Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence, I rise in this chamber to pay tribute to the life and times of Uncle Jimmy Little, one of the pioneering Aboriginal entertainers of our age, an Aboriginal man whose career spanned some 44 years and who said, with great eloquence, 'The main ingredient in my songs is love.' He reflected that both in his work and in his relations with everybody he met during what was an absolutely remarkable career.

Jimmy grew up on the banks of the Murray River. He was a child of the mission and he had a mother and father who provided him with not only the support as a young child that would prove invaluable to him during the course of his career but the inspiration as well, as they were vaudeville entertainers—in a period of time where I have to say that vaudeville entertainers, particularly those of Aboriginal ancestry or birth, were extremely rare.

Jimmy had a career which not only spanned 44 years but saw him become very successful as a singer of popular songs, very successful as an interpreter and a balladeer. He was a renowned and acknowledged country and western music singer. He acted. And, up until the time of his death, he was also significantly involved not only with his community but particularly in the work that he was doing with the Jimmy Little Foundation, whose activities were directed towards supporting and assisting people who had suffered from kidney disease, something that Jimmy himself experienced.

Jimmy's mum was a Cummeragunja woman, his dad a Yorta Yorta man, and the influence that he had over successive generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers cannot be in any way underplayed. The fact is that knowing that Uncle Jimmy was still recording, was still touring, and that you were likely to see him or run into him somewhere around Australia in a town or at a venue, and that each and every time he would be the most gentle, the most reflective and the most generous of people to be with, I know provided a great deal of inspiration, and consolation at times, for Aboriginal performers and artists, particularly those who were starting out on that long road.

Jimmy was not without ambition. He saw from an early age that this was what he wanted to do and he set about doing it with an extraordinary degree of perspicacity. He persevered through literally thick and thin. And—I think tellingly—he never sought to overly exaggerate, deny or try and manipulate in any way the way that people saw him and how he was, as a proud Aboriginal man. The fact is, as he himself said, he was very proud to be an Aborigine, a member of the First Australians. In that sense, he was somebody whose engagement with other Australians was always carried out with dignity; he had a strong sense of who he was and what his culture was. But he was also somebody who was very focused on his craft of being a first-rate entertainer.

I want to reflect briefly on Jimmy's music and, in particular, his singing. I think I bring some small degree of past practice to these observations, but I will try to make them brief for the benefit of those listening. Jimmy was someone in possession of a beautiful voice. As one commentator said, 'He knew how to sing soft and slow and low,' and I can assure you that is not necessarily easily done. He was a superb balladeer and interpreter, no more so than when he recorded, with the very well known Australian musician and producer Brendan Gallagher, a fantastic collection of songs called The Messenger, an album that featured the work of many well-known artists of the seventies and eighties, particularly Paul Kelly but also The Church—an extremely beautiful version of Under the Milky WayEd Kuepper, The Reels and others. Of course, Jimmy had had significant success much earlier than that. He was literally a veteran of the entertainment world and of the music industry in particular.

Royal Telephone is probably still the song that he is best known for. In 1963, to sell 75,000 copies of a single was an absolutely extraordinary achievement. Jimmy's subsequent induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame—probably a little overdue but nonetheless absolutely appropriate—came on the back of a significant career in the sixties, releasing singles and EPs of the music he created. As has been noted by commentators, that particular chart-topping single took place before the 1967 referendum, which tells us something about the journey that Jimmy Little took.

I also want to mention his versatility, because he acted as well. He acted early on in a film called Shadow of the Boomerang, but he continued to act intermittently in the middle period of his career. He brought his presence to the screen as he brought his presence to the stage as he brought his presence to any room that he walked into.

At the end of the day, I think Jimmy was an example to everybody, not only to his own people for the way in which he conducted himself—he blazed the trail for many performers—but also for the way in which he gently engaged and interacted with others. He was never strident. He never sought to blame anybody. He always looked for the positive in any situation. He always wanted to give back to his people.

