List of Indigenous Australian politicians

This list of Indigenous Australian politicians includes Indigenous Australians who have been members of Australian legislatures—federal, state or territory. It does not include 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.

 

The Coalition's Ken Wyatt (left) and the ALP's Linda Burney (right) are the first and only Indigenous Australian members of the Australian House of Representatives.

There have been 40 Indigenous members of the ten Australian legislatures, beginning when Neville Bonner entered the Australian Senate on 15 August 1971. Of these, 22 have been elected to the Northern Territory assembly, eight to the Australian Federal Parliament, four to the parliaments of Queensland and Western Australia, and one each to the parliaments of Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales and one to the Australian Capital Territory assembly.

Out of the 40 Indigenous Australians elected to any Australian Parliament, 16 have been women.

Nobody of acknowledged Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ancestry has yet been a member of the parliament of South Australia 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

Eight Indigenous Australian people have been members of the Parliament of Australia (the Federal Parliament), six in the Senate and two in the House of Representatives. Four of them are in it today.

No.	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Neville Bonner		Liberal	Senate	Queensland	Jagera	15 August 1971	4 February 1983	[1]
2	Aden Ridgeway		Democrats	Senate	New South Wales	Gumbaynggirr	1 July 1999	30 June 2005	[2]
3	Ken Wyatt		Liberal	House	Hasluck (WA)	Noongar Wangai Yamatji	21 August 2010	incumbent	[3]
4	Nova Peris		Labor	Senate	Northern Territory	Gija (WA) Iwaidja Yawuru (WA)	7 September 2013	9 May 2016	[4]
5	Joanna Lindgren		LNP	Senate	Queensland	Jagera Mununjali	21 May 2015	2 July 2016	[5]
6	Pat Dodson		Labor	Senate	Western Australia	Yawuru	28 April 2016	incumbent	[6]
7	Linda Burney		Labor	House	Barton (NSW)	Wiradjuri	2 July 2016	incumbent
8	Malarndirri McCarthy		Labor	Senate	Northern Territory	Yanyuwa	2 July 2016	incumbent

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

No.	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Ancestry	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	David Kennedy		Labor	House	Bendigo (Vic.)	Palawa	7 June 1969	2 December 1972	[7]
2	Mal Brough		Liberal	House	Longman (Qld)	unknown (WA)	2 March 1996	24 November 2007	[8]
					Fisher (Qld)		7 September 2013	9 May 2016
3	Kerry Rea		Labor	House	Bonner (Qld)	not stated	24 November 2007	21 August 2010	[9]
4	Jacqui Lambie		PUP	Senate	Tasmania	Palawa	1 July 2014	14 November 2017	[10]
			Independent
			JLN
							1 July 2019	present

Timeline

Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory

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

No.	Name	Party		Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Chris Bourke		Labor	Ginninderra		1 June 2011	15 October 2016	[11]

Parliament of New South Wales

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

No.	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Linda Burney		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Canterbury	Wiradjuri	22 March 2003	6 May 2016	[12]

Parliament of the Northern Territory

Twenty-two Indigenous Australian people have been members of the unicameral Parliament of the Northern Territory.

No.	Name	Party		Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Hyacinth Tungutalum		CLP	Tiwi	Tiwi	19 October 1974	13 August 1977	[13]
2	Neville Perkins		Labor	MacDonnell	Arrernte	13 August 1977	6 March 1981
3	Wes Lanhupuy		Labor	Arnhem	Yolngu	3 December 1983	25 August 1995
4	Stanley Tipiloura		Labor	Arafura	Tiwi	7 March 1987	20 September 1992
5	Maurice Rioli		Labor	Arafura	Tiwi	7 November 1992	17 August 2001
6	Jack Ah Kit		Labor	Arnhem	Arrernte	7 October 1995	18 June 2005
7	Matthew Bonson		Labor	Millner		18 August 2001	8 August 2008
8	Elliot McAdam		Labor	Barkly	Jingili	18 August 2001	8 August 2008
9	Marion Scrymgour		Labor	Arafura	Tiwi	18 August 2001	4 June 2009	[14]
			Independent			4 June 2009	4 August 2009
			Labor			4 August 2009	6 August 2012
10	Alison 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	8 August 2016
11	Malarndirri McCarthy		Labor	Arnhem	Yanyuwa	18 June 2005	6 August 2012	[15]
12	Karl Hampton		Labor	Stuart	Warlpiri, Ngulikan and Mara	23 September 2006	6 August 2012
13	Adam Giles		CLP	Braitling	Kamilaroi (NSW)	9 August 2008	27 August 2016
14	Francis 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	27 August 2016
15	Larisa 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	27 August 2016
16	Ken Vowles		Labor	Johnston		25 August 2012	incumbent
17	Bess Price		CLP	Stuart	Warlpiri	25 August 2012	27 August 2016
18	Lawrence Costa		Labor	Arafura	Tiwi	27 August 2016	incumbent
19	Selena Uibo		Labor	Arnhem	Nunggubuyu	27 August 2016	incumbent
20	Ngaree Ah Kit		Labor	Karama		27 August 2016	incumbent
21	Chansey Paech		Labor	Namatjira	Arnada/Gurindji	27 August 2016	incumbent
22	Yingiya Mark Guyula		Independent	Nhulunbuy	Yolngu	27 August 2016	incumbent

