Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today on behalf of the federal parliamentary Labor Party to pay my respects to Roy Mundine Sr—the father of Warren Mundine—who passed away last Saturday and was buried yesterday at St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Auburn in Sydney. Our thoughts are with Warren and his brothers and sisters—and there are many of them; Roy and his wife, Olive, had 11 children together. Roy passed away at the age of 87, which, as Warren said, was a good innings for a blackfella.

Roy Mundine, a highly respected Bundjalung man, has inspired both his family and his community. His children have all gone on to contribute to the causes of Aboriginal people and to our country as well. The family said that their dad, Roy, and mum, Olive, gave them the fire in their bellies. His children’s achievements have varied from military honours to professional achievements at home and abroad, and community leadership in education, working with the stolen generations, human rights and social justice through the Catholic Church. Of course, Warren Mundine, the first Indigenous person to become ALP President, is his son.

I could not list all of the children, because I would run out of time. Roy, known as Fardi to his extended family, spent his life working on many of Australia’s great developments, like the road from Darwin to Alice Springs, the Snowy Mountains scheme and the Jenolan Caves. As a young man he obtained an exemption certificate, officially making him exempt from Aboriginal laws at the time—or, as they understand it, exempt from being Aboriginal—so that he could continue working. This was a dog licence that Roy carried for the rest of his life, not as a badge of honour but to remind people of what was once the law.

The unions fought for the equality of Roy’s pay and, because of that, Roy and his family have always been staunch supporters of both the unions and the Labor Party. Roy is very well known to many political people, ministers and senior officials in the Catholic Church and has a huge and extended friendship network and family who will miss him dearly.