Jimmy was not only a role model as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander man; as Clinton Walker, who has written about Jimmy, said, he was also a role model as a human being. He received the Order of Australia, he was New South Wales Senior Australian of the Year, he was the recipient of the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee's Aboriginal of the Year award and so it goes on. Leaving aside all of those awards, which were absolutely appropriate, the way Jimmy lived his life was a great inspiration to us all. I want to pass on my deep condolences and pay my respects to Jimmy's extended family and to those who worked with him for many years.

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to offer my condolences on the occasion of the death of James Oswald 'Jimmy' Little. I had the incredible privilege of knowing Jimmy well, particularly in the latter stages of the work he was doing around developing an awareness of the impact of renal disease, because we sometimes neglect what it means to lose kidneys or kidney function, such as the imposition of being married to a machine that cleanses your blood.

I met Jimmy many years ago through a mutual friend, May O'Brien. Jimmy was performing at a conference we went to. As a child I had always loved Royal Telephone, and when Jimmy asked for requests May yelled that out. She said to me: 'Come and meet Jimmy. He is an incredible man. He has done so much very quietly in his own way to bring the issues of his people and our people to the fore of the public view'. And so I did meet him and, in a sense, when you do meet somebody for whom you have admiration and respect you tend to follow their career after that. It was tremendous. I met with him several times, but the best meeting I ever had with Jimmy was when Buzz Bidstrup, who was a drummer in a band and who got to know Jimmy over those years, invited me to meet with Jimmy in his home when he was living in Sydney to talk about the establishment of the foundation and what Jimmy hoped to achieve.

It was an incredible 2½ hours of sitting with somebody who was so peaceful, so calm and so measured in what he had to say but who was extraordinary in the vision that he had for the work, the capability and the capacity that he could bring to the foundation, in two ways: one was to lend his name to the foundation and the second was his commitment to go out and use his music and share his knowledge and his own experience with others, hopefully to make a difference in the way people would view renal disease. Of course, after that they were highly successful in attracting funding to commence the program in the Northern Territory.

It is sad that he died on 2 April at his home in Dubbo, aged 75 years. I know he would have been with family. I know that is something he really appreciated. Over the time I knew him personally there were elements that came to the fore about the quality of Jimmy. At the commemoration service for Jimmy I was asked to represent the Leader of the Opposition, and I heard the premier of the state deliver a very powerful speech about the quality of the individual and the quality of the work he undertook—the way in which he reached out beyond his Aboriginality. He reached into society and touched people with his vision, with his song and as a person. People who knew him loved him dearly. But I think, more importantly, what was recognised in all of this was the strength of his family and the support that he received from 2004 onwards when he had his first transplant.

Jimmy had a quiet sense of humour. He recounted the days when he first started touring; when he would go into hotels to perform he was often told to go through the back door of the hotel—which was the black door, where blacks only could go. He said that on occasions people who were performing with him would say, 'If Jimmy can't come through the front door of the hotel then we are not performing at this hotel,' and they would pack up and leave and perform elsewhere.

His friendship with so many people in the industry was remarkable. It was fascinating that when Kylie Minogue performed a song with him her parents came down not to see Kylie perform with Jimmy but to see Jimmy perform and to meet Jimmy. Such was the gentleness of the man and the admiration that Australians had for him.

James Oswald 'Jimmy' Little was an Australian Aboriginal musician, actor and teacher from the Yorta Yorta people. He was raised on the Cummeragunja Mission in New South Wales. He died at his home in Dubbo aged 75 years, and what an incredibly rich 75 years they were for him, particularly 1958, when he started to play much more openly and to perform across the spectrum of music that was available at the time. He was certainly influenced by Nat King Cole and others of that period, and some of the gospel music. But at no stage did he pigeonhole himself into a particular genre, although country and western music was a favourite of his. I have heard him play a range of music which demonstrated his capacity to walk across those genres of music and still hold an audience, and to hold them well. I heard the story of how he met Marjorie Rose Peters, a fellow singer. The excitement was described as, 'He looked across the room and saw an incredible smile,' from his future wife. Some time later they connected again and became a couple. They married and had one child, Francis Claire Peters-Little, a documentary filmmaker, writer and historian who also sings. She said, 'I can't sing,' but when she sang one of Jimmy's songs at the concert that night it was with an incredible voice, and I thought, 'If she can't sing, there's hope for me in terms of karaoke.' The way she encapsulated it was just beautiful.