Parliament of Queensland

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

No.	Name	Party		Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Eric Deeral		Country	Cook	Guugu Yimithirr	7 December 1974	12 November 1977	[16]
2	Leeanne Enoch		Labor	Algester	Nunukul Quandamooka	31 January 2015	incumbent	[17]
3	Billy Gordon		Labor	Cook		31 January 2015	29 March 2015	[18]
			Independent			29 March 2015	25 November 2017
4	Cynthia Lui		Labor	Cook	Torres Strait Islanders	25 November 2017	incumbent	[19]
5	Lance McCallum		Labor	Bundamba	Gubbi Gubbi	28 March 2020	incumbent	[20]

Parliament of Tasmania

Two Indigenous Australian people have been a member of the Parliament of Tasmania.

No.	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Kathryn Hay		Labor	House of Assembly	Bass	Noongar (WA)	20 July 2002	18 March 2006	[21]
2	Jennifer Houston		Labor	House of Assembly	Bass	Palawa	3 March 2018	incumbent	[22][23]

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

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

Parliament of Victoria

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

No.	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Lidia Thorpe		Greens	Legislative Assembly	Northcote	Gunnai-Gunditjmara	18 November 2017	24 November 2018	[25]

At least two members have had acknowledged Indigenous ancestry, but were not generally regarded as Indigenous themselves.

No.	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Ancestry	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Cyril Kennedy		Labor	Legislative Council	Waverley	Palawa	5 May 1979	2 October 1992	[26]
2	David 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

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

No.	Name	Party		Chamber	Constituency	Origin	Term start	Term end	Ref
1	Ernie Bridge		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Kimberley		23 February 1980	27 July 1996	[27]
			Independent				27 July 1996	10 February 2001
2	Carol Martin		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Kimberley		10 February 2001	9 March 2013	[28]
3	Ben Wyatt		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Victoria Park	Yamatji	11 March 2006	incumbent	[29]
4	Josie Farrer		Labor	Legislative Assembly	Kimberley	Gija	9 March 2013	incumbent
5	Zak Kirkup		Liberal	Legislative Assembly	Dawesville	Yamatji	11 March 2017	incumbent

See also

• List of Indigenous Australians in politics and public service
• Māori politics
• Uluru Statement from the Heart

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. 21 May 2015. 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. "Kerry Rea". Women in Federal Parliament. Department of the Senate. Retrieved 3 May 2020. In her first speech Rea referred to her Aboriginal great-grandmother and the importance and poignancy of the prime minister’s 2008 apology to the stolen generations
10. "Jacqui Lambie talks about Indigenous heritage". SBS. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
11. "Bourke to be first indigenous MLA". Canberra Times. 2011. Archived from the original on 18 August 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
12. "The Hon. Linda Jean BURNEY, HonDEd, DipEd MP". Parliament of New South Wales. 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
13. "First Aboriginal politician in NT dies". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
14. "Marion Scrymgour - Member for Arafura". Australian Labor Party. 2006. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
15. "Malarndirri McCarthy - Member for Arnhem". Australian Labor Party. 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
16. "Biography of First Indigenous State Member" (PDF). Queensland Parliament. 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
17. Labor's Leeanne Enoch to become one of two Indigenous MPs, ABC News, 1 February 2015.
18. "Newman gone: Labor surges in Queensland". Yahoo! 7 News. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
19. Moore, Tony (28 November 2017). "Labor one seat closer as first Torres Strait Islander woman elected to Parliament". The Age. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
20. Smith, Douglas (20 May 2020). "Three Indigenous Queensland MP's hold seats at the same time in historical milestone". NITV News. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
21. "Hay, Kathryn Isobel". Parliament of Tasmania. 2006. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
22. Baker, Emily (22 June 2019). "Bass Labor MP Jennifer Houston says representation matters". The Mercury. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
23. "Jennifer Houston MP - Inagural Speech". Parliament of Tasmania. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
24. Tasmanian Parliamentary History - FAQ – Tasmanian Parliamentary Library. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
25. "Greens' Lidia Thorpe makes history after Northcote by-election win". NITV. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
26. Kennedy, Cyril James – Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
27. "Hon. Ernest Francis Bridge OAM, MLA JP". Parliament of Western Australia. 2005. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
28. "Mrs Carol Anne Martin MLA BA". Parliament of Western Australia. 2005. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
29. "Mr Benjamin (Ben) Sana Wyatt MLA LLB, MSc". Parliament of Western Australia. 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2011.