User:Kelseystevens/sandbox
Indigenous Political Representation[1]
| Date | Indigenous Australian Political Representatives | Party | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Neville Bonner | The first Indigenous Australian to be appointed to Federal Parliament in Australia | |
| 1974 | Hyacinth Tungutalum | Country Liberal Party | (Tungutalum) From Bathurst Island was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Arafura, and Deeral became the first Indigenous Australian to be elected to the Queensland Parliament, representing the electorate of Cook. |
| 1977 | Neville Perkins | Australian Labour Party | Was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. He became the first Indigenous Australian to hold a shadow portfolio, and was appointed deputy leader of the Northern Territory Australian Labor Party |
| 1979 | Cyril Kennedy | Australian Labour Party | Was the first Indigenous Australian to be elected to the Victorian Legislative Council, representing the electorate of Waverley |
| 1980 | Ernie Bridge | Australian Labour Party | Became the first Indigenous member of the Parliament of Western Australian when he won the seat of Kimberley. He later became the first Indigenous Australian to hold a Ministerial office. Mobile polling first used in remote Northern Territory and Western Australia for state/territory election. |
| 1983 | Wesley Lanhupuy | Australian Labour Party | From central coastal Arnhem land was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Arnhem |
| 1987 | Stanley Tipiloura | Australian Labour Party | From central coastal Arnhem land was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Arnhem |
| 1992 | Maurice Rioli | Australian Labour Party | From Bathurst Island, was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Arafura. |
| 1995 | John Ah Kit | Australian Labour Party | From Darwin was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Arnhem |
| 1998 | Aden Ridgeway | Australian Labour Party | The second Indigenous Australian elected to the Australian Federal Parliament. He was born in 1962 at Macksville, New South Wales. Aden Ridgeway took his seat in the Senate as an Australian Democrat for New South Wales on 1 July 1999 following his election at the October 3, 1998 federal election. His term expired on 30 June 2005 |
| 2001 | Carol Martin | Australian Labour Party | Carol Martin became the first Indigenous female to be elected to a State Parliament when she won the seat of Kimberley in the Parliament of Western Australia. Matthew Bonson (Darwin), Elliot McAdam (Tennant Creek) and Marion Scrymgour (Melville Island), were elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorates of Millner, Barkly and Arafura respectively. They join John Ah Kit as members of the first Labor Government in the Northern Territory |
| 2002 | Kathryn Hay | Australian Labour Party | Elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the electorate of Bass. Marion Scrymgour (Australian Labor Party) in the Northern Territory Assembly became the first Indigenous female minister in any government in the history of Australia |
| 2003 | Linda Burney | Australian Labour Party | Is the first Indigenous Australian elected to the New South Wales Parliament. She represents the electorate of Canterbury |
| 2005 | Barbara McCarthey | Territory Labour | Following the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly election, Barbara McCarthy was elected to represent the electorate of Arnhem, and Alison Anderson (Territory Labor) was elected to represent the electorate of Macdonnell. Barbara McCarthey and Alison Anderson join Matthew Bonson, Elliot McAdam and Marion Scrymgour in the Northern Territory Government. One fifth of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly electorates are represented by Indigenous Australians. Legislation was enacted to dissolve the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and Regional Councils at the end of the 2005 financial year |
| 2006 | Ben Wyatt | Australian Labour Party | Elected in a by-election to the Western Australian parliament for the electorate of Victoria Park. He was re-elected in 2008 |
| 2008 | Marion Scrymgour | Australian Labour Party | In the Northern Territory Assembly, Marion Scrymgour became the first Indigenous female deputy chief minister. Adam Giles (Country Liberal Party) was elected to represent the electorate of Braitling in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly |
| 2010 | Ken Wyatt | Liberal Party of Australia | Was elected as the first Indigenous member of the House of Representatives, representing the electorate of Hasluck in Western Australia. The Australian Electoral Commission established the Indigenous Electoral Participation Program (IEPP) in 2010 to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage in electoral participation. The objectives of the program are to increase enrolment, voter turnout, formality and knowledge of electoral processes for Indigenous Australians |
| 2011 | Chris Bourke | ACT Labour
|
Was the first Indigenous Australian elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Ginninderra in Australian Capital Territory |
| 2012 | Bess Price
Francis Kurrupuwu |
County Liberal Party | Bess Price was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Stuart. Francis Kurrupuwu (Country Liberal Party) was also elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Arafura. Larisa Lee (Country Liberal Party) was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Arnhem. Ken Vowles (Territory Labor) was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Johnston |
Indigenous Voting History
Prior to the Commonwealth of Australian Constitution Act, each state within Australia existed as a sovereign colony with the ability to pass legislation concerning the enfranchisement of indigenous Australians[2]. Inter-state differences were therefore visible between each territory, meaning Indigenous Australians' right to vote depended on the area in which they resided[3]. The voting system in Australia underwent major reforms as a result of the 1901 Commonwealth of Australian Constitution Act which united the states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and Queensland[4]. This Constitution established the Commonwealth of Australia and these previously self-governing colonies were merged to establish the Commonwealth of Australia[5]. Section 127 of the Commonwealth of Australian Constitution Act constitutionally excluded Indigenous Australians from voting; "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a state or of another part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted"[6]. Indigenous Australians were granted the universal right to vote in federal elections in 1962[7] under the Commonwealth Election Act.
