List of Indigenous Australian politicians

This is a list of Indigenous Australians who have been members of Australian legislatures—federal, state or territory. This list does not cover those elected to local councils (including mayors), Governors/Governors-General, leaders of political parties (outside of parliament), Indigenous Australians actively involved in political institutions and those who have run unsuccessfully for office.

There have been 33 Indigenous members of the ten Australian legislatures, beginning when Neville Bonner entered the Australian Senate on 15 August 1971. Of these, seventeen have been elected to the Northern Territory assembly, six to the Australian Federal Parliament, four to the parliament of Western Australia, three to the parliament of Queensland and one each to the parliaments of Tasmania and New South Wales and one to the Australian Capital Territory assembly.

Out of the 33 Indigenous Australians elected to any Australian Parliament, 12 have been women.

Nobody of acknowledged Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ancestry has been a member of the parliaments of South Australia or Victoria or of the Norfolk Island assembly.

Note: There is considerable debate surrounding the complexity of Indigenous identity. Therefore, this list only includes those who identify themselves as Indigenous Australian. Also note that "origin" or "ancestry" refers to the Indigenous groups, communities, countries, place names or languages which that person identifies with. Some individuals do not have any specific Indigenous group identity and some have multiple identities.

Federal Parliament

Six Indigenous Australian people have been members of the Parliament of Australia (the Federal Parliament), five in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives.

№	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Bonner, NevilleNeville Bonner		Liberal	Senate	Queensland	Jagera	15 August 1971	4 February 1983	[1]
2	Ridgeway, AdenAden Ridgeway		Democrats	Senate	New South Wales	Gumbaynggirr	1 July 1999	30 June 2005	[2]
3	Wyatt, KenKen Wyatt		Liberal	House	Hasluck (WA)	Noongar Wangai Yamatji	21 August 2010	incumbent	[3]
4	Peris, NovaNova Peris		Labor	Senate	Northern Territory	Gija (WA) Iwaidja Yawuru (WA)	7 September 2013	incumbent	[4]
5	Lindgren, JoannaJoanna Lindgren		LNP	Senate	Queensland	Jagera Mununjali	21 May 2015	incumbent	[5]
6	Dodson, PatrickPatrick Dodson		Labor	Senate	Western Australia	Yawuru	28 April 2016	incumbent	[6]

At least three other members of the Federal Parliament have had acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but were not generally regarded as Indigenous themselves.

№	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Ancestry	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Kennedy, DavidDavid Kennedy		Labor	House	Bendigo (Vic.)	Palawa	7 June 1969	2 December 1972	[7]
2	Brough, MalMal Brough		Liberal	House	Longman (Qld.)	unknown (WA)	2 March 1996	24 November 2007	[8]
			LNP		Fisher (Qld.)		7 September 2013	incumbent
3	Lambie, JacquiJacqui Lambie		PUP	Senate	Tasmania	Palawa	1 July 2014	24 November 2014	[9]
			Independent				24 November 2014	incumbent

Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory

One Indigenous Australian person has been a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, the single chamber of the unicameral Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory.

№	Name	Party		Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Bourke, ChrisChris Bourke		Labor	Ginninderra		1 June 2011	incumbent	[10]

Parliament of New South Wales

One Indigenous Australian person has been a member of the Parliament of New South Wales.

№	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Burney, LindaLinda Burney		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Canterbury	Wiradjuri	22 March 2003	incumbent	[11]

Parliament of the Northern Territory

Seventeen Indigenous Australian people have been members of the unicameral Parliament of the Northern Territory.

№	Name	Party		Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Tungutalum, HyacinthHyacinth Tungutalum		CLP	Tiwi	Tiwi	19 October 1974	13 August 1977	[12]
2	Perkins, NevilleNeville Perkins		Labor	MacDonnell	Arrernte	13 August 1977	6 March 1981
3	Lanhupuy, WesWes Lanhupuy		Labor	Arnhem	Yolngu	3 December 1983	25 August 1995
4	Tipiloura, StanleyStanley Tipiloura		Labor	Arafura	Tiwi	7 March 1987	20 September 1992
5	Rioli, MauriceMaurice Rioli		Labor	Arafura	Tiwi	7 November 1992	17 August 2001
6	Ah Kit, JackJack Ah Kit		Labor	Arnhem	Arrernte	7 October 1995	18 June 2005
7	Bonson, MatthewMatthew Bonson		Labor	Millner		18 August 2001	8 August 2008
8	McAdam, ElliotElliot McAdam		Labor	Barkly	Jingili	18 August 2001	8 August 2008
9	Scrymgour, MarionMarion Scrymgour		Labor	Arafura	Tiwi	18 August 2001	4 June 2009	[13]
			Independent			4 June 2009	4 August 2009
			Labor			4 August 2009	6 August 2012
10	Anderson, AlisonAlison Anderson		Labor	MacDonnell	Arrernte	18 June 2005	4 August 2009
			Independent			4 August 2009	9 September 2011
			CLP			9 September 2011	25 August 2012
		Namatjira		25 August 2012		4 April 2014
				Independent		4 April 2014	27 April 2014
				PUP		27 April 2014	29 November 2014
				Independent		29 November 2014	incumbent
11	McCarthy, MalarndirriMalarndirri McCarthy		Labor	Arnhem	Yanyuwa	18 June 2005	6 August 2012	[14]
12	Hampton, KarlKarl Hampton		Labor	Stuart		23 September 2006	6 August 2012
13	Giles, AdamAdam Giles		CLP	Braitling	Kamilaroi (NSW)	9 August 2008	incumbent
14	Kurrupuwu, Francis XavierFrancis Xavier Kurrupuwu		CLP	Arafura	Tiwi	25 August 2012	4 April 2014
			Independent			4 April 2014	27 April 2014
			PUP			27 April 2014	8 September 2014
			CLP			8 September 2014	incumbent
15	Lee, LarisaLarisa Lee		CLP	Arnhem	Jawoyn	25 August 2012	4 April 2014
			Independent			4 April 2014	27 April 2014
			PUP			27 April 2014	29 November 2014
			Independent			29 November 2014	incumbent
16	Vowles, KenKen Vowles		Labor	Johnston		25 August 2012	incumbent
17	Price, BessBess Price		CLP	Stuart	Warlpiri	25 August 2012	incumbent

