Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This International Women's Day I want to pay tribute to the incredible women who are in my life. I come from a family of incredible women. My mother, Clare Mollomini, was a Tiwi woman. She stood strong in her community and always taught me to respect my culture. She called Wurrimiyanga, on Tiwi, her home, but her real country is over on Melville Island. The reason my mother called Bathurst Island her home has a long history not allowed by the time allocated in this adjournment debate. I come from a strong matrilineal line: my mother's line and her country.

My mother raised eight daughters, each of whom has gone out to shape and advocate on a range of different issues for their communities. Raising young girls in addition to three sons was no easy task, but she set about it with kindness, love and strength. She kept us grounded and humble. She also kept us in line; when the streetlights went out, everyone knew that would be the time we sprinted home. We were never allowed to be out on the street.

My mother taught us the Tiwi way: to be respectful and to help lift others up. She also taught us to be strong, to stand firm in our beliefs and never to fear or run away from those beliefs. My sisters are incredible women who have faced their own discrimination: my little sister Frankie, as a police officer in the Northern Territory; my sister Helen, who is a lawyer representing the Catholic Church; Lorraine, a policy coordinator for the South Australian government; Valerie and Marie, my older sisters running health and local government councils; my younger sister Wendy, who is working with Aboriginal men in behavioural change in the correctional system in the Northern Territory; and Jackie, my younger sister who is working hands on with women escaping domestic and family violence.

My mother had limited or no education, but she and my father did not compromise on any of their children. My mother didn't give in and said to my father that she needed to strengthen our culture, language and identity as Tiwi. My father was the taskmaster, making sure that his children got what he didn't, and that was to go to school and get an education.

There are many incredible women in our communities, particularly in Lingiari. I know their strengths and what those women bring to the table, but we must never forget that we stand here on the shoulders of those women. I know that I stand on the shoulders of my mother, her sister and all of those Tiwi women and the fights and the battles that they have had. I have seen many who have faced the challenges and the discrimination of being Black women—in particular from the patriarchal system in our communities. I have faced my share of sexist taunts, slurs and the belief that I can't face up to or match the men. When my mum was alive, I used to express my anger and frustration, and she always used to pat the seat next to her and say that I must deal with this with respect. Respect our men, respect our culture and do not undermine what that law was. That is something that has driven me for a long time.

I want to give a big shout-out to a number of young women who have done a lot. They are my daughter Cherise, who is the senior psychologist for Top End Mental Health Services in Darwin and does a fantastic job; Helen, my youngest daughter, who is the governance and policy officer with the Tiwi Land Council; and my granddaughter Kiara, who is doing a double degree in psychology and law. These are young women who are the future, who are my future and who I know will go on to do bigger and better things. I have expressed how great it is to be part of a number of women in this chamber from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. I am so proud to be part of this government, to be part of a number of really strong women who have done the hard yards in this place. I hope that I can walk in those shoes and match what they have done in this place for such a long time. To all of those women and particularly those Aboriginal women throughout the Lingiari electorate: I hope you have had some celebrations on this great International Women's Day.