A Northern Territory MP has become the first Indigenous person to act as Speaker in the federal House of Representatives.
Marion Scrymgour, the Labor member for Lingiari, yesterday become the first Aboriginal person to chair the House of Representatives Chamber, as a member of the Speaker’s Panel.
“It was a huge moment for the Parliament, but more importantly, it was a message to young Aboriginal people back home in the NT,” the Tiwi and Anmatjere woman said on social media.
“Aboriginal people deserve to be in every chair, at every table.”
“I grew up one of 11 siblings from a working-class family in Darwin. My father was a Stolen Generations man who was forcibly removed from his family by the Parliament I sit in today.
“Change happens, it can be slow and it can be painful, but Aboriginal people are strong, we deserve to take our place in this country.”
Ms Scrymgour was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 2001, representing the electorate of Arafura for the next 11 years. She became a Federal MP in 2022.
Oxley MP Milton Dick was re-elected as Speaker last week.
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