The other thing Jimmy did was that, whilst he became an Aboriginal star, he always said: 'I am Australian. I value my heritage. I value the fact that I am a Yorta Yorta man but I also value the fact that I am part of, as Christine Anu would say, 'my island home.' He had an influence on Australia in a period when people's views about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were very strong. But he was very gentle and quiet and, as a passive person, he brought home to people the incredible capability and talent that he as an Aboriginal man had. He had an influence on the music industry. It was fascinating listening to Col Joye recount his times of singing with Jimmy Little and to Judy Stone, who also performed, talk about being encouraged by him and Col to do her first song and send it off to Festival Records. So he taught and reached out to those he saw with the ability to sing and provide music and be part of, in a sense, songwriters who sing the history of a country or tell a story of a set of circumstances. That is what he continually did.

I was pleased when he won a place in the ARIA Hall of Fame and then the award for the Best Adult Contemporary Album because each of those two awards recognises his influence and, in particular, his contribution to the Australian music industry. What was particularly rewarding from my perspective, and I know that of many Australians, was Australia Day 26 January 2004, when he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, with the citation, 'For service to the entertainment industry as a singer, recording artist and songwriter and to the community through reconciliation and as an ambassador for Indigenous culture.'

It was interesting listening to the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, Peter Garrett, talk about his movie endeavours. He enjoyed those. He was not somebody who hit the scene for a long time but his contribution in those was great. I think the other attribute that is important was the work he did at the Eora Aboriginal Education Centre in Redfern, and he certainly imparted his knowledge and skills to aspiring young Aboriginal people who were looking at going into the arts. I know personally some individuals who were encouraged to think beyond where they were at and to pursue a career in music. Jimmy was also a guest lecturer at the Koori Centre at the University of Sydney.

In 1990, Jimmy was diagnosed with kidney disease. At that time he said, 'Unfortunately, I did not get check-ups often enough or soon enough to realise the possibility that my kidneys could fail.' In a sense his comments epitomise most Aboriginal people who experience renal disease, who because they ignore the signs and symptoms and do not look after themselves they end up with kidney disease. With the advent of transplants, Jimmy had a kidney transplant in 2004 which gave him a new lease on life and certainly drove his desire to continue with his music and to perform and to travel. I had the incredible privilege at that concert to see the Jimmy Little Trio perform with two or three of the artists but, in particular, with the family member when they sang one of his songs. Let me tell you that those three gentlemen, even though age has caught up with them, still showed pizazz and sparkle in playing their guitars and drums. They were tremendous and they certainly got tremendous recognition. But, as a result of immunosuppressants, he developed type 2 diabetes as well as a heart condition. It was after his transplant that he established the Jimmy Little Foundation to promote health and diet in Indigenous communities. If you look at what he has achieved in bringing a message to Aboriginal communities and to young people through his music, his knowledge and his experience, he has certainly promoted an awareness of renal disease—the need to look after your body as well as the signs and symptoms you need to consider in order to have a better pathway than he did.

In 2005 Jimmy told Peter Thompson on the ABC TV program Talking Heads how he would like to be remembered, and I think this epitomises Jimmy Little the person:

I just want people to remember me as a nice person who was fair-minded and had a bit of talent that put it to good use.

I think any of us who are aware of his contribution to the industry would agree that his contribution over a long period of time is significant to the way in which the genres of music became known. He was often on the television shows of his era. Some of you will remember Bandstand and some of the other Saturday shows. Jimmy Little was a regular on those shows and in his presentation brought home very strongly to all Australians that he was a talented musician.

