I have been very fortunate to work closely with a senior Ngunnawal Elder and Indigenous women leaders and community here in the ACT, working together to improve maternity services to be culturally safe and strengthening.

In Parliament I would seek to be part of changing a damaging narrative about Indigenous people to one of strength, creativity, resourcefulness, connectedness and deep and beneficial knowledge for all of us. We need to work to close the gap through genuinely changing the way we do business together, and that change needs to come from government. In Bean, we are lucky to have numerous important Indigenous sites, including rock paintings in Namadagi and the ancient axe grooves on Tuggeranong Hill. We need to elevate the incredible value of Indigenous history, knowledge and care of Country. This starts with how we teach Indigenous history in schools right through to the respect we pay in our Parliament to the symbols and traditions of Indigenous culture, and the meaningful inclusion of Indigenous perspectives on policy that affects Indigenous people and communities. This is what a yes vote would have brought, and as the representative for a jurisdiction which did vote yes, I would be proud to continue to champion.

All of us can be part of changing the narrative and improving our relationships, to have pride in living alongside and learning from the oldest continuous culture in the world.