The Invisible Skyscrapers Podcast

Episode 15.Marion Scrymgour MP, a life dedicated to the community

• Amy Mildwaters • Season 1 • Episode 16

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Brad chats with Federal MP, Marion Scrymgour, Member for Lingiari.

Lingiari covers all of the Northern Territory except for Darwin!

Marion has had a career filled with local and state politics, as well as a range of not for profits aimed at improving the lives of fellow Territorians.

Visit https://www.marionscrymgour.com.au, where you can sign up to her newsletter or connect on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marionscrymgourmp/


Brad:

It's Brad Bellette from H6 here, CEO. We're up to, uh, Podcast 5,000 and something, I think it's podcast 15. And we've a good friend, Marion Scrymgour. I tell you what, you've done a lot of things haven't you, Marion? A lot.

Marion:

Oh, a a few.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

Yeah,

Brad:

yeah. So what are some of the roles that you've played?

Marion:

So I've been, well, I was in local government for a long time. I've also run health services for about 23 years, developing and, and establishing health services. Back to local government. I did 12 years in Northern Territory Parliament.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Uh, then it came out was the first female to ever be appointed CEO of a major land council in the Northern Territory, and then was asked to put my hand up for pre-selection for this federal seat.

Brad:

Yeah and you stepped into Wazza's shoes.

Marion:

Wazza's shoes after nearly 32

Brad:

yeah

Marion:

years.

Brad:

Did you have to go and remove all the bits of warren in the office?

Marion:

Oh, look, we've had to do some, some smoking I don't think it's been enough though. No, it's all, It's all good. It's all good.

Brad:

Yeah. Well the girls were saying to you, Sage, you burn sage, isn't it? Yeah. You burn sage to cleanse.

Marion:

Yeah,

Brad:

cleanse the area. Yeah. Did you find any...

Marion:

we did. We need more than sage though. Yeah.

Brad:

Did you find any spare hats?

Marion:

Uh, no. And none that would fit my head, I think I've got more hair than him.

Brad:

No. Like me, I'm, I'm a bit follicly challenged. Um, now you got an honorary doctorate.

Marion:

Yes.

Brad:

So how did that come about?

Marion:

So I spent 23 years, so I started, so I've done health economics. I was undertaking some study in health science. Part of a lot of the, the courses in the health science when I was, when I started with the University of Sydney, uh, was aligned to the work that I was doing when I was establishing Casa and West Wurli, Sunrise Health. If you look at the three major community

Brad:

Oh wow. and you were involved in those?

Marion:

I've been involved in establishing the whole three. Um, And was fortunate enough to be the inaugural CEO of both organisations. Um, and so the, the University of Sydney weighed that up, RPL'd me and then gave me an,

Brad:

gave you the thing. And those three organisations are still kicking butt.

Marion:

They are, and Katherine West is probably the biggest source of pride for me cause it shows if you establish strong governance Principles and foundations an organisation can still weather the storm of funding, whether it goes up or down.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Um, but Katherine West also was a way that opened the door for community control in the Northern Territory that forced the Commonwealth Government for the first time, uh, to look at MBS and PBS, so Medicare and pharmaceuticals.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

And making that available to Aboriginal people and remote communities. Which was, which was important.

Brad:

That's good to hear. Um, yeah. Now we do a bit of work with Katherine West. We think they're an amazing organisation. Now, when you were with the NT legislative assembly, there was two firsts. You were Deputy Chief and also the first Indigenous

Marion:

woman to go into. Yeah,

Brad:

absolutely.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

So how did that sort of feel sort of stepping into those shoes?

Marion:

Yeah, being...