I want to acknowledge the concert of Australian performers who paid their own tribute to Uncle Jimmy. The tribute was through song and personal reflections on how Jimmy Little impacted on them personally and professionally. With your indulgence, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to table that list.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are no objections to the tabling of that document.

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much. I will finish by saying that we have lost a great Australian and an Aboriginal leader who showed that you can achieve things doing what you have to do quietly and under the radar, but powerfully—through the voice, through song and through your actions.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join others in speaking on this condolence motion and extending my personal condolences to the family of Jimmy Little. I did not personally know Jimmy Little, but I certainly knew of him, and I knew of his music. I listened to his music because I enjoyed it. Today I pay tribute to him not only because of his music but because he was an extraordinary person. And I say he was an extraordinary person because, up until 1967, when we had the referendum that gave some recognition to Indigenous Australians, very little recognition and very little opportunity were given to Indigenous people across this country. So for an Indigenous person to be given any form of recognition prior to 1967 was indeed remarkable. Yet Jimmy Little was able to achieve that, and he did it through his music. What made it even more remarkable was that in the 1950s and 1960s budding artists were everywhere. To break into the music and entertainment industry was in itself a very difficult feat. It was a very competitive industry, it was a selective industry and, according to some, it was an industry in which discrimination was rife. So for Jimmy Little to in fact break through is something that should be acknowledged in its own right. If we look across the oceans to the USA, where in the same era a number of African-Americans had in fact broken into the music industry, and we look at the stories associated with the industry there, it is pretty easy to understand that, because of the competition and the pressures within the industry just for someone to be recognised and to get through, quite often it was a case not so much of what ability and what talents you had but of who you knew within the industry to open the doors and make it possible for you. Jimmy Little did that here in Australia, when I suspect there was no-one in particular to open doors for him and make it possible, because Australia was in fact lagging behind the American and perhaps even the English entertainment industry of the time.

Jimmy did break through and he obviously broke through because of his personality and his singing ability. His singing ability quickly brought him to fame. He performed and sang a number of songs that I recall were played regularly on pop radio. Pop radio was, at the time, the forum through which any entertainer was given some sort of recognition. In breaking through he became an inspiration and a leader for his community. That in itself was important because he broke through in the years leading up to the 1967 referendum. His success, his leadership and the inspiration he provided to others undoubtedly contributed towards the changes to the Constitution in 1967. In fact, I saw a brief film clipping where he was one of the Indigenous leaders of the time who was interviewed in the lead-up to the 1967 vote. Again, he was interviewed because he was being held up as one of the successful Indigenous people of this country.

Undoubtedly, he did pave the way for others and since his success there have been numerous other Indigenous artists and, in particular, many singers who have become successful in this country. I am sure that all members of this House would be familiar with so many of them. But it was not just Indigenous artists who subsequently became recognised; it was Indigenous people across the country. We have since seen many Indigenous people very successfully performing in a whole range of sports throughout this country and in fact representing this country in sports. One of those Indigenous people, Lionel Rose, not only represented Australia in boxing and won a world title but also followed that up with his own hit single here in Australia. Again, that is a good example of an Indigenous leader who proved that you can be successful if you put your mind to it.

It is always difficult for anyone to achieve any form of success when you have to be the first one to break through. I said earlier on in my remarks that I suspect that Jimmy Little did that not just because of his talents but because of his personality. There is no doubt that there have been many a talented person who have never been successful and whose talents unfortunately, for one reason or another, were never able to be shared with the rest of the community. Other speakers have talked a little bit about that. With my limited knowledge of his personality, he struck me as a person who was genuinely prepared to compromise and understand others and, in a very peaceful way, try to bring people together. I believe that that was his strength. He then went on to use that extraordinary personality or characteristic to assist Indigenous people in this country in so many different areas.