Timeline of Indigenous Australians' Right to Vote[1]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Pre-federation | |
| 1829 | British sovereignty extended to cover the whole of Australia – everyone born in Australia, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, became a British subject by birth. |
| 1850+ | The Australian colonies become self governing – all adult (21 years) male British subjects were entitled to vote in South Australia from 1856, in Victoria from 1857, New South Wales from 1858, and Tasmania from 1896 including Indigenous people. Queensland gained self-government in 1859 and Western Australia in 1890, but these colonies denied Indigenous people the vote. |
| 1885 | Queensland Elections Act excluded all Indigenous people from voting |
| 1893 | Western Australian law denied the vote to Indigenous people. |
| 1895 | All adult females in South Australia, including Indigenous females, won the right to vote. |
| 1901 | Commonwealth Constitution came into effect, giving the newly-created Commonwealth Parliament the authority to pass federal voting laws. Section 41 prohibited the Commonwealth Parliament from denying federal voting rights to any individual who, at the time of the Commonwealth Parliament’s first law on federal voting (passed the following year), was entitled to vote in a state election. |
| Post-federation | |
| 1902 | The Commonwealth Parliament passed its first law on federal voting (the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902), granting men and women in all states the right to vote in federal elections. The Act did, however, specifically deny federal voting rights to every ‘aboriginal native’ of Australia, Asia, Africa, or the Islands of the Pacific (except New Zealand) who, at the time of the Act, did not already have the right to vote in state elections. |
| 1915 | Queensland introduced compulsory voting. This was later extended to other regions. |
| 1922 | Regulations in the Northern Territory excluded Indigenous people from voting. Officials had the power to decide who was Indigenous. |
| 1940's | Professor AP Elkin, the Aborigines Friends Association, and others agitated for better conditions for Indigenous people and their right to vote. |
| 1949 | The right to vote in federal elections was extended to Indigenous people who had served in the armed forces, or were enrolled to vote in state elections. Indigenous people in Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory still could not vote in their own state/territory elections. |
| 1957 | Under the Northern Territory Welfare Ordinance, almost all Indigenous people in the Northern Territory were declared to be "wards of the state" and denied the vote. |
| 1962 | Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that Indigenous Australians should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections, including Northern Territory elections, but enrolment was not compulsory. It was an offence for anyone to use undue influence or bribery to induce Indigenous people to enrol or to refrain from enrolling to vote. Western Australia extended the State vote to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Voter education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people began in the Northern Territory. 1,338 Indigenous Australians enrolled to vote in Northern Territory elections. |
| 1965 | Queensland allowed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to vote in State elections. Queensland was the last State to grant this right. |
| 1967 | A Referendum approved Commonwealth Constitutional change. Section 127 of the Constitution was struck out in its entirety. This amendment allowed Indigenous Australians to be counted in the Commonwealth Census. Section 51 of the Constitution was amended to allow the Commonwealth to make special laws for Indigenous people. Both Houses of the Parliament passed the proposed Act unanimously; consequently a 'No' case was not submitted. More than 90% of Australians registered a YES vote with all six states voting in favour. |
- ^ a b corporateName=Australian Electoral Commission; address=50 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2600; contact=13 23 26. "Electoral milestones for Indigenous Australians". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Spirits, Jens Korff, Creative (2019-02-08). "Australian 1967 Referendum". Creative Spirits. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ corporateName=Australian Electoral Commission; address=50 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2600; contact=13 23 26. "Events in Australian electoral history". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Australian Electoral History Reform".
- ^ "Documenting Democracy". www.foundingdocs.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
- ^ "Elections and Voting in Australia" (PDF).