Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Those of us that have had the privilege to serve in this fine place know how wonderful it is to get out of here and get back to our electorates—I don't mean that rudely—which I have done for the last couple of weeks. I've reconnected with the Kimberley.

I had the opportunity to visit Magabala Books, which is Australia's leading Indigenous publishing house. The beauty of Magabala Books is that it's Aboriginal owned and led. Magabala celebrates and nurtures the talent and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices. Based in Broome, Western Australia, Magabala publish Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, artists and illustrators from all over Australia. Magabala publish up to 18 new titles annually across a range of genres—children's picture books, memoir, junior fiction, young adult fiction, adult fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, social history and poetry. They also keep a substantial backlist in print. Their earliest titles stand strong alongside new releases in the trade and are of significant cultural importance.

I want to thank the CEO, Lilly Brown, for inviting me into Magabala to see the fine work that they do and to actually see that Indigenous artists and poets are being rewarded for the effort they put in. I did a video with Lilly. I was wrapped to be there with her. To restate what I said: I encourage every Australian who happens to be up in the best part of the greatest state of the most wonderful country in the world—the Kimberley in Western Australia—to get up there and go and visit Magabala. Park—there are plenty of places to put your caravan—and get in there. Better still, put your hand in your pocket and purchase a book that has been written by an Indigenous author. Good on you, Lilly. Job well done.