Minister for Indigenous Australians
HOST, BRIDGET BRENNAN: There’s been an outpouring of grief and tributes following the death of trailblazing Aboriginal leader Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue at the age of 91 yesterday. The former Australian of the Year was surrounded by her loved ones on Kaurna country when she died in Adelaide. Her passing is being felt right across the country. And a warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers – we are about to show her image. The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, joins us now from Sydney. Good morning to you, Minister. How do we even begin to sum up her legacy for our people but, indeed, for the entire nation?
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Good morning, Bridget. I think it’s very difficult to sum up the legacy of Lowitja O’Donoghue. She was admired and respected by both sides of the House. She was admired and respected across this country, and loved by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Her legacy will be felt for generations to come. Maybe forever. Some of the changes that she brought about, some of the battles that she was involved in, some of the issues around things like Native Title, Australian of the Year, and her own life story is the story of the truth of Australia.
BRENNAN: It certainly is, Minister. It’s an incredible story. You once said when you were giving the Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration a couple of years ago that you couldn’t not know Lowitja, or be in her presence, without being forever moved. For you personally, what was her impact on you as a young Aboriginal woman coming up through Indigenous Affairs?
LINDA BURNEY: She was absolutely a well-used term – a role model. She was the next generation on from me and many of us young Aboriginal women at the time in the ’90s, the ’80s, looked at Lowitja and saw possibility. The fact that she was the Chairperson of ATSIC and, in her presence, you just felt it. You felt her graciousness, you felt her kindness, but you also felt very much the fact that she could be very stern. And that sternness was always about teaching a lesson. One of my most precious possessions is in fact this little owl which was given to me by Lowitja when I did the oration. She loves owls, apparently – she had them everywhere. Her niece, Deb, gave this to me, and I wear it in honour of her today.
BRENNAN: That’s so special, Minister. What a beautiful memory. I need to let you go because I know you’re on the way to Canberra as parliament resumes. How should the parliament, and how should the nation, honour her legacy and remember her in the coming days and weeks?
LINDA BURNEY: The nation should know her life story – Irish father, taken away as very young child, didn’t meet her mother until she was 30 years old – and of course they had the language barrier. But as Lowitja said, they were able to talk through their eyes. Her legacy, her story, is a story for now in this country, hand we should just have the most incredible outpouring of love, which is happening. And an absolute respect in her memory.
BRENNAN: Well said. Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, thanks for joining us on News Breakfast.
LINDA BURNEY: Thank you very much.
