Australia mourns the passing of Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue and it is with great sadness and love that I pay tribute to her remarkable legacy.
The Yankunytjatjara woman was a fearless and passionate advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
Throughout her career in public life, Dr O’Donoghue displayed enormous courage, dignity and grace.
She dedicated her life to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians and deserves our deepest respect and gratitude.
Dr O’Donoghue worked effectively with people across the political spectrum in a career that spanned almost 60 years.
She was central to some of the country’s most historic moments in Indigenous affairs - from the 1967 Referendum, to the Native Title legislation in 1993 and the National Apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008.
Dr O’Donoghue’s life was shaped by her experiences as a young child.
At two years old she was taken away from her mother in remote South Australia and placed in a mission home, where her name was anglicised and she was prohibited from speaking her own language.
She said that the seeds of her commitment to human rights and social justice were sown in a childhood where she felt powerless and deprived of love.
The Matron of the Colebrook Children’s Home in South Australia where she grew up, told her that she wouldn’t amount to anything.
How wrong she was. Dr O’Donoghue grew to become one of the nation’s most influential Indigenous women.
In her early twenties she become the first Aboriginal trainee nurse at Royal Adelaide Hospital.
She went on to be the first woman to be a regional director of an Australian federal department, founding Chairperson of the National Aboriginal Conference and the first Aboriginal woman to be made a member of the Order of Australia in 1977.
In 1990, she was appointed the inaugural Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).
Named Australian of the Year in 1984, she received many national and international accolades and awards in recognition of her work and became a National Living Treasure in 1998.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney MP
“Lowitja’s leadership and tenacity has been an inspiration for generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, including myself.
“I had the great honour and privilege of working with Lowitja when I was appointed to the National Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1997.
“She was a truly extraordinary leader. Lowitja was not just a giant for those of us who knew her, but a giant for our country.
“My thoughts and sincere condolences to her family.”