Brad:

I gotta, I gotta tell you, I'm a bit of a fan of you, so

Marion:

I, It was a bit, it was a bit over. I, I can, I can, I can tell you. And, and honestly it was overwhelming because everyone expects, um, You to, you know, to, to change things overnight and I think there, there was, you know, there was, there was a lot of highlights being part of the government that did change things.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

But there are also a lot of disappointments and I, you know, I was lucky and fortunate when Alison Anderson, Malarndirri McCarthy joined us, Karl Hampton was the, the member. So I came in, in the era when there was just Jack Ah Kit. There was Jack and he'd been in there for, you know, seven years before I'd gone in there. Elliot McAdam, who was, oh, I remember Elliot for Barkley. So he was, and then Matty Bonson. So Matty was also the first young Aboriginal man that had won an urban seat in Darwin.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

And that was breaking new ground because, for 26 years in the Northern Territory, the CLP had run the campaigns of that if you vote labor, labor will, you know, black fellas will take your...

Brad:

destroy the Territory. Yeah.

Marion:

And labor was, you know, affiliated with, with land councils and everything else and the Territory would just suffer and go down. So for Matty to win that urban seat, for labor at that time was showing that the Territory's demographic was changing.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

And that, you know, that people were becoming more informed about that, you know, land rights wasn't gonna take your backyard and, and things did need to change in the Territory. So it really signaled, I suppose, for myself, for Elliot, for Jack and Matty as Aboriginal people going in there, that the Territory was changing, that it wasn't the cowboy state that we had often been associated.

Brad:

I felt like it grew up.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

Yeah. It got a bit more mature.

Marion:

Did in 2001, I think it was probably the best time to ever be elected to, Territory parliament.

Brad:

I've had a few chats over wines with Claire over the years.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

And it certainly was a big time in the Territory.

Marion:

Oh look, first female Chief Minister and, and for her to change that. But when I went to the Speaker of the House, who was Terry McCarthy at that time, um, to ask if Aboriginal dancers could come into the Territory Parliament, they nearly fell over the backwards. So it was the first time that Aboriginal dancers were allowed on the floor of the Territory Parliament. Um, and, and that opened up, I think the Territory has. So that

Brad:

was good. It probably led the way to a lot of the other things that happen across Australia, I think cause it's become universal for that type of thing to be accepted now.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

Yeah. It really has led the way.

Marion:

Yeah. I, I think when I went to Claire Martin, who at the time, um, started changing, I suppose the face of the Australian Labor Party, um, It was because at the time when I did put my hand up for pre-selection in 2001, I was told, uh, very bluntly that a woman could never win a seat in the bush. Um, go away, look try and come back in a few years time and, and we'll see if we'll reconsider you. What they didn't know is that they should never tell me no that I can't do it because I, I will find a way in which to do it. So I went to see Claire Martin and said, Look, I know that men have always been elected to these seats and everyone always sees our men. I said, And I'm not putting our men down, but men have always been part of, you know, the, the landscape of Bush seats. Um, please get behind me and support, and she did. She copped a bit of criticism because people thought, uh, aren't you, you're backing a, you know, a dead horse here, you know, like, we're gonna lose the seat because she's a woman. You know? Because I was replacing another very prominent, uh, Territorian in Morris Rioli. So, you know, Morris, AFL Footballer, Richmond, you know, like had done all of that and he was stepping down. So I was, I was going in following him. So, but the thing that they didn't bank on is that, Morris was very supportive of my pre-selection. So he went out and said, No, you've got a pre-select her. If anyone can win this seat, she can do it. So having had both Morris and Claire, I think changed and created that pathway for other women, uh, because the Australian Labor Party like the CLP, always saw that this was predominantly the domain of Aboriginal men. Only aboriginal men can be part of this. So it created that pathway, which was good.

Brad:

Do you think that's the first time in Australia that was actually forged down that Pathway?

Marion:

Yeah. Look, look, Carol Martin beat me by two weeks. So Carol Martin was the first Aboriginal woman into the Western Australian parliament.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

So she was the first one that got elected to the WA parliament and then the Territory election came two weeks after that. But it it's always been for me, um, a source of pride that first person that, that created that pathway and people don't think twice about.

