Kat Mcnamara's first speech

2024-10-15

Madam Speaker, it is with great honour that I address this Chamber as Member for Nightcliff and give my First Speech.

Thank you, to Larrakia Elder, Dangalaba man, Tibby Quall, for walking me into the Assembly this morning. Tibby is a senior Traditional Owner, from a renowned Darwin family, the Batcho family, an integral part of this place's community and history. Tibby has led and continues to lead, many campaigns to protect Country and return Country to its traditional owners. In his words, they have been waiting for their land a long time.

I stand here today on Larrakia Country, Garramilla. This is stolen land, Larrakia people never ceded sovereignty. I am but a guest on this land. I want to acknowledge and pay my deepest respects to the thousands of generations of Larrakia people who lived, learnt, hunted, slept, dreamt and birthed on this land. To the Larrakia mothers and fathers who raised their children, and are still raising their children on their country. I extend this acknowledgement to all First Nations peoples here in this room today, and in particular to the First Nations MLA’s here, who I will be working alongside over the next 4 years. 

I am beyond humbled to be sworn in as the representative for the Nightcliff community. It is a wonderful, vibrant community. The Nightcliff electorate itself follows the coastline from the mangroves at Kulaluk in Coconut Grove to the mouth of Gurumbai, Rapid Creek. Famous for sunset picnics, walks along the jetty, food trucks galore and swimming, for those brave enough, it's definitely the best foreshore in Darwin, sorry Fannie Bay. Nightcliff has been known as the progressive heartland of the Top End, and yes, whilst it has always had a large contingent of progressive, environmentally conscious residents, it's also so much more than that. It is an incredibly diverse electorate, just walking down the foreshore you can hear languages from all over the world, Tagalog, Hindi, Greek, Punjabi, Spanish, Nepali, Swahili, Yolngu matha, the list goes on. We have families and students, home owners, renters and people in living in public housing, retirees, migrants and people living with disabilities. Everyone is welcome in Nightcliff. And whilst this means that there are a very broad range of issues people are concerned about, there are still some key concerns that are held throughout the community, of which I will get to in a moment. But first, how did I get here standing before you all today?

I grew up on the Wurundjeri and Bunurong lands of the Kulin Nation in south east Melbourne. Although growing up I did not know those names, because our education system had not, and in many ways still does not, acknowledge and teach the truth of First Peoples and our colonial history. In many ways, my childhood was an unremarkable one. A regular, middle class, public school upbringing in the suburbs. It was not a very political upbringing, although I had a strong drive to understand the world around me and try and fight things I thought were unjust. In primary school, in pre-internet times, I used to collect old National Geographic magazines and cut out the articles on endangered animals, making my own endangered species files for all the animals I was going to save when I grew up. Jane Goodall was a big influence at this time. 

At 14 I joined the Australian Tibet Council and used to do long treks on public transport through Melbourne’s suburbs to join Free Tibet protests at the Chinese embassy. I always tried to get my classmates to join me, in vain. My community organising skills had clearly not been developed yet. It was not until I was older that I learnt that I came from a line of justice seekers and agitators. My father, Simon Taylor initiated the 1989 Interest Rate blockade, which was an attempt to stymie the banks during a time of exorbitantly high interest rates, which were lucrative to big business looking for foreign investment but crushed families and led to many foreclosures.

And my great uncle, Frank Hardy, the communist and author who wrote Power Without Glory in 1950. While Frank was not a perfect man, by any stretch, he was radical for his time, deeply concerned with the plight of the working class and other oppressed people. He was unafraid to look into the racist heart of white Australia, and speak plainly about how mateship and a fair go did not extend to the original people of this country. Frank spent much time here in the Northern Territory, and after befriending Gurindji man Vincent Lingiari, Frank, used his connections with unions, the media and politicians to support Vincent and the Gurindji in the Wave Hill walk off, the monumental and ultimately successful strike for Indigenous wages and land rights in 1966. In 2022, walking under Frank’s banner in the commemoration march at the Gurindji Freedom Festival, with his children, my cousins Alan and Shirley, was one of the proudest moments of my life.

If you had told me then, or at any time in the past really, that in 2024 I would be standing here getting sworn in as an elected member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, safe to say I would not have believed you, not for a second. You see, I have never had an office job. I have only ever worked in runners or steel cap boots. I did not think that halls of Parliament were for people like me. I had tried uni in my early twenties, but without support, finances and with poor mental health, I was never able to finish. So I worked in every menial job you can imagine. And when I saved up enough money, I would take time to travel and volunteer doing things I was passionate about. 

