Three Aboriginal women made their Parliament debut making their maiden speeches on Wednesday.
The Senate welcomed Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman and Labor representative for Victoria Senator Jana Stewart and Warlpiri/Celtic woman and Country Liberal Party representative for the Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
Tiwi Island and Central Australian woman Marion Scrymgour was welcomed to the House of Representatives as the newly elected Member for Lingiari.
Violence in the Territory
In her speech, Ms Scrymgour applauded the frontline domestic and family violence workers in her electorate, highlighting the work of the Alice Springs-based Tangentyere Women's Family Safety Group, and also advocated for "targetted programs" that work with and support men.
"It is important not to make men think that they are being pre-emptively labelled and vilified," she said.
"This is an emergency issue which needs urgent attention - not an intervention like in 2007, but for both Labor governments to work collaboratively together in order to maintain community safety and dedicate some time to work out a sustainable plan for the future.
"Our young people deserve no less."
In the Senate, Ms Price called for a halt to “pointless virtue signalling” and a “focus on solutions that bring real change”.
Labor MP for the seat of Lingiari Marion Scrymgour makes her first speech in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP
“My vision, my hope and my goal is that we can effect change that will see women, children and other victims in these communities become as safe as any of those living in Sydney, Melbourne or any other Australian city,” she said.
Ms Price said it’s “not good enough” that alcohol abuse, domestic, family and sexual violence has been "normalised" for young people in the territory, and referenced the recent murder-suicide of an Aboriginal other and her 14-week-old child.
“The families involved and our community are reeling from these not only deeply tragic but, I believe, avoidable murders,” she said.
“We have a well-oiled supposed justice system in the Northern Territory that acts as a turnstile for offenders. More often than not, instead of being remanded, perpetrators are put on bail and, more often than not, while on bail, they perpetrate more violence.
“The system is broken when it serves perpetrators exceptionally better than victims."
As the pair made their maiden speeches, the federal government introduced legislation for 10 days of paid leave for victims of domestic violence.
The end of dry communities
Both Ms Scrymour and Ms Price shared their disapproval of the government's recent decision to lift alcohol restrictions in dry communities across the Territory after 14 years.
"When a government puts in a protective regime of that kind and leaves it in place for that long, you can't just pull the pin on it without any protection, sanctuary or plan for the vulnerable women and children who the original measure was supposed to protect," said Ms Scygmour.
"To do that is more negligent - at the level of impact on actual lives it is tantamount to causing injury by omission."
Ms Scrygmour noted that many organisations and Aboriginal people had warned former governments of the consequences, and lobbied for harm minimisation and denied the reasoning that the law removal was "invoking self-determination" saying it was "ridiculous and ludicrous" reasoning.
She said that both governments have to "work out a plan to protect those innocent victims who are being swamped by waves of violence now that take away alcohol is getting let back into our town camps".
Ms Price said that the lifting of restrictions would allow a "scourage of alcoholism".
“We see the news that grog bans will be lifted on dry communities, allowing the scourge of alcoholism and the violence that accompanies it free reign, despite warnings from Elders of those communities about the coming damage,” she said.
Country Liberal Party senator Jacinta Price makes her maiden speech in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Source: AAP
History-making moment
Senator Stewart became the youngest First Nations woman elected to the federal Parliament. She did so 35 weeks pregnant and proudly stated as much on her Twitter account.
"An important message to all women that you belong in Parliament, and in all places where big decisions are made, no matter what stage of life you’re in," she said.
Ms Stewart reflected on her schooling experience, her time working at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, the public service, and her path into politics.
“Until Victoria's commitment to Treaty, I had never really seen the power or the purpose of politics. Treaty is why I became a Labor person,” she said.
She also emphasised raising the age of criminal responsibility.
“I support the position of the United Nations report on the rights of the child. The minimum age of criminal responsibility should be 14 years old,” she said.
“Criminalising children, young, almost guarantees they will be back within one year or two, and, in most cases, it cements their pathway into the adult system.
“If our answer to a problem is putting a child who is only in grade 4 behind bars, a child who has not lost all their baby teeth, who would not be tall enough to get onto some of the rides at the Melbourne show, who could not swim unsupervised in the pool at the caravan park, then we're definitely asking the wrong questions.”
Labor senator Jana Stewart makes her maiden speech in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP
Like her colleagues Ms Price and Ms Scyrmour, the Senator also highlighted the silence on issues facing Aboriginal women.
“Our experiences are never captured in data nor articulated with the same level of importance to those of white women and their families,” she said.
“What I want to say is that we notice. What I want to say to black women and women of colour is, 'I see you, I hear you and I stand with you,' because unless our ambition for gender equality actively seeks to bring every woman with us, it is not actually equality.”
