Marion Scrymgour on being the first female Indigenous member of parliament, 2008

Transcript of interview

Being the first female Indigenous member to be elected to the Legislative Assembly was a major breakthrough, particularly for Indigenous women, you know to represent a bush electorate which was always seen as a predominantly male domain. So breaking through that and being able to show people that women can, you know … And particularly Indigenous women, because everybody - and that's parties, whether it's the Labor Party or the CLP [Country Liberal Party] or various governments - had this view that only men could do it at this level. So it was good to break the glass ceiling on that and to then, you know, see in 2005 where we got an additional two women into our parliament.

For young women, for older women, for all women, I think it's really important, and particularly with our Indigenous women where people often think that, you know, careers such as this is limited and they wouldn't be able to do it, and you know. And I do a lot of ... in all my discussions and meetings with young Indigenous women, saying well, 'This is a worthwhile career if you want to change things and be involved at the highest levels of government and have, you know, have input into both policy and how services should be delivered out to remote communities or, you know, even if it's in urban - whether it's urban, regional or remote - careers such as this is worthwhile looking at and it's not about compromising your values or principles. Yes, they get tested, but, you know, it's about choosing your battles and staying true to your values and principles and making sure that you can make a difference'.