche

NT

ALP

LA

27.08.2016

current

Selena Uibo

NT

ALP

LA

27.08.2016

current

Christopher (Chris) Bourke
Δ

ACT

ALP

LA

02.06.2011

current

Paul Harriss Δ

Tas.

IND
LIB

LC
HA

25.05.1996
30.03.2014

24.02.2014
18.02.2016

Kathryn Hay

Tas.

ALP

HA

20.07.2002

18.03.2006

Source: compiled by the Parliamentary Library.

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[1].               P Biongiourno, ‘Outgoing ALP National President discusses the ALP and the ALP conference’, Meet the Press, transcript, 30 July 2000, accessed 17 October 2016.