Brad:

Well, unless you're in New South Wales, maybe Um, do you find that your, cultural heritage plays much of a role in decisions that you make, or does it sort of influenced you?

Marion:

No, look, I think it it gives me an advantage, but I like to think it's my upbringing.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

My mother was quite a strong, very strong cultural, uh, language speaking, quite fear, fearful Tiwi woman who wouldn't take no and, and take a backward step. But also, Instilled the, the values of respect and respecting other people and if you're going on someone else's country, respect that, know that you are just a visitor to, to that.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Um, yeah.

Brad:

And there's a few in your family too.

Marion:

I've got eight sisters.

Brad:

Wow.

Marion:

Mm.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

So eight fearful women.

Brad:

Are they like you?

Marion:

Yeah. Look, well, they all think that I'm mad for going into politics, but you know, like one's a lawyer, one's a police officer, one's a, you know, so we've all been able to... we, we work hard.

Brad:

Yeah,

Marion:

we've worked hard.

Brad:

Yeah and are most of your family still on Tiwi or are they sort of

Marion:

No, look, I've got a sister that lives in Melbourne, one in Adelaide, so we're scattered all over, but most of them are in Darwin. Yeah.

Brad:

Um, and do you think that coming from that background with all the portfolios that you've handled over the years, um, you know, when you're weighing things up, you know, think about your family, you think about cultural identity, you think all those things, do they.

Marion:

Yeah that, that's part of it. But look, I often think I wouldn't have got where I was, Brad, without my father.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Uh, pushing us to an education.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

My mum was really strong in culture and she used to, they used to have great arguments and, and fights cause she was the one who pushed us to be on the island, to learn our culture, to understand the identity that that was bestowed on us, to know what our skin was, what our dance was, our our, tribal group. So she was really strong with that.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

My father on the other hand was really strong in Yeah, that's all well and good Claire, but if she does, if they don't get an education, that's gonna become irrelevant because they've gotta have both. So he was the one that really saw the balance with both worlds.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

And, and needing, And that was his stolen generat-cause he was a member of the Stolen Generation. So he didn't have that sense of identity or belonging, but he wanted his children to have that. But to also know that to make it in the world, you had to be educated.

Brad:

And do you sort of see, having come from that background, do you see that that's a way forward, um, in this space?

Marion:

Yeah. I, I look, I think education is really important.

Brad:

Yeah. And the, and the cultural education as well,

Marion:

and being able to balance both.

Brad:

Yeah. Yeah, and do you think that people maybe feel disconnected at times?

Marion:

Yeah, and I think part of it is, and look, I've only just come back down. Look, I've been here. What, 15, 16 months living in, in Central Australia, Um, and living here and reconnecting. What's been really important for me living down here is finding that sense of belonging for my father that he never, ever had, and, and... there was always that longing to, to want to be part of it, but there was a big hesitancy in him of being, I, I, I suppose, fearful of rejection. Because of the, the color of his skin, because of, you know, the, and that was the reason why he was taken away. But, and he died before he had that opportunity. So for me and my sister, Francine who lives down here. It's doing that reconnection for him, um, but also for us. Because we've always been strong in our Tiwi culture.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

And who we are. But there's another side as well.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

And, and it's sort of, I don't know if I'm explaining this right, but it's bringing together the, the, what's always been... i, I suppose a missing part of the puzzle that, that was never quite there and knowing that, and trying to understand that is, is bringing together,

Brad:

I think that's important for anyone.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

I, I mean, I never realised that about your, your history. I never realised you had a connection to Alice Springs.

Marion:

Yeah my father was Anmatyerre

Brad:

yeah. Okay. Really? Wow. Here you go and that's up around Ti Tree and that sort of thing. Yeah. Yeah. Wow, there you go, I've learned something new. I mean, I think everybody feels that way. Like my mum's German.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

And reconnecting with those roots.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

You know, and discovering that cultural identity when she moved here when she was 15 and kind of was dispossessed out of Europe and she doesn't have a connection to that. But, you know, I'd like to have a connection to that.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

For my boys. Yeah.