If you look at his record subsequent to his artistic acknowledgement, you will see that he continued serving the Indigenous people of this country until the day he died. He continued standing up for what he believed was right. He received many, many recognitions. I will come to those recognitions in just a moment. Interestingly, from my recollection, it was only a couple of years ago that he came to this place to support the Indigenous people of Australia. Jimmy Little was known to the world mainly for his singing. He was born on 1 March 1937 and passed away on 2 February 2012. He was a man from the Yorta people but he was raised by the Cummeragunja in New South Wales. From the age of 14 Jimmy embarked upon a career as a singer-songwriter and guitarist, a career that would span six decades. That in itself is quite remarkable. Also, as other speakers have noted, he has acted in a number of films including Shadow of the Boomerang in 1960 and Until the End of the World in 1991, and he performed in a stage play, Black Cockatoos.

Whilst Jimmy is best known for his work as an entertainer, he also made a significant contribution as a teacher who has worked at the Eora centre in Redfern and as a guest lecturer at the University of Sydney's Koori Centre, where he worked from 2000 onwards. Jimmy was best known, however, for his music and he started recording with Regal Zonophone in 1956 before launching his career at Festival records with a 45rpm EP called Ballads with a Beat. Ballads with a Beat reached the top 10 in the Australian musical charts and was followed by a number of EPs, singles and albums in the 1960s. The gospel song Royal Telephone, released in 1963, sold over 75,000 copies, but his most popular album was Messenger which peaked at 26 in the ARIA Albums Chart in 1999.

Jimmy built a reputation as one of Australia's premier country performers in the 1970s, but he was also fond of big orchestral sound, evident in his 1972 album Winterwood, and in the album entitled An Evening with Jimmy Little, live at the Sydney Opera House. Jimmy also diversified into reggae music in the 1980s. Jimmy was recognised through a number of forums and his contribution to music received the recognition it deserved when he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1999.

There was more to Jimmy than music, however. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia on Australia Day in 2004 and, as the member for Hasluck quite rightly quoted:

For service to the entertainment industry as a singer, recording artist and songwriter and to the community through reconciliation and as an ambassador for Indigenous culture.

In the same year, the Australian people voted Jimmy as a Living Treasure. Jimmy received honorary doctorates from the Queensland University of Technology, from the University of Sydney, and the Australian Catholic University. He was a recipient of the National Aborigines and Islanders Day of Observance Committee, otherwise known as NAIDOC, Aboriginal of the Year Award in 1989. He was named Senior Australian of the Year in 2002 and received the Australia Council's Red Ochre Award in 2004. It is quite a long list of accomplishments and recognition, again, just highlighting the extraordinary character of Jimmy Little. He married Marjorie Rose Peters in 1958. She unfortunately passed away in July 2011. Their 53-year marriage produced one child, a daughter, Frances Claire Peters-Little.

Jimmy was blessed in many ways but was forced to live with some serious health issues, as other speakers have also highlighted. He was a diabetic and had a heart condition. In 2004 Jimmy also had a kidney transplant. This event prompted him to turn a new page and he turned his considerable energy to promoting Indigenous health outcomes. After the transplant, the Jimmy Little Foundation was established.

Again, let me take a moment to just comment about that. As we all know, health issues are one of the most serious problems and challenges facing the Indigenous people of this country. Jimmy knew that, but he also knew that with better health care, many of those issues could be overcome. For him, the issue was passing on that information by educating his people and getting them to understand how they could do something about extending their own lives and living healthier lives. He committed his later years to doing that, and I certainly acknowledge his initiative in the Jimmy Little Foundation. The foundation was established with the vision of increasing the life expectancy of Indigenous Australians primarily through education and ensuring that they understood the importance and meaning of sound dietary habits. It is also interesting that the Jimmy Little Foundation now works with governments at the federal and state levels as well as with statutory and peak bodies to achieve those very objectives. I am sure others will talk about him and add to the comments already made about him but, as I said from the outset, Jimmy Little was in fact an extraordinary person and his achievements were indeed remarkable. So they certainly were, and I hope that through him other Indigenous people have been inspired given that he has set out the path and opened the doors for achievement by so many other Indigenous people who I believe have the talents and the abilities but simply need an inspiration to take them on to those achievements. To his extended family I once again extend my condolences.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today on behalf of the residents of the Ryan electorate to remember one of Australia's most famous and inspirational Aboriginal musicians, Jimmy Little. James Oswald 'Jimmy' Little died earlier this year at his home in the city of Dubbo after a long struggle with diabetes, kidney problems and a heart condition. He was born in 1937 on the Cummeragunja Mission on the New South Wales-Victorian border and in 1955 moved to Sydney to pursue his musical career. Jimmy Little was a true pioneer in the Australian music industry. He was one of the first Indigenous artists to achieve mainstream music success and over the course of his 60-year career played almost every music style imaginable from country to reggae. According to his manager, Graham Bidstrup, Jimmy Little achieved his success despite being forced, through the late 1950s and early 1960s, by nightclub owners to use the back door because of the colour of his skin. In 1999, Jimmy Little was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame for Messenger, a collection of contemporary songs he had reinterpreted. In the same year he won Best Male Artist of the Year and Best Single Release of the Year at The Deadlys—the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Awards.