Parliament of Queensland

Three Indigenous Australian people have been members of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland.

№	Name	Party		Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Deeral, EricEric Deeral		Country	Cook	Guugu Yimithirr	7 December 1974	12 November 1977	[15]
2	Enoch, LeeanneLeeanne Enoch		Labor	Algester	Nunukul Quandamooka	31 January 2015	incumbent	[16]
3	Gordon, BillyBilly Gordon		Labor	Cook		31 January 2015	29 March 2015	[17]
			Independent			29 March 2015	incumbent

Parliament of Tasmania

One Indigenous Australian person has been a member of the Parliament of Tasmania.

№	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Hay, KathrynKathryn Hay		Labor	House of Assembly	Bass	Noongar (WA)	20 July 2002	18 March 2006	[18]

At least one other member of the Parliament of Tasmania has acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but is not generally regarded as Indigenous themselves.

№	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Ancestry	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Harriss, PaulPaul Harriss		Independent	Legislative Council	Huon		25 May 1996	24 February 2014	[19]
			Liberal	House of Assembly	Franklin		15 March 2014	incumbent

Parliament of Victoria

No Indigenous Australians have been a member of the Parliament of Victoria. However, at least two members have had acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but were not generally regarded as Indigenous themselves.

№	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Ancestry	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Kennedy, CyrilCyril Kennedy		Labor	Legislative Council	Waverley	Palawa	5 May 1979	2 October 1992	[20]
2	Kennedy, DavidDavid Kennedy		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Bendigo	Palawa	3 April 1982	1 March 1985	[7]
					Bendigo West		1 March 1985	2 October 1992

Parliament of Western Australia

Four Indigenous Australian people have been members of the Parliament of Western Australia, all of whom were elected to the Legislative Assembly (the lower house).

№	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Bridge, ErnieErnie Bridge		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Kimberley		23 February 1980	27 July 1996	[21]
			Independent				27 July 1996	10 February 2001
2	Martin, CarolCarol Martin		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Kimberley		10 February 2001	9 March 2013	[22]
3	Wyatt, BenBen Wyatt		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Victoria Park	Yamatji	11 March 2006	incumbent	[23]
4	Farrer, JosieJosie Farrer		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Kimberley		9 March 2013	incumbent

See also

• List of Indigenous Australians in politics and public service

References

1. "CONDOLENCES Bonner, Mr Neville Thomas, AO". Parliament of Australia. 1999. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
2. "Biography for RIDGEWAY, Aden Derek". Parliament of Australia. 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
3. "Ken Wyatt makes Australian political history". Special Broadcasting Service. 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
4. Nova Peris elected as first Indigenous woman in Federal Parliament, ABC News, 9 September 2013.
5. "Neville Bonner's great-niece Joanna Lindgren appointed Queensland senator by LNP". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
6. "Pat Dodson elected WA's newest senator". ABC News. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
7. Kennedy, (Andrew) David – Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
8. Nick Bryant (September 2013). "Mal Brough crashes through". The Monthly. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
9. "Jacqui Lambie talks about Indigenous heritage". SBS. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
10. "Bourke to be first indigenous MLA". Canberra Times. 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
11. "The Hon. Linda Jean BURNEY, HonDEd, DipEd MP". Parliament of New South Wales. 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
12. "First Aboriginal politician in NT dies". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
13. "Marion Scrymgour - Member for Arafura". Australian Labor Party. 2006. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
14. "Malarndirri McCarthy - Member for Arnhem". Australian Labor Party. 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
15. "Biography of First Indigenous State Member" (PDF). Queensland Parliament. 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
16. Labor's Leeanne Enoch to become one of two Indigenous MPs, ABC News, 1 February 2015.
17. "Newman gone: Labor surges in Queensland". Yahoo! 7 News. 2015-02-01. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
18. "Hay, Kathryn Isobel". Parliament of Tasmania. 2006. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
19. Tasmanian Parliamentary History - FAQ – Tasmanian Parliamentary Library. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
20. Kennedy, Cyril James – Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
21. "Hon. Ernest Francis Bridge OAM, MLA JP". Parliament of Western Australia. 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
22. "Mrs Carol Anne Martin MLA BA". Parliament of Western Australia. 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
23. "Mr Benjamin (Ben) Sana Wyatt MLA LLB, MSc". Parliament of Western Australia. 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.