Marion:

Yeah. Because I often say to people it's, it's about, for, for all of us, it's, it's about our identity and knowing the full piece of it. Um, not just part of it.

Brad:

Yeah and people take that whole idea for granted, I think, and that's what they don't understand about feeling dispossessed.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

Until it actually happens.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

Yeah. Um, alright. I've got a couple more questions here. Um, What are some things people from the Territory may not realise about living here? Would you say is most thing that sticks out the most about living in the Territory?

Marion:

Oh, look, I think it's, it's people, it's environment. I think, often we talk about the disadvantage, the poverty, you know, all of the, the, the issues. And I think that when people come, they, they're confronted by it. And I think you walk out here and, you're five minutes out of Alice Springs and you're in the most, you'll, you are captured by the most pristine environment.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

And I think. People often, I, I think sometimes the negativity of what happens in Alice Springs or Darwin, Katherine, Tennant often can bog conversations down.

Brad:

Yeah, I agree.

Marion:

But we live in the most beautiful place and I think, and not just Alice Springs, but right throughout the Territory.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

There's some real good opportunities. Sometimes people say, Oh, you're too optimistic. But I think you've gotta keep optimism there because the minute you lose it, then you know you may as well just go and sit in your rocking chair.

Brad:

Yeah. And as I was, I was in South Australia on the weekend and I was talking to people about living here, and they said, What is it? I said, Well, there's always something new every day.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

And the fact that you have these big skies, you have these big landscapes, you have all these things, and. Uh, that's what creates that, that,

Marion:

yeah.

Brad:

Open mind to look at things. A place of belonging.

Marion:

It is a belonging, but it's, and it's the people I, I think, you know, you wouldn't wanna, Well, I wouldn't wanna live anywhere else. I think, you know, the, the Territory is an important place to be.

Brad:

I do too. Um, what are some of the things people may not realise, uh, about the Territory's status politically? Other things that the States take for granted?

Marion:

Ah, look, I, I think, gosh, I was thinking about this before when we were, when we were talking through this, I think people just think that we, you know, the, the Territory, is this small failed state?

Brad:

Mm.

Marion:

But it's not, like if you look at where we've come and where we've been and where we're going to, it's actually, you know, like, it, it punches above its weight. Course we're a small jurisdiction, but that's because our population makes us small. But in terms of what we do and what we can produce, I think the Territory does punch above its weight I think it's really,

Brad:

and we haven't been self governed for that long, really in the scheme of things.

Marion:

I think it's what? 1977. Eight eight.

Brad:

77. 78. Yeah.

Marion:

Yeah,

Brad:

yeah,

Marion:

yeah and hopefully, you know, Luke Gosling, who's the Member for Solomon and Alicia Payne is the Member for Canberra. Once that legislation passes through the, Senate in terms of restoring the Territory's rights, it's not just often people think straight away, oh euthanasia or the voluntary assisted dying, but it's not. What we were doing with that legislation is not, reinstate in euthanasia. It's giving, it was putting the Territory back in control

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Of what it should be.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

And that's its legislative, you know, program.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Just like any other state in Australia

Brad:

and when that got changed, I felt though it's changed the precedent for jurisdictions like us. Forever.

Marion:

Well, we became second class citizens. Yes. Yeah.

Brad:

Where we didn't have a right at all. We were in fact dispossessed of that right.

Marion:

Yeah. And you know, it laid us vulnerable to the FederalGovernmentt then intervening, in the Northern Territory.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

You know?

Brad:

Yeah. Well, it's good to see the new infrastructure money coming our way. Oh, which is really good.

Marion:

The biggest spend ever.

Brad:

2.7 billion,

Marion:

billion.

Brad:

That's just nuts.

