Albanese, Anthony MP

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (14:00): I move: That the House record its sincere regret at the death, on 4 February 2024, of Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue AC CBE, place on record its appreciation for her significant leadership, her lifelong commitment to improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, her dedication to public service and offer its deepest sympathy to her family and community in their bereavement. Lowitja O'Donoghue was one of the most remarkable leaders this country has ever known. In the words of Noel Pearson, she was 'a leader's leader'. As we mourn her passing, we give thanks for the better Australia she helped make possible. Dr O'Donoghue had an abiding faith in the possibility of a more united Australia. It was a faith she embodied with her efforts to bring about meaningful and lasting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. More than anything, it was a quest underpinned by her unceasing work to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. As her biographer, Stuart Rintoul, recalled yesterday: I asked her why she had lived the life she lived. She looked at me and said: "Because I loved my people." Life threw significant challenges at her, not least a childhood in which she was separated from her family, her language, even the date of her birth and, indeed, her own name—all of them gone as completely as if the floor had been torn out from beneath her. From the earliest days of her life, Dr O'Donoghue endured discrimination that would have given her every reason to lose faith in her country, but she never did. She grew into a figure of grace, moral clarity and extraordinary inner strength. Last year, in Adelaide, I had the great and humbling privilege of delivering the oration that bears her name, and I repeat what I said then: Some see her as the rock that stands firm in the storm, sometimes even staring down the storm. But I see her as one of the great rocks around which the river of our history has gently bent, persuaded to flow along a better course. With an unwavering instinct for justice and a profound desire to bring the country she loved closer together, Dr O'Donoghue was at the heart of some of the moments that carried Australia closer to the better future that she knew was possible for us. Among them was the extraordinary moment of catharsis of the Apology to the Stolen Generations, delivered in this very chamber by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and that profound expression of the fair go that was the 1967 referendum, an event that saw Dr O'Donoghue hitchhike all the way from Adelaide to Canberra so that she could be right here for the result. She provided courageous leadership during the native title negotiations following the Mabo decision and as chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Dr O'Donoghue knew that our best future was a shared one—one built on the strong, broad foundations of reconciliation. As she put it when she was made Australian of the Year, 'Together we can build a remarkable country, the envy of the rest of the world.' Australian of the Year was just one of the many honours that were bestowed upon Dr O'Donoghue during her long and remarkable life, yet such was the scale of her achievement and such was the inclusive strength of her character that any honour was enhanced by its association with her. On behalf of all of us on this side of the House, I offer my most heartfelt condolences to all who loved her, all who were loved by her, all who were moved by her and all who were lifted by the sheer consequence of her. I'm proud to have met Lowitja O'Donoghue. One of the great honours of my life has been to be in the privileged position of meeting the extraordinary Indigenous leaders that we have had in this country in the decades in which I have walked on this earth. Those decades are of course just a speck compared with the 65,000 years of continuous culture that we are all privileged to share this continent of Australia with. May the memory of Lowitja O'Donoghue warm all of the days of those who are mourning. May your grief be softened at least a little by the great outpouring of love that we've seen from across the country. Through her time in this world, Dr O'Donoghue walked tall and her example and inspiration made us all walk just that little bit taller as well. Now she walks in another place, yet, thanks to all that she did, she will always be around us.