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Ken Wyatt

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The Honourable
Ken Wyatt
AM MP
Minister for Indigenous Australians
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 May 2019
Prime MinisterScott Morrison
Preceded byNigel Scullion
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care
In office
24 January 2017 – 29 May 2019
Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull
Scott Morrison
Preceded byHimself as assistant minister
Succeeded byRichard Colbeck
Minister for Indigenous Health
In office
24 January 2017 – 29 May 2019
Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull
Scott Morrison
Preceded byWarren Snowdon (2013)
Succeeded byAbolished
Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care
In office
30 September 2015 – 24 January 2017
Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull
Preceded byFiona Nash
Succeeded byHimself
(as Minister for Aged Care)
David Gillespie
(as Assistant Minister for Health)
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Hasluck
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 August 2010
Preceded bySharryn Jackson
Personal details
Born
Kenneth George Wyatt

(1952-08-04) 4 August 1952 (age 72)
Bunbury, Western Australia, Australia
Political partyLiberal
SpouseAnna-Maria Palermo
Children2
RelativesCedric Wyatt, Ben Wyatt (cousins)
OccupationPublic servant
ProfessionTeacher
Websitekenwyatt.com.au

Kenneth George Wyatt AM (born 4 August 1952) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2010, representing the Division of Hasluck for the Liberal Party. He is the first Indigenous Australian elected to the House of Representatives, the first to serve as a government minister, and the first appointed to cabinet. Wyatt was appointed Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health in the Turnbull Government in January 2017, after previously serving as an assistant minister since September 2015. He was elevated to cabinet in May 2019 as Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Morrison Government.

Early life

Wyatt is an Indigenous Australian, also of part English, Irish and Indian descent. He was born at Roelands Mission farm, near Bunbury south of Perth in Western Australia, a former home for young Indigenous children removed from their families. His mother, Mona Abdullah, was one of the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children removed from their parents and relocated to Roelands, where she met her husband Don. Wyatt's father has Yamatji and Irish ancestry. His mother has Wongi and Noongar ancestry,[1] while her surname, Abdullah, is from an ancestor who migrated from India to be a cameleer, helping lay the trans-Australia telegraph line.[2]

Career

Prior to entering Parliament, Wyatt served as senior public servant in the fields of Aboriginal health and education.[1] He has held positions as Director of the WA Office of Aboriginal Health as well as a similar post with NSW Health.[3] He was also previously Director of Aboriginal Education with the WA Department of Education.[3]

Politics

2010–2015: backbencher

Wyatt stood for the Liberal Party in the seat of Hasluck in the 2010 election, defeating Labor incumbent Sharryn Jackson. He won the seat with a 1.4-point swing,[4] and became the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives (if one excludes David Kennedy who was Member for Bendigo from 1969 to 1972),[5][6][7] and the third elected to the Parliament (behind Neville Bonner and Aden Ridgeway, both Senators).[8] Mal Brough is of Aboriginal descent but does not identify himself as such.[citation needed]

On 28 September 2010, Wyatt attended the opening of the 43rd Australian Parliament to take up his seat as member for Hasluck. He wore a traditional Booka – a kangaroo skin coat with feathers from a red-tailed black cockatoo, signifying a leadership role in Noongar culture. The cloak had been presented to him by Noongar elders.[9] He made his maiden speech to the Parliament on 29 September and received a standing ovation from both the government and opposition benches as well as from the public galleries.[10]

2015–2019: frontbencher

On 20 September 2015, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that Wyatt would become Assistant Minister for Health, making him the first Indigenous frontbencher in federal parliament. Although his term commenced on 21 September, he was not sworn in with the other ministers as he was overseas, with his ceremony taking place on 30 September.[11][12] On 18 February 2016, Wyatt's responsibilities were expanded to include aged care in addition to health following a rearrangement in the ministry;[13][14] and were expanded further when on 24 January 2017 Wyatt was the first indigenous Australian appointed as an Australian Government Minister, with responsibility for the portfolio of Aged Care and the newly established portfolio of Indigenous Health.[15]

2019–present: Minister for Indigenous Australians

Wyatt retained his marginal seat at the May 2019 federal election with an increased majority. After the election, he was appointed Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Second Morrison Ministry. He is the first Indigenous person to hold the position, and was also elevated to cabinet.[16][17]

Indigenous voice to government

On 30 October 2019, Wyatt announced the commencement of a "co-design process" aimed at providing an "Indigenous voice to government". The Senior Advisory Group (SAG) is co-chaired by Professor Tom Calma AO, Chancellor of the University of Canberra, and Professor Dr Marcia Langton, Associate Provost at the University of Melbourne, and comprises a total of 20 leaders and experts from across the country.[18] There was some skepticism about the process from the beginning, with the criticism that it did not honour the Uluru Statement from the Heart's plea to "walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future".[19]

