Labor MP Linda Burney promised to “bring the fighting Wiradjuri spirit” in her maiden speech on Wednesday. She also wore a cloak made by fellow Wiradjuri woman Lynette Riley that carried her clan totem, the goanna, and her personal totem, the white cockatoo, which she joked was “very noisy”.
Rules of the Lower House were relaxed on this special occasion to allow Lynette to sing a welcome song in the tribe’s traditional language.
Former school teacher Linda won the federal seat of Barton in the July election, bringing the 59-year-old to a “powerful place”.
“I wish in this house … to be respectful, to be gentle and be polite,” Linda told Parliament.
Slamming the Coalition’s call to water down the Racial Discrimination Act, Linda said, “These lands are, always were and always will be Aboriginal land.”
She made a promise to fight for change and outlined her goals while in power, saying, “Members, in this term of parliament, all I want is to be able to stand in this place knowing that the document on which it was founded finally tells the truth.”
The MP added, “Recognition of the First People in our nation’s constitution is the next step on the path we are walking towards, a country that can look itself in the eye knowing that we have come of age.”
The mother-of-two also encouraged others not to let their circumstances limit their dreams.
She said, “I spoke earlier of what it was like to be a young Aboriginal girl in the 1960s, sitting in a classroom and being told that my capacity was limited by my race and that my potential was capped by expectation.
“Thanks to voters in Barton I hope that there are young people who sit in classrooms – like Chloe Noak from my home town of Leeton, who is here today – whose imaginations are not so limited. If I can stand in this place, so can they. Never let anyone tell you that you are limited by anything.”
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