Marion:

Fantastic.

Brad:

Yeah, no, it's great. Why did you decide to go, come back into the fray, now, you've gone from, you know, you sort of gone from. Uh, CEOs of things, and then local government, and then NT Government, and then now you're into the federal

Marion:

unfinished business, Brad. I, I think it was, I think it was the, that Canberra, there, there are so many laws and programs and policies that Canberra does that, the Commonwealth Government does, and it, and any time can implement, you know, force it on the Northern Territory, and having gone through the intervention when I was a Northern Territory Government Minister.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

And seeing, you know, some of the bad policy and decisions and conversations that come outta Canberra, it was then an opportunity when, when Warren Snowden and spoke to me about standing I thought, well, you know, rather than just talking about it and criticising maybe it's time to, to take it to that next level and doing something about

Brad:

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Marion:

And you know, I'm hoping that with my experience and what I've done, um, I can take a, a better or, or a more informed and broader discussion.

Brad:

Well, Warren, Warren couldn't pick a better person. Because I remember at the time when it was all sort of, nobody knew what was going on and, and then to hear Lingiari sort of your name pop up, I thought, that's perfect. Perfect choice. Couldn't be better. Yep. Um,

Marion:

and one of the things that I've been doing since I've been in this job is to have a look at who comes next. You know, who comes behind. Because I just think, and I used to always have a go at, at Warren about this, about the succession, because we're all not gonna be in these roles. For forever. He was forever in this role, but I don't plan on being here forever. But it's important to look for another person. Um, not straight away, but you know, sort of have that person come up through the ranks to, to take on that. It could be another woman, but it could be another, you know, like it, I don't care who it is, but it, it's gotta be somebody that can come up and, and take, cause it's such a huge electorate. I, I didn't realise just how big it was until when I got elected. So before I got elected, I gave up work at the Land Council for 12. So I did the campaigning for 12 months, uh, before the actual election. And getting around was, I didn't realise just how big the electorate was. I should have known that it was everything except Darwin. Um, so it was, it, it's really important to try and make sure that I am making that time to get somebody younger to come through, um, and to, to go into this role at some stage. Not now. I don't wanna create everyone

Brad:

Everyone panics,

Marion:

No. I wanna be able to make a difference first.

Brad:

Yeah. Yeah. Now we all know there's plenty of urgent things that need to be addressed. What would you say is the most urgent and how do we get action with the sort of slow moving nature of Federal Government?

Marion:

Yeah, look, one of the biggest things I, you know, the biggest gap that I've found both before the election and now is about young people. And, and I don't just say it because it's a buzz thing to do, but young people, so last election there were nearly 20,000 people that weren't part of the electoral role.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

We need to do better in terms of working with young people to restore I suppose, hope and faith in politicians. I think we are probably the most hated of, of all occupations. People just feel that, Oh, you know here comes another politician talking crap again. But I think it's trying to get policies and, and infrastructure and like there's hardly any Youth specific infrastructure, particularly out in the bush. Um, you know, we're about to launch a netball court here and you know, during the election we'll say, well, We're gonna spend, some money on the netball courts here. We've got very little infrastructure out in the bush and that has to change. So I'm hoping that, you know, that that's part of what we need to do is look at whether it's infrastructure for sports, but we've got to look at housing, You know?

Brad:

Absolutely.

Marion:

Housing for young people is critical. We can

Brad:

absolutely,

Marion:

You know, a lot of young people are sick of living with their parents and grandparents out bush.

Brad:

Yep. Yep. And essentially having to, um, fight for space in a house.

Marion:

Oh, yeah,

Brad:

yeah,

Marion:

yeah.

Erika:

Sorry, can I?

Brad:

Yep.

Erika:

Um, with like the programs, as the young person in your electorate, how do you kind of bring your governance and sustainability lens that you bought in, Katherine with the health support work that you did into kind of making sure, whether it's a youth legislation infrastructure specific program or something completely different, how do you kind of bring that level in so that it doesn't just fizzle out after a three funding cycle?