The original other members of the SAG were Father Frank Brennan, Peter Buckskin, Josephine Cashman, Marcia Ella-Duncan, Joanne Farrell, Mick Gooda, Chris Kenny, Vonda Malone, June Oscar, Alison Page, Noel Pearson, Benson Saulo, Pat Turner, Maggie Walter, Tony Wurramarrba, Peter Yu, and Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu.[20][21] The first meeting of the group was held in Canberra on 13 November 2019.[22] The SAG will propose models for the voice by June 2020.[23]

Cashman was dismissed from the SAG on 28 January 2020 after her involvement with commentator Andrew Bolt in denouncing the Aboriginal identity of author Bruce Pascoe.[24][25][26]

The third tier, the regional and local groups, will be announced in early February 2020. Wyatt said that he doesn't mind what models are used, and they may vary across the country. His prime targets are suicide prevention and Closing the Gap. A meeting with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, senior ministers and peak Aboriginal community representatives had agreed on “priority reforms”, which included greater Aboriginal involvement in decision-making and service delivery at all levels, and a commitment to ensuring that “all mainstream government agencies and institutions undertake systemic and structural transformation to contribute to closing the gap”. Wyatt said that he would need to manage expectations on all sides as he seeks to build a consensus on the matter.[23]

Awards and honours

In 1996 Wyatt was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for services to Aboriginal health. He received the Centenary Medal in 2001.[27][28]

Family

Wyatt's cousin Cedric Wyatt was a senior public servant and unsuccessful Liberal candidate for federal parliament. Cedric's son Ben Wyatt is a Labor Party politician and the current state Treasurer of Western Australia. Ben is also Western Australia's Aboriginal Affairs Minister which makes Ken, as Indigenous Australians Minister, his federal portfolio counterpart.

References

  1. ^ a b http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1367552/Ken-Wyatt-makes-Australian-political-history
  2. ^ Hills, Ben. "The barefoot kid from the bush". SBS.
  3. ^ a b "Ken Wyatt – Snapshot". Ken Wyatt – Snapshot. Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Hasluck – 2010 Federal Election". ABC News. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  5. ^ "Australia has come a long way: Wyatt". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  6. ^ Ker, Peter (23 August 2010). "Wyatt likes the odd but keeping his cards close in Hasluck". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. ^ "First Australian Aboriginal in House of Representatives". BBC. 29 August 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  8. ^ Ker, Peter (29 August 2010). "Aboriginal MP 'disappointed' by slurs". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  9. ^ Vyver, James (30 September 2010). "Ken Wyatt's emotional debut in parliament". Australian Broadcasting Authority. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  10. ^ "Wyatt impresses with maiden speech". The West Australian. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  11. ^ "Indigenous MP Ken Wyatt to be sworn in". Sky News. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  12. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, " Aged care: Health Minister Sussan Ley picks up extra portfolio", 30 September 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015
  13. ^ Massola, James (13 February 2016). "Cabinet reshuffle: Malcolm Turnbull announces new frontbench as Mal Brough resigns". The Age. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Ministerial Swearing-in Ceremony". Events. Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. 18 February 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  15. ^ "New federal ministers officially sworn in". Australia: Sky News. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  16. ^ "Historic day for new indigenous minister". 9 News. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  17. ^ Nunn, Gary; Mao, Frances (28 May 2019). "Ken Wyatt: Australia's first indigenous cabinet minister". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  18. ^ "A voice for Indigenous Australians". Ministers Media Centre. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  19. ^ Synot, Eddie (30 October 2019). "Ken Wyatt's proposed 'voice to government' marks another failure to hear Indigenous voices". The Conversation. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  20. ^ "Voice Co-Design Senior Advisory Group". Ministers Media Centre. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  21. ^ Remeikis, Amy (8 November 2019). "Chris Kenny added to group working on Indigenous voice to parliament". the Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  22. ^ Wellington, Shahni (13 November 2019). "First meeting held by senior body for Indigenous Voice to government". NITV. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  23. ^ a b Allam, Lorena (1 February 2020). "Man in the middle: Ken Wyatt on being caught between the Uluru statement and his party". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  24. ^ Allam, Lorena (28 January 2020). "Josephine Cashman sacked from Indigenous advisory body after letter published by Andrew Bolt". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  25. ^ "Businesswoman ousted from advisory group after Andrew Bolt claim". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  26. ^ "Letter revealed to contain paragraphs lifted from academic papers and websites". NITV. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  27. ^ "WYATT, Kenneth George – Order of Australia". It's an Honour. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  28. ^ "WYATT, Kenneth George – Centenary Medal". It's an Honour. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Hasluck
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Indigenous Australians
2017–2019 		Incumbent
Preceded by Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care
2017–2019 		Succeeded by
New title Minister for Indigenous Health
2017–2019 		Abolished
Preceded by Assistant Minister for Health /
Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care
2015–2017 		Succeeded by
Himself
as Minister for Aged Care
Succeeded byas Assistant Minister for Health
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