In addition to his musical career, Jimmy Little was a strong advocate for Indigenous Australians and served as a mentor for many Indigenous children. In 2006, he established the Jimmy Little Foundation to bring a healthier future to Indigenous Australians. The foundation works to combat high rates of kidney disease and diabetes in Aboriginal communities. Jimmy Little's outstanding contribution to Australian society has been recognised through a number of awards, including having been made an Officer of the Order of Australia and appointed as a National Living Treasure. On behalf of the people of Ryan, may I extend my condolences to Jimmy Little's family, friends and the many Australians who are fans of his music and I acknowledge the substantial contribution he made to the lives of Indigenous Australians.

Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to add my comments to the condolence motion on Australian musician James Oswald Little OA or, as we know him, Jimmy Little. I wish to pay my respects on the passing of this outstanding singer, songwriter and guitarist whose remarkable career spanned six decades. Jimmy Little was born in 1937 as a member of the Yorta Yorta people. His parents, Frances and James Little Sr, were both entertainers and he grew up on the Murray River in New South Wales, near Echuca, in Victoria. Of his upbringing Jimmy said his parents:

… taught me well about the value of life, freedom, love, respect, all those basic things that we need. As Vaudevillians, I loved them. It was part of my dream to follow in the footsteps of Mum and Dad. And I'm so proud that I was able to do that …

Music was a big part of Jimmy's life and at the age of 13 he was given a guitar. Within a year he was playing at regular concerts and by 16 had moved to Sydney to perform on a radio program Australia's Amateur Hour and to pursue a career in country music. Back then, Jimmy was influenced by greats such as Nat King Cole, Jim Reeves and Johnny Mathis and was given the nicknames 'the Balladeer' and 'Gentleman Jim' for his unique mellow style. Of his many successful releases, Jimmy's gospel song Royal Telephone sold over 75,000 copies and his most popular album, Messenger, hit No. 26 in 1999 on the ARIA albums chart. That same year, Jimmy was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and won an ARIA award for 'Best Adult Contemporary Album'. In 2004, on Australia Day, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the entertainment industry.

In between making and selling music, Jimmy dabbled in acting, appearing in the films Shadow of the Boomerang in 1960 and Until the End of the World in 1991. He also worked as a teacher, mentoring Indigenous music students in Redfern, and took on the role of guest lecturer at the University of Sydney's Koori Centre in 2000. Music was always his passion, and he spent many years, from 2001 onwards, working with many high-profile performers, such as Paul Kelly, Bernard Fanning, Brendan Gallagher and Dave Graney.

Being a diabetic with a heart condition, however, posed a few problems, and in 2004 he underwent surgery for a kidney transplant. It was this experience that eventually led him to establish the Jimmy Little Foundation to help the many other Indigenous Australians who, like him, suffered from kidney disease. In fact, it was through this foundation that Jimmy had the biggest impact on the Northern Territory. The foundation works with patients in regional and remote Australia and partnered with the Fred Hollows Foundation in 2009 to develop the Thumbs Up! nutrition program, which is focused on remote communities. It aims to promote healthy eating, education and information and works in association with project partners the Arnhem Land Progress Association, the Australian Red Cross and the Northern Territory department of education. A pilot program is currently operating in Ramingining, Gapuwiyak, Galiwinku and Milingimbi, and uses music, multimedia workshops, concerts and cooking with senior community women to get the message across to children.