Marion:

Mm. That's a good question.

Brad:

That's a big question.

Marion:

That's a big que that's in

Erika:

like is it about kind of, with your, I mean, maybe with your health service work, is it about a bit of a corporate culture with hiring the right board and having like really good policy?

Marion:

Yeah, and talking to, I, I think making sure that you're communicating clearly with people and engaging young people. I think knowing that you can, or, or trying to engage young people, and that's why in our office we've gone towards younger, younger people so that we can try and get the, the younger per, you know, PE and it's not, they don't have to vote for me, but I think we've gotta look at how do we, how do we start getting young people back involved in democracy? You know, like people, um, so we are about to do a tour in the top end and through some of the rural areas with the Speaker of the Federal Parliament, who's never been into some of these remote communities, but to get these remote schools, to have an opportunity to talk to someone who's the head of the Federal and then put it in the context of how do, you know, start working on some of these. I don't know. Look, I, enjoy talking, it exhausts me sometimes, but I think we've just gotta try and look at how do we, how do we get young people back at the table with us, talking to us, whether it's through building netball, courts or other infrastructure then being able to, to work with them.

Brad:

And just jumping on that, not being a young person myself, but do you feel that young people get a bit discounted in the process? No. Just sort of, Cause I work with a fairly young team.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

And one of the things that crops up from time to time is that age is held against good ideas.

Marion:

Mm-hmm,

Brad:

you know, so if somebody can be, you know, 22 years old and have an amazing idea, but it just gets discounted cause they're 22.

Marion:

Yeah and look, I saw that in, well I saw that in a lot of Aboriginal. So if you put in an Aboriginal community and in remote communities, there are a lot of young people who've got some great ideas. But I've seen a lot of old people say to them, oh you got to earn your stripes. You know, like, sit back, don't, you know? And so, you know, like both have gotta be courageous enough so, older people have gotta be courageous enough to hear the voice of a young per, We might not necessarily agree with it.

Brad:

No,

Marion:

but we've gotta be able to listen to what that voice is saying.

Brad:

No, i, and, and I became a father a bit later in life and one of the things that's done for me is my perspective, cause I'm in my fifties

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

Is different to, people I went to school with here in Alice Springs.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

In their fifties because I've got an 11 year old and a 14 year old who are just showing me these things in my life and I'm just like.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

You know, and I feel 10 or 15 years younger because of it, because of their perspective on the world is so different.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

Um, do you think that politicians maybe should have more of that put in front of them where they have to deal with a lot more young people?

Marion:

Yeah. But I think a lot of, So when I look at, you know, and I was doing this exercise when I went into Federal Parliament, I did it when I was in Territory Parliament, was to have a look at the, I'm always fascinated with the, the backgrounds and where people have come from.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Um, what work have they done in the community, because you can always tell whether someone's a career driven politician and you know what you're gonna get from that person versus someone who's worked in a community, um, you know, earned their str whether it's they've been a doctor, you know, a GP or whatever. The conversation and the policy debate becomes a lot different than someone who is more a career driven, you know, politician.

Brad:

I would agree with that. Yep. Yep.

Marion:

And you know, you can see, like you look at some of them, and, and I'm not saying it's just on the other side, it's including on the labor side.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

And, and you just sort of go, Wow, you could almost predict where, where different people have come from. Cause. Cause

Brad:

I think it's a lot to do with the empathy of walking in other people's shoes.

Marion:

Yeah, yeah.

