Election survey in legislative bodies: Indigenous people running for positions

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With Prime Minister Anthony Albanese having called a federal election for May 3, there are a number of First Nations candidates in both the Upper and Lower Houses – and several senators who are halfway through their term.

Northern Territory

The Territories elect two senators every election, whereas the states elect six senators for two terms each poll for a total of 12.

That means in the NT both Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy and Country Liberal Party Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price are up for re-election.

In every election since the NT has had senate representation in 1975 the Territory has elected one Labor and one conservative senator, who has always sat with the Nationals (CLP members can choose which Coalition party, the Liberals or Nationals, they align with).

And with both Senator McCarthy and Senator Nampijinpa Price holding the Indigenous Australians port folio, it looks likely that no matter who wins the election the Minister will be from the NT.

In the lower house, sitting Lingiari Labor MP Marion Scrymgour, a Tiwi Anmatjere woman, faces a challenge from CLP candidate for Lingiari Lisa Siebert, a Larrakia woman.

Ms Scrymgour won the seat, which covers the NT outside of Darwin, in 2022, following the retirement of long-term Labor MP Warren Snowden, by a margin of less than 1 per cent.

A former member of the Territory parliament, Ms Scrymgour was also the first woman to head up the Northern Land Council and worked for many years in the community-controlled health sector.

Ms Siebert is a federal police officer and a former chair of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation.

NSW

Labor Robertson MP Gordon Reid, a Wiradjuri man, is recontesting the Central Coast seat he won in the 2022 election.

In recent times Robertson has been somewhat of a bellwhether seat, with Dr Reid, a former emergency doctor, winning it with a 2.26 per cent margin.

Yuin and Bidjigal man Keiron Brown is the Greens candidate for the southeast Sydney seat of Kingsford Smith, currently a safe Labor seat held by Matt Thistlethwaite.

Kingsford Smith takes in La Perouse, where Mr Brown grew up.

“I am a foster parent to three beautiful Aboriginal children and am a very active member of the school and broader community,” his candidate statement says.

“I am also an active member of the LGBTQIA+ community and am proud to have organised the first ever LaPa legends Mardi Gras float.”

South Australia

LNP Senator Kerrynne Liddle, an Arrernte woman, was elected in 2022, so is not facing another election this year and will be in the next parliament.

She is the Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence and Indigenous Health.

Queensland

Well-known activist Wayne Coco Wharton is standing for the Indigenous Aboriginal Party of Australia in the Senate.

Wharton has been a long-time voice for land rights, cultural preservation, and reparations for the enduring impacts of colonisation, including the Stolen Generations and dispossession of traditional lands.

Wayne Wharton speaks at a protest in Brisbane. Credit: Dan Rennie

Tasmania

Jacqui Lambie Network Senator Jacquie Lambie, a Palawa woman, is campaigning for re-election.

Senator Lambie was first elected in 2013 as a member of the Palmer United Party but quickly fell out with billionaire founder Clive Palmer and resigned to sit as an independent in 2014.

She was one of the many parliamentarians caught up in the eligibility crisis of 2017 after it was found she had inherited dual citizenship from her Scottish-born father, so resigned.

Senator Lambie was again elected in 2019.

Victoria

Former diplomat and finance manager Benson Saulo, a Wemba Wemba, Gunditijmara and Papua New Guinean man, is the Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Macnamara.

Mr Saulo has had a successful career spanning finance, international relations, and economic development, including as managing Partner of First Australians Capital, a national Indigenous-led investment fund manager.

In 2021 he was appointed Australia’s Consul-General and Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner, based in Houston, Texas, making him the first Indigenous person to be appointed as an Australian Consul-General.

Labor Senator Jana Stewart, a Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman and Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman are both halfway through their terms, so are not contesting this election.

Western Australia

The Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia (IAPA) has nominated Jason Hunter, a Nyikina/Nyul Nyul/Worora man from the West Kimberley, as their candidate for the northern WA seat of Durack in the 2025 federal election.

The IAPA was started by Barkindji people in Wilcannia who were so alarmed by the contamination and reduced flow of the Baaka/Darling river that they decided to take matters into their own hands and start a political party.

Mr Hunter cites environmental concerns as one of the main reasons he is standing.

“And while we are still grieving from the Voice [unsuccessful 2023 referendum], Indigenous people still need proper political representation – which is what I believe IAPA can offer,” he said in a statement.

“Our policies are not just about addressing the symptoms affecting Indigenous people; they are about tackling the root causes.

“Our policies focus on supporting First Nations communities to take a lead role in tackling the issues that affect them.

“As well as protecting our sacred rivers, we are advocating for empowering Indigenous communities to educate their own children, keeping families together and out of jail and developing Indigenous businesses, among other things.”

Durack – the geographically largest electorate in the country – is currently held by Liberal MP Melissa Price, who has held the seat comfortably since she won it in 2013, but did have a swing of more than 10 per cent against her in 2022 to take it to marginal.

The Greens have two Indigenous Lower House candidates running in WA, while Senator Dorinda Cox, a Yamatji Noongar woman, is halfway through her term.

Noongar man Clint Uink is the Greens candidate for Swan, in central Perth, after unsuccessfully running for the Legislative Council in the WA state election on March 8.

“For the past decade, I’ve worked for housing and community organisations, to ensure everyone has a safe and secure place to call home, and to tackle the rising cost of living,” his campaign statement says.

“As a Noongar man, I have a responsibility to care for Country.

“Our ancestors took care of our Country, so it would take care of all who live on it.

“Our Country and our climate are being threatened by coal and gas companies.”

Swan is a marginal seat, currently held by Labor’s Zaneta Mascarenhas, who was elected in 2022.

Eric Hayward is the Greens candidate for Tangney, after running unsuccessfully for the seat of Cannington in the WA state election.

His campaign statement describes Mr Hayward as a postgraduate researcher at UWA, with previous experience as a primary and high school teacher and also as a solicitor with Legal Aid.

“I have always supported equality for all and freedom from discrimination, which led me to study law,” he says.

“In 1991, I became the first Aboriginal person from the South West of WA to obtain a law degree from the University of Western Australia.”

Australia’s Voice leader Fatima Payman and WA Senate candidate Megan Krakouer.

Noongar advocate Megan Krakouer is the WA lead Senate candidate for Australia’s Voice, the party started by former Labor Senator Fatima Payman.

Ms Krakouer is a community advocate, working in social justice and human rights including with First Nations people who have lost a family member to deaths in custody, and workers’ rights.

Trish Botha, a South Sea/Nywaigi woman, is on the Liberal ticket for the Senate in WA.

She said in a statement to NITV that her theological/anthropological and community development studies and experience has meant working in remote communities in community and economic development.

“In addition, given the strength of our nation’s economy based in the resource sector, the importance of all of WA working together to reaffirm the importance of a strong and united country has been an important focus for my campaign,” she said.

First Nations senators Jana Stewart (Labor, Victoria), Lidia Thorpe (Independent, Victoria), Dorinda Cox (Greens WA) and Kerrynne Liddle (Liberal SA) will all still be in parliament, halfway through their terms and not up for re-election until next time.

If NITV has missed any First Nations candidates – sorry! .