At 19, I spent time volunteering in refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. I then spent most of my twenties hitchhiking, working and volunteering around Australia, finding I loved the hot, sweaty and unbelievably beautiful country in northern Australia. I became a rigger and rope access technician, building huge steel communications towers across remote locations in the NT and WA. Whilst I loved the freedom of this work, using my hands, the hard physical nature of it and technical skills I gained, the sexism and blatant misogyny I endured in this extremely male-dominated industry wore on me. It is one of the reasons I feel so passionately now about changing that culture and supporting women and girls' access to learning trades.

Coming from a trades background goes against the stereotypes not just of Greens politicians but of politicians generally. I am proud to have real-life working experience, not being a career politician, and will unashamedly be fighting for the interests of working people. I am proud to be a union member and I support the work of Unions NT.

I have been able to use my technical skills in many environmental volunteer roles, such as spending 12 months volunteering onboard one of Sea Shepherds vessels, the MV Steve Irwin. Although getting out into the middle of the Indian ocean, chasing illegal fishing vessels, to then realise I had incurable sea sickness, was not exactly a highlight. This experience further solidified for me, the importance of the role of non-violent direct action in defending people and our environment. Because not all laws are good laws. Legal does not always equal ethical. Direct action has played an important role in so many instances of social progress that we take for granted, from the 8 hour working day to women’s right to vote. It is a fundamental part of changing society for the better. And changing society for the better is what Greens politics is all about.

I never actually had any political ambitions. I am simply someone who felt massively let down by decisions made in our name by our representatives, and put up my hand because I believe we deserved better. I saw my community raise their voices time and time again, but were shut out by those in power. I stand here before you as the first Greens representative in Northern Territory Parliament, and that is a responsibility I do not take lightly. The NT might not have had a Greens representative before, but it certainly has both a history and a present that involves staunch activism, thriving community organising, incredibly active constituents, and people striving to make this place a more equal one. 

One principle that will guide me in this place, is the idea of acting for the common good. Does what we do, benefit wider society as a whole, as opposed to the private good of individuals or sections of society? And as our entire existence depends on our natural environment, we need intact ecosystems for the water we drink and air we breathe, that must be included. Does what we do benefit our natural environment?

I have spent the past six years studying whilst having children, graduating this year from an Environmental Science degree and a Graduate Certificate in Emergency and Disaster Management from CDU. Even though I understood and believed what climate scientists were saying about climate change before the degree, having done it has given me a much deeper, and more terrifying understanding on what is actually happening to our planet. It's like a visceral feeling of doom deep in my gut that never leaves. Fighting climate change, or more precisely, fighting the corporate greed and deranged political decisions that are destroying our planet is the greatest challenge in human history. We are at an absolute precipice right now. 

Climate scientists are at a point of despair. Joelle Gergis, one of my science heroes, is a renowned Australian scientist and a lead author on the latest IPCC report, the intergovernmental panel on climate change. She has given up her career as a researcher, because what is the point of dedicating your life to evaluating data and evidence on things that impact our existence here on earth, if the people in power won't listen to you. This is from her latest essay, Highway to Hell, which I implore everyone in this room to read. She says: 

“Most politicians and their advisors do not have a science degree, or science education beyond highschool. Yet we are entrusting these people with the most important decisions humanity will ever face. The very least they could do is listen to what our community has to say and act in the national interests of future generations.” She continues… “People in decades to come will look back at the world's collective failure to shut down the fossil fuel industry in time, and see it for what it really is, an intergenerational crime against humanity.” 

The environment movement in the Northern Territory has an enormously strong history, and I want to acknowledge that history. From the Jabiluka blockade against uranium mining led by the Mirrar, to opposition to a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty, the NT has been the site of many of the most influential and significant environmental campaigns in the country. I want to see the environment movement grow and flourish, because my gosh, do we need a strong community voice right now with the challenges we have ahead of us.

Here in the Northern Territory we are on the front lines, not just of the climate crisis itself but also the fossil fuel expansion that is fuelling that crisis. Have you seen the number of anti-fracking triangles on fences in Nightcliff? People I spoke to throughout the campaign raised climate and our environment as a concern again and again – people know that Darwin is getting hotter. Our dry seasons are not what they used to be. They also know that the fossil fuel industry is a chronic under-payer of tax, taking our resources for their own profits whilst paying barely, if any royalties. First Nations communities from the Beetaloo basin up to the Tiwi Islands have been raising their voices to protect their songlines, country, air and water from exploitation.

And instead of taking seriously what is an existential threat to life in the Top End, indeed to life everywhere, governments in the Northern Territory have continually turned away from addressing climate change and turned towards the fossil fuel companies that fund them, and given them what they want. 

Because I am listening to my community and listening to scientific experts, I vow to be a strong voice in this parliament against fracking, against new gas development, against the establishment of a petrochemical hub at Middle Arm. Instead, we have an incredible opportunity to become a leader in renewables. I want jobs here, long term sustainable jobs, from a trained local workforce. We can manufacture here. We can create training centres. The future is not in a dying gas industry, but a renewables economy, and those investing in it are looking for jurisdictions that have a clear vision, and understand this new economy. We are already late in this race, let's not fall any further behind.