Brad:

Because you've never had to Yeah, yeah,

Marion:

yeah. Like I was listening to, um, Dr. Gordon Re, who's a young Aboriginal doctor that's just been elected in the class of 2022 with us. And he was talking about how as a doctor going through Covid and the impact of Covid on, you know, the first responders and doctors and nursing staff and what they had to go through. Um, and you just sort of think, Well, you know, like we think about all the restrictions, the mask and everything that was imposed on us. And then you sort of think, like these doctors and nurses when you hear their stories, cause there's more doc, God, there's so many doctors in our Federal Parliament now. I, you know, when you hear their stories and you just think, wow, it's, yeah. Um,

Brad:

so we're sort of starting to wrap up some of these questions out now, we touched on Warren before, how do you actually feel about stepping into the. The big mo shoes?

Marion:

Yeah. Look it, it was overwhelming. It, Look, I just sort of thought the man, the mo, the hat. Um, look it was tough in some aspects because Lingiari is such a diverse electorate and I remember the first time I'd started door knocking here in Alice Springs, and... because I'd always held a bush seat in the top end, so I didn't have to door knock. It's a different campaign. So to, to take on this after Warren, because people saw he was a familiar face and person and I suppose I was an unknown and some of the older people, I suppose, knew who I was they knew I'd worked with land council. They knew I'd and, so there was some barriers and I suppose prejudices there as well. And I remember the first time, and I hadn't seen it for a long time, when I was told to get outta someones yard cause I was the wrong color. And I sort of, And I, the only way I reacted was, Oh, you don't like my red shirt You know, And that person just looked at me like, But it was the only way I knew how to respond to, you know, like, You don't like my red shirt?

Brad:

Yeah. I was gonna ask you whether that actually happened.

Marion:

Yeah, yeah. And, you know, and, and I just sort of thought, well, and the person that was with me sort of looked at me and said, Jesus, did that just happen? I said oh yeah, but you know, and you can either get angry or you just, I just laugh, you know? I just often, and that was the only way I could respond was like, you don't like, you don't like our red shirts, But it wasn't the red shirt, I think.

Brad:

No, no, no, no. Definitely not.

Marion:

But that's okay.

Brad:

So if you were to stay in the seat for 30 years,

Marion:

no

Brad:

well say, say, say, say 10 years, eight years, whatever.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

What do you think your legacy will be?

Marion:

Look, I, I hope that we can change and, fix up some of the deficits that we see in the Territory. Like there's housing, there's home lands, there's a whole lot of reforms that we can do. There's land tenure reforms that we've gotta do, and we've gotta do it not just with Aboriginal people, but also with land councils, with the Northern Territory Government. But I think we've got a, a federal government that's in the right frame that can do this with the Northern Territory Government and with land council. So I think there's some really good things that we can push through and I'm, I'm looking forward to trying to get that happening because without those reforms, we're not gonna see a difference.

Brad:

No, I think housing and land tenure and all those things are probably,

Marion:

are big issues.

Brad:

Very, very important.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

Because everybody else has access to it.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

And sees it as a given.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

Whereas if you live on country, it's just not a given

Marion:

No.

Brad:

It's just not there for you.

Marion:

No.

Brad:

If you had a magic wand,

Marion:

God, I was gonna say, can I have a broom stick instead of a wand?

Brad:

To solve any problem? And it can be in the electorate that you're in Lingiari, or it can be across Australia. What would you do with it? The magic wand,

Marion:

The magic wand. I despair over young people.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

And particularly here, if I had a magic wand, I, I'd wave it out there and try and fix up, particularly a lot of the issues that are impacting on young people in and around Alice Springs.

Brad:

Me too. Cause I, I see this every day, and you try to explain to people on the street that if you don't feel as though you've got a home to go to or feel safe, where will you be? You'll be with your friends.

Marion:

Yeah.

Brad:

And your friends will look after you. But if you have to be on the street for that to happen, that's what happens.

Marion:

Yeah,

Brad:

Yeah. No, it's pretty, it's, it's fairly desperate for a lot of people.

Marion:

Mm-hmm.

Brad:

Mm-hmm.