According to the reports, the Jimmy Little Foundation is funding a mobile renal dialysis unit to be built and then operated by the Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku Aboriginal Corporation—WDNWPT. This vehicle will be on the road servicing remote communities with vital renal treatment that will allow people to stay in their community while receiving life-sustaining dialysis. On his passing, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory said:

At AMSANT we will always remember his role as an Elder for Aboriginal health. Despite the personal sacrifices and pain he experienced, he became a vital ambassador for those of us who endure kidney disease, and all that goes with it. Although he was too ill to attend, he was a strong supporter of the AMSANT Fresh Food Summit in Tennant Creek in 2010. The work of the Jimmy Little Foundation in backing the importance of good nutrition will be yet another legacy of his life and commitment. He was an inspiration with his gentle leadership to our staff here at Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory on his visit to our office.

Jimmy Little was a remarkable person who worked to progress the Aboriginal cause and is an inspiration to other Indigenous people across the country. May Jimmy rest in peace and his music live on.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to briefly pay tribute to the life, work and in particular the role of Jimmy Little in the advancement of Indigenous Australia. Jimmy Little was a musician but, like so many of those trailblazers for Indigenous Australia, he was involved in either the arts or sport. We can point to many, but he was one of the quartet of Indigenous Australians whom I believe were absolutely critical to the advances in the standing and the improvement in the status, the role and the condition of Aboriginal Australia. They came from a situation which was unacceptable, intolerable and which, rightly, should be the subject of deep historical concern. But, at the same time, they said to everybody, 'We can come from this background; there are many families that have thrived and overcome difficulty and each individual has the possibility to live a life of majestic purpose.' To my mind, that quartet comprised: Jimmy Little, who was the most significant and, potentially, the first through his work in music; Lionel Rose, who achieved world champion status as a boxer; Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who, as Evonne Goolagong, was a Wimbledon champion, and who performed around the world and was perhaps the most famous of the quartet; and former Senator Neville Bonner, who became the first Indigenous Australian to enter this parliament in 1971.

When you look across their work, the arts, sport and also parliamentary life, you see that this group, along with many others whom I acknowledge, were fundamental in transforming the role and the status of Indigenous Australia. I am no music critic, as anybody will tell you, but his body of work and his achievements were tremendous. But I want to refer to more than that. He started his recording in 1956, at age 19. He became the first Indigenous Australian to make the top 10 and he had a No. 1 hit in 1963, selling 75,000 copies of Royal Telephone. But it was the acceptance, the love and the respect with which he was held that became a bridge for Aboriginal Australia. In my view, Jimmy Little, amongst others, along with Lionel Rose, played such an important role in Australian consciousness and that was a real contributor to the success of subsequent referenda later on in the decade. There are many reasons to remember Jimmy Little: his music but, in particular, his role in helping Indigenous Australia to break out from old stereotypes, to gain a foothold in the mainstream cultural life of Australia.

The third reason to acknowledge Jimmy Little was his humanitarian work. In 2006, he established the Jimmy Little Foundation off the back of his own kidney failure and kidney transplant. This was a foundation, which among other things, brought renal dialysis mobile units to outback Australia. I cannot say how many individual lives it has helped save, extend or improve, but there is no doubt that there are numerous lives that have either been saved, extended or improved as a result of his work. That is a body of work of itself which would be worthy of commendation, but it is representative of a broader life, which we mourn today but, much more importantly, which we celebrate as a life well lived.