I’m extremely concerned about the rhetoric from the government which dismisses and demonises experts and expert advice. Would you ignore the expert advice from a builder who told you your house will fall down, just because you don't want to hear it? This is dangerous and blatantly acting against our own self interests.

It is not just gas expansion but we are facing a nature crisis too, with our precious tropical savannah being bulldozed at an alarming rate. The people of Darwin were galvanised under the leadership of Larrakia people over the proposal to bulldoze Binybara Lee Point. This senseless and irrational destruction of cultural sites and old growth forests has been put on pause for the moment at least, as a result of people power and community campaigns. I want to support and amplify the voices that are calling for Lee Point to be returned to Larrakia people. 

The world is witnessing a genocide unfold before our very eyes at the moment, committed by Israel against the people of Palestine. Just yesterday morning, I watched footage of more children in bloody body bags, after being bombed whilst playing soccer. Overnight, more refugee camps have been bombed, with people being burnt alive in their tents, with no water to put them out. If you were to attend one funeral a day for each of the children that have been killed so far, you would be attending funerals every day for the next 41 years. I will not be told, as we have heard from politicians on both sides, that this is not an issue relevant to Northern Territory politics. It is so relevant. Genocide is always morally relevant. 

We have members of our community here in Darwin who have family in Gaza right now. Family who cannot escape. During the campaign I had many members of the Muslim community tell me they were voting Green for the first time because we were the only ones who were listening and speaking out. And as Israel's indiscriminate bombings have turned to Lebanon, in the past two weeks I have had my own constituents come to tell me about the distress of being unable to help their families. They say now that nowhere in Lebanon is safe. Imagine waking up every morning and wondering if your elderly parents, or siblings or cousins have survived the night. These people are in our community and they are hurting.

We have heard politicians at all levels of government accuse those speaking out about these atrocities as stoking division and affecting social cohesion in our community. This is insulting. The only thing causing division and distress in our community is people helplessly watching a literal genocide unfold and hearing nothing of any substance from their representatives about it. That is distressing. 

And beyond that, the genocide in Gaza is relevant to us here because we are part of the system that is allowing it to happen. Australia exports weapons parts to Israel, and some of those companies are in operation here in the Northern Territory. To take just one example, community members in Darwin have held protests out the front of the office of the weapons company Thales right here in Darwin, because Thales manufactures parts that are used to bomb children in Palestine. For the past year, our leaders have  ignored this powerful, multi-faith movement of Territorians that are speaking up for a Free Palestine and an end to the genocide. I will be supporting and amplifying those voices.

I am indebted to the activism that is ongoing in the Top End community for my place in this parliament - and there’s more than what I’ve had time to describe here.  I will strive to represent these movements of people – people who are motivated not by self interest, or financial gain, or professional obligation, but people who are active in their corner of their world because they care about it and have a desire to see justice.

I don’t think that social change begins and ends in Parliament. But certain people demonstrate to us the role that electoral politics and parliament can play in making our society a fairer one. In light of this, I’d like to take this moment to acknowledge the Independent Member for Mulka, Mr Yingiya Mark Guyula, a senior Yolngu leader and law man. I would like to quote now Mr Guyula from his first speech in this Chamber 8 years ago - 

“We talk about closing the gap, but what gap are we talking about? The people of my electorate understand that this gap is the gap created when Yolngu law is not properly acknowledged. When the power of self-determination is increasingly being removed, that gap grows.” He continues “Our rights to maintain justice have been revoked by Balanda institutions. The only way to fix this is with policies of self-determination, self-management, self-governance and ultimately, a treaty.”

I would like to support and echo his calls for a treaty. A treaty is a tangible way to recognise the First People of this country and create a new path forward. It is essential in reckoning with the historical and ongoing injustices of colonisation.

The ongoing effects of which, we can see in the proposed crime legislation before us this week. The ramifications of these are so dire that I need to mention them here. These punitive measures will not make our community safer. The argument that the only way to engage vulnerable children as young as 10, who may be involved in illegal activity, that the only way to offer them support is to criminalise them, is a monumentally irrational, ineffective and morally-bankrupt conclusion.

The Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory found that ‘children and young people, many of whom came from trauma and disadvantaged backgrounds and needed help, were put at risk by the environments in which they were held under the government's care’. At any given time, virtually 100% of the children incarcerated in the NT’s youth detention centres are Indigenous.

The evidence is clear that imprisonment as the default response to crime fails to keep our community safe. Despite our prison population increasing 30% in the last decade our community is feeling less safe than ever. I spoke to so many people in my electorate that were hurting, that were not feeling safe. And I heard again and again people say, what we’re doing is not working. Just locking people up over and over is not working. We all want the same thing: a safe and vibrant community for everyone. 