Marion:

And particularly for these young people. I mean, it's, I met with today and they were saying that the number of visitors that are camping illegally and on the outskirts of a lot of their town camps, and the majority of them are kids.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Um, young people that have come in with their, their families and then left behind.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

So they're camping in tents in and around Alice Springs and no one's sort of looking after them.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

So they're breaking in and they're stealing to get a, you know, to get food. So, Yeah, if I had a magic wand, that's what I'd do. It's quite sad. I mean, we've got these issues in Darwin and Katherine and Tenant, but I've never seen it so, so much in your face than down here.

Brad:

Yeah. Yeah.

Marion:

Um, and you know, I've, I've gone out to Wadeye and seen the dysfunction and the problems out at Wadeye and, you know, Yuendumu and, but I just, I despair with just the small town, you know, like,

Brad:

Yeah. Yeah and I would say that too. I was, again, I was away the other weekend. I was in Darwin, but in Darwin it's hidden. You don't see it unless you look

Marion:

Yeah,

Brad:

yeah, yeah, yeah,

Marion:

yeah,

Brad:

yeah.

Marion:

But here it's quite in your face. I saw some stuff in Target on Sunday, which yeah.

Brad:

Hmm. So, we'll wrap this up, um, if you were to pick any job within Parliament, what would it be?

Marion:

I'm enjoying where I am because it's, I, I mean, I, I'm, I've just been appointed chair of the, So I, I'll start looking at how do we develop the nNorth? Yep. So I'm, chairing that and, um, my co-chair is Warren Entsch. So, Where I am at the moment is a good place. It's being part of a government that I think is reformist and I think we can, We can change things in the Northern Territory.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

We've probably be seeing the biggest spend that's going to happen during the budget with infrastructure here, never before as the Northern Territory been up there and I think that's really important.

Brad:

Well, I tell you what, I saw it on the news the other night. You got the map of Australia. And you see there's 2.7 little B and everybody else is like, everybody else is like 660 million, you know? And, and it just, to me, it looked like the other states are like, Oh, you didn't get anything. Well, they still got$600 million, but no, 2.7 billion was pretty amazing.

Marion:

Is the first time the Territory's ever had that.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

And, and you know, like the Tanami, Meereenie Loop will get sealed for the first time.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

You know, we'll finish off the seal, but the one I am really excited about and Warren and I will do that, um, is the Santa Teresa. So seal the whole Santa Teresa Road, which means that all of those renal patients that often can't get in when it rains because that creek floods.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

You know, will will start from that end closer to the community to make sure.

Brad:

But, but even little things like cars, you know, like the fact that people who live out at Santa Teresa's cars get trashed.

Marion:

Yep.

Brad:

Having to drive that road all the time. The fact that there's not that expense in a family anymore, there's this opportunity for, uh, being a little bit more aspirational in that space, you know, um, like all Australians should be.

Marion:

Yeah. And like they were saying that cause they've got the best footy over out there.

Brad:

Yeah.

Marion:

So when I was talking to the AFL, and we are putting, there's about 10 million that's going in sports infrastructure in the bush. So if we can fix up some of these other ovals, it means that a lot of the community football can happen back in the community rather than everyone converging on Alice Springs.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

Because often people then that's when people get stuck.

Brad:

Yep.

Marion:

So a lot of that infrastructure is Central Australia, which will be really good. Yeah. Yep. A million dollars to the netball courts and People might think, Oh, you, you know, it's a marginal seat, Oh yeah, you've done it for Lingiari, but it's what should have been invested in the Northern Territory anyway.

Brad:

Yes.

Marion:

You know,

Brad:

agree.

Marion:

So it's important infras infrastructure.

Brad:

Agree.

Marion:

Yeah. Cool.

Brad:

It's been great to talk to you, Marion, and thank you for taking the time.

Marion:

No, thank you.

Brad:

And it's episode 15 or wrapping it right up there. Thanks to Erika and to Amy for being here. Um, and we'll see you all next time.

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Brad Bellette

Host
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Erika Hamilton

Co-host