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

Given that we've had a fairly hectic morning here with previous bills, I'm absolutely delighted to be able to get to my feet on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory and speak about a bill of absolute importance in preserving the seat of Solomon and the seat of Lingiari for the people of the Northern Territory. That's what the Electoral Amendment (Territory Representation) Bill 2020 is all about.

My speech today is really to the people of the Northern Territory and also to the people on Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Thank you for your support in ensuring that we did not lose our voices in the Australian parliament. Many of you provided submissions to the Joint Select Committee on Electoral Matters and spoke so passionately about the need for democratic fairness and the rights of the Territory and the Indian Ocean Territories to be heard in the House of Representatives, so this speech goes out to you: our First Nations communities; our organisations; our ranger groups; our farmers; the cattle industry; the mining industry; the fishos, amateur and commercial alike; our health workers on the frontline, whether you're working in our hospitals, in our clinics or in the remote and regional areas of the Northern Territory and the Indian Ocean Territories—this is about you. It's about your voice. It's about ensuring that the Australian parliament never forgets the people of Lingiari and Solomon.

I thank the Senate for this opportunity, and I certainly thank colleagues on all sides who've stood very strongly in pursuing this. In particular I thank, in the House, Warren Snowdon, the member for Lingiari, and Luke Gosling, the member for Solomon, and, in the Senate, Senator Sam McMahon. It is important that, no matter our political ideologies, our parties or where we live, we have come together very strongly to say this must not happen, where we lose a voice.

In 2022 it will be 100 years since the first member for the Northern Territory came into this parliament—nearly 100 years now. So, nearly a hundred years later, you wanted to keep it at one? It really is a shame job that the Northern Territory has not progressed even more. Two is not enough, but for the purposes of this bill we are enormously grateful that what seemed impossible at the beginning of this year is now becoming very real. I urge all senators to wholeheartedly support the passage of this legislation today, because the people of the Northern Territory—and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island—have many issues to battle. Whether it's the cashless debit card, whether it's the Community Development Program, whether it's jobs and infrastructure or whether it's COVID-19, we want to know that we have voices in this parliament to represent us.

This should never have been an issue. It should never have distracted us to the extent it has, but boy am I enormously grateful to those who stood by us to make sure we never gave up on these voices for the Northern Territory and the Indian Ocean Territories. So this Christmas it is, hopefully, an important gift that we can be certain about as we go into next year. Who knows what next year is going to look like? Are we going to have an election next year? It's a big question, isn't it, for 2021? And the people of the Northern Territory and the Indian Ocean Territories want to make sure we have our voices ready to go.

I'd like to acknowledge a couple of people in particular. I think about the seat of Lingiari. Lingiari, as hopefully everyone does know, comes from the name of Vincent Lingiari, the late Gurindji elder. He fought for land rights—not just for the Northern Territory but for all First Nations people right across Australia—and for our country, Australia, to treat First Nations people with the dignity and respect that we have forever been calling for. Dignity and respect come not only in the way we treat one another but in the financial ways in which we treat each other: in the economic cycles, in the ability to have decent homes—families living not 20 to a house but comfortably in one home, knowing they have families in another home, without feeling overcrowded. That's the dignity and respect that Vincent Lingiari stood for, and his message lives on in his children and grandchildren.

It was Vincent Lingiari's family that I drove out to. I got in my four-wheel drive and went out to Wave Hill, and I spoke to so many people, all these communities—pastoralists, the road workers, the families at Wave Hill—and said: 'Listen, I really need your support here. We have to fight this.' When I got out to Wave Hill, the Gurindji mob got together and we sat down and we talked. I went through and explained: 'This is the Senate. This is how many senators there are. Over here, this is the House. This is how many members there are in the House. And this is us four—Warren, Luke, Sam and I, four of us—in these two houses of over 200 people.' When I sat down with people and explained—'This is our voice'—they looked at me and they said: 'What? And they want to take one of you away?' They said: 'That's not right. We should have more than that.' And I said, 'Yeah, you're right we should, but we definitely shouldn't be losing any.' So the Gurindji got together and they wrote a letter to the Prime Minister. I'm going to table the letter and just read a little bit of it because I think it's important to acknowledge what the children and grandchildren of Vincent Lingiari did on this particular occasion:

Dear Prime Minister,

We are the grandchildren of Vincent Lingiari. In 2000, we gave permission for the Australian Electoral Commission to use our grandfather's name for the electorate of Lingiari. We were proud to see the achievements of Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji people recognised in this way.

Now, the Australian Electoral Commission has declared the Northern Territory will lose a seat in the Federal Parliament at the next election.

Losing a seat will make our voices softer not louder.

Government talks about Closing the Gap and a First Nations voice yet in the Northern Territory, where almost 30% of the population are Aboriginal, we are losing our voice.

The fight for Land Rights began here on Gurindji country. Our Grandfather Vincent Lingiari fought against power and privilege for the betterment of our people, and all Australians.

We'd love to welcome you, as our Prime Minister …

In fact, they've actually invited not only the Prime Minister but probably most senators and members at some point to come to Wave Hill and walk. I know that Senator Penny Wong has spent time with me out there walking the walk and talking the talk on the importance of what the legacy of Vincent Lingiari is about—the fight against power and privilege. The Gurindji hold that flame so strongly, as they do here in this legislation before the Senate.

I'm enormously proud that, through the combined efforts of so many, we stand here to do the right thing, to make sure the voices of the people of the Northern Territory and the people of the Indian Ocean Territories grow louder in strength, not softer. Bauji Barra.