There are proven, cost effective alternatives to prison and the tired old ‘tough-on-crime’ measures which will actually break the cycle of incarceration and improve community safety. The funding needs to be long term and supporting Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. We need to establish a Breaking the Cycle Fund to properly fund and expand evidence-based, independently evaluated programs and services, including: bail support programs which significantly reduce reoffending and increase compliance with bail conditions, and post-release programmes including for people facing homelessness, drug dependency and other complex needs. First Nations led post-release programmes have reduced reoffending to 4% in other parts of the country. 

Throughout the election, if I ever heard mention of domestic, family sexual violence, it was tacked on to the end, almost an afterthought. I have said this many times before and I’ll say it again: Domestic, family and sexual violence is the largest social issue we face. It is the largest aspect of crime, it is the largest driver of crime. Over 60% of all the men incarcerated in our prisons are there for domestic violence related offences. We must look at all crime through the lens of DFSV. Women and children are being turned away from shelters every single day. Those front line services have been crying out for adequate funding for decades, from both sides of politics. This is not good enough. 

I will add here, I have just received news today that another Aboriginal woman has been murdered in a DV incident, so presumably by a man she knows. This is 4 women in 7 weeks. This is the crime crisis.

I am an assault survivor and I will fully and relentlessly force the spotlight onto properly addressing this violence once and for all. The safety of my community is of the utmost importance to me, we are not safe as a community until everyone is safe.

We cannot continue to blame kids for falling through cracks that our governments and society has created. We have to do things differently. If we want safe communities we need to focus on what people need right now - a safe place to live, access to quality education and nutritious food & a sense of purpose and belonging. We have to urgently meet the basic needs of young people because the long-term harmony and safety of our community depends on it. 

I know I am now the name and face of the first Green in NT Parliament, but what you can't see is the hundreds of other dedicated people in this grassroots movement that have come before me. I truly am standing on the shoulders of giants. Some of whom are unfortunately not with us anymore. Greg Jarvis was the first Greens ever elected to local Government, to the Darwin City Council. He passed away in 2010. He was a very popular, well liked local. A brilliant teacher and school principal, he showed us it was possible for the Greens to have a seat at the table. 

Sophie Trevitt, who we lost last year far too young, at 32. She spent many years working behind the scenes in other states and then volunteered as NT Greens Convenor whilst working as human rights lawyer, and advocate for women and children experiencing violence in Mparntwe Alice Springs.

To Justin Tutti and Grusha Leeman, integral in creating the NT Greens and building the movement, thank you for your friendship. 

This campaign was the largest in the history of the NT Greens. I had so many conversations, too many to count, where people told me they were voting Greens for the first time and were so excited. Hundreds of volunteers joined the campaign to provide a progressive alternative to voters, seeing record results in Braitling, Fannie Bay and Nightcliff. In Braitling, Asta Hill and her team achieved the biggest swing to the Greens Australia has ever seen. We have built an incredible movement here and we are not going anywhere.

To every Greens volunteer who delivered leaflets, made phone calls, stood at market stalls, put up signs and door knocked. To the volunteers on the management committee, and those working away quietly on our policy initiatives. To every single candidate that has stood before me,  None of this would have been possible without you all and your incredible passion and perseverance, thank you. To my good friend, comrade, Suki Dorras-Walker. You make me want to be a better version of myself, your energy and conviction are second to none. Thank you for standing with me, your time will come.

I want to thank Dr Victor Hurley, who has known me since birth. The first person to teach me to abseil, your faith in me to handle any challenge thrown at me, has been integral to my self-confidence.

To Amy Broomhall. Thank you for being the greatest friend anyone could ever have. You own a piece of my heart.

Thank you to my mother, Michelle, for teaching me not to take myself, or life, too seriously. Thank you to my father Simon, for nurturing my intellectual curiosity and teaching me that you never stop learning. Thank you to my siblings, Xavier, Lucy and Rafael, for keeping me grounded and never laughing at my jokes. To my little sisters Yumika and Aurora, I hope I can give you the confidence to go out into the world and bravely be whomever you want to be.

To my three beautiful, precious children, Arlen, Fintan and Rufus. You are my life. Every day I strive to make you proud and to make the world which you will inherit, a little bit better. And to my incredible partner, and love of my life, Tom. Lest anyone mistake your gentleness and humility for weakness, you are the strongest, kindest and bravest person I know. None of what I do is possible without you.

To the people of Nightcliff, thank you, for every conversation you had with me on your doorsteps, there will be many more to come. I am eternally grateful and humbled that you have chosen me to represent you. I will carry your voices with me here every day. I work for you and you alone. I look forward to the next 4 years and what we can achieve together. Thank you.