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to honour the memory of a great Australian man, Mr James Oswald Little AO, better known as Jimmy Little. Jimmy Little was one of Australia's most beloved singers and songwriters. He had a career which spanned over six decades. Like all of Jimmy Little's fans, I was extremely saddened to hear of his passing on 2 April. We truly have lost a national treasure. The man who was Jimmy Little will forever remain in our memory as a nation. He was the first Indigenous Australian to receive mainstream success in music, having a top 10 hit with Royal Telephone in 1963, following with numerous other single and album triumphs, not to mention too many individual accolades, including induction into the ARIA Australian Music Hall of Fame in 1999. Despite his many successes in the music and entertainment industry, Little was a humble man with a warm, gentle soul. He was passionate about his Indigenous Australian heritage and spent many years as an ambassador for literacy and numeracy for the department of education in order to improve educational standards within the Indigenous community. In 2004, Jimmy Little was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the entertainment industry as a singer, recording artist and songwriter, and to the community for his reconciliation. As an ambassador for Indigenous culture, he was named a national living treasure later that year. Little was generous with both his wealth and his time. He was known for often adding his musical talents to any worthy Aboriginal cause and was widely respected within the Aboriginal community and indeed across Australia.

Jimmy Little suffered from diabetes and, like many sufferers of the disease, was going through kidney failure. However, in 2004 he experienced a life-changing event, receiving a kidney transplant, which enabled him to be free of the pain and the burden of regular renal dialysis. Just a few years after his kidney transplant, Jimmy created the Jimmy Little Foundation to educate Indigenous youth about health and diet with a focus on preventing diabetes within our Indigenous communities. The foundation also runs a mobile renal unit and advocates for better health outcomes for Indigenous communities.

Jimmy Little will be forever remembered by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians as a great entertainer, a great advocate and a great man. He was and will continue to be an exceptional role model for young Indigenous Australians. Jimmy really did bridge the divide between contemporary Australia and our remote Indigenous communities. I have great faith that Jimmy Little's legacy will live on for many generations to come. James Oswald Little AO, may you rest in peace. You will always be remembered and, Jimmy, I am sure you had many conversations with Jesus on your own royal telephone.

Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also acknowledge the passing of Jimmy Little last month in Dubbo. As the member for Parkes, the electorate that encompasses Dubbo, I would like to offer my condolences on behalf of the residents of my electorate to Jimmy Little's family. I have been a country music fan all my life and have listened to Jimmy Little's singing for many, many years, and have always been a fan of his music. It was only recently that I discovered that there was much more to this man than just a very talented country and western singer. While I never knew Jimmy Little personally, having spoken to people who did, I certainly wish that I had had that opportunity. I was speaking to a lady in Lightning Ridge last week who had met Jimmy Little just once and said that the charisma that he radiated really had an effect on her. That was the type of person he was. He was quiet and very respectful, as many Aboriginal elders are, and also hardworking and determined.

We have heard some wonderful eulogies on Jimmy Little this afternoon in this House and I will not go over the same ground. I wish to acknowledge the passing of such a key person in the Aboriginal community. As a person who represents a lot of Aboriginal people in this place, I cannot underestimate the effect that someone of Jimmy Little's standing had on the community and the people who looked up to him not only because of his singing but also because of what he did later in life in highlighting issues with kidney disease and setting up the foundation. In closing, I would like to offer my condolences to Jimmy Little's family and pay my respects to someone who was a truly great Australian.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: my contribution will be very brief. I would like to associate myself with the comments that have been made by all speakers in this discussion and acknowledge the outstanding person that Jimmy Little was and the role that he played within our society here in Australia—a great entertainer, a person who worked tirelessly within his community, a role model for all Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. I think our society will be a poorer place for his passing.

He was recognised in so many different theatres for the work that he did as an entertainer. When I was a young girl living in a country town in northern New South Wales I actually saw him perform, and I thought it was one of the most exciting events that I had been privileged to see. It is not only the work he did as a singer, songwriter and entertainer but all the other work and all the recognition that he received, from being Senior Australian of the Year to being a person who is highly thought of within his own community and within the wider Australian community. With those few words, I conclude my contribution.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank everybody for their participation in this debate. As it was by indulgence, we do not need to do the usual niceties.