The daughter of a trailblazing politician is set to follow in her father's footsteps, with Ngaree Ah Kit joining the Northern Territory government frontbench.
Ms Ah Kit, the member for the Darwin northern suburbs seat of Karama, will enter the Territory cabinet after serving as the parliament's speaker since 2020.
"It is an honour to be selected by my peers to be the next minister of the 14th legislative assembly," Ms Ah Kit said in a statement on Friday morning.
"I am looking forward to my new role and will embrace portfolios and duties required of me."
Ms Ah Kit's father was the late John 'Jak' Ah Kit – a former NT government minister who spent a decade in parliament.
He was the Territory's first Aboriginal minister, who during his long and colourful career was known as a fighter and advocate for Indigenous Territorians.
Towards the end of his life, Mr Ah Kit was also the CEO of the Northern Land Council.
He passed away in 2020, aged 69.
"I'm proud to acknowledge my dad's legacy that he left serving Territorians for 10 years, and I look forward to creating my own," Ms Ah Kit said today.
"I thank my constituents and look forward to representing them and all Territorians."
Ms Ah Kit hails from the Territory, and from Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Chinese heritage.
She replaced former NT Labor leader Delia Lawrie as the member for Karama in 2016.
The position in cabinet was freed up after Natasha Fyles replaced Michael Gunner as chief minister last week.
In the statement released today, Ms Fyles pledged that her team remained "united and stable" following Ms Ah Kit's promotion.
