Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to a Territory and AFL legend, Mr Jack Long Sr, who was farewelled in Darwin last Friday aged 84. I pass on my condolences to his family, his seven sons, Stephen, Brian, Michael, Noel, Christopher, Patrick and John, and his two daughters, Kathy and Susie, and his many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Mr Long died on 9 July after a long illness. He was a beloved and respected member of the Northern Territory community. He was, I would argue, this nation's most celebrated football patriarch. He was the father of Essendon premiership great and Norm Smith Medal winner Michael Long, he's the grandfather of four-time premiership winner and Norm Smith Medallist Cyril Rioli Jr, and grandfather to current Essendon player Jake Long and St Kilda player Ben Long.

We all know of his son Michael Long, who, of course, is a very strong advocate for First Nations people. After returning home from yet another funeral, Michael decided that he would do something about it. You may recall that he began the long walk from Melbourne to Canberra to meet with the then Prime Minister John Howard to discuss his concerns. Each year in Melbourne, with the Dreamtime at the 'G, we see the result of that long walk in the movement of people like Michael Long, inspired greatly by his father Jack Long, to bring about better understanding between black and white Australians in this country.

Jack was, of course, a footballer himself. He played over 200 games and won three premierships with St Mary's Football Club in the Northern Territory, and he was a lifetime member of the Northern Territory Football League.

He was a member of the stolen generation—a period in our country's history we reflect on greatly, and, indeed, there were promising times with the Apology in the Australian parliament in 2010. Mr Long was taken from his mother and the desert community of Ti Tree on Anmetjere country when he was just three years of age. He was brought up by Catholic nuns in a mission on the Tiwi Islands. The Tiwi Islands became his home, and they are most certainly a very much loved home for the Long family and their descendants.

He married his childhood sweetheart, Agnes, who had also been stolen from her family at Daly River, south of Darwin. As I said, they had seven sons and two daughters, raising them all on the beautiful Tiwi Islands. He was certainly most proud of his family—every single one of them. He passed on his language, hunting and cultural skills and, no doubt, many, many stories. Mr Long was also an experienced hunter and fisher and worked as a marine surveyor on Melville Island in the Tiwi Islands.

At his funeral, hundreds of people gathered to pay their respects. Even more so, right across the Northern Territory and, indeed, Australia, all those people who were unable to attend sent their regards to a family and a man who started an incredible dynasty—not just in the Northern Territory but right across the country—to try and bring about better understanding of the issues that impact First Nations people. Through his children, his grandchildren and his greats to come, no doubt that memory will be long remembered. Vale Jack Long, a cherished Territorian.