Burney, Linda Jean MP

Ms BURNEY (Barton—Minister for Indigenous Australians) (14:12): Courageous and fearless, a true trailblazer, our grand lady—these are some of the words that have been used to describe a magnificent woman, someone I've known for 30 years. It is with great sadness that I, too, pay tribute to Lowitja O'Donoghue. Lowitja dedicated her life to improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and she deserves Australia's deepest respect, gratitude and love. Lowitja's story is the truth of this country. Her life was shaped by her experience as a young child. At just two years old, she was taken to a mission home in South Australia. She said that the seeds of her commitment to human rights and social justice were sown in her childhood, when she felt powerless and deprived of love. She didn't see her mother again until she was in her 30s, after a chance meeting in a Coober Pedy supermarket with an aunt and uncle who recognised the family resemblance. Lowitja's mother, Lily, waited in the dust by the side of the road for days in anticipation—from sun-up to sundown, waiting for her daughter to come home. But they discovered that they did not share a common language. They could not speak to each other, except through their eyes. Many years later, Lowitja played an instrumental role, as the Prime Minister said, in the National Apology to the Stolen Generations given in this place. Lowitja was a woman of many firsts: the first trainee nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital; the founding chairperson of the National Aboriginal Conference; the first Aboriginal woman to be made a member of the Order of Australia, in 1977; and the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, in 1999. It was in that role that she led the complex negotiations—once again in this place—over native title with the then Prime Minister, Paul Keating. And, of course, she was Australian of the Year in 1984. She was a strong advocate for constitutional recognition, which she said would be good for the nation's soul. For me, personally, it was an absolute honour and privilege to work alongside Lowitja at the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in the late nineties. In her presence, you felt graciousness and you felt kindness, but she could also be stern: you would always watch your p's and q's! Lowitja always led with grace and courage, and she has been an inspiration for generations of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, including myself. Today I wear this precious necklace in her honour. Lowitja loved owls—this is a little owl—and she gave this to me through her niece, Deb, in 2020 when I, like the Prime Minister in the previous year, gave the oration named after her. My thoughts are with Lowitja's family, who said this on Sunday: Aunty Lowitja dedicated her entire lifetime of work to the rights, health, and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We thank and honour her for all that she has done—for all the pathways she created, for all the doors she opened, for all the issues she tackled head-on, for all the tables she sat at and for all the arguments she fought and won. Lowitja O'Donoghue's legacy is one that is impossible to quantify. History will be a witness to that legacy and to Lowitja's greatness. Her birthday was never recorded, but her life will affect all of us in this country forever. We love you, Lowitja; thank you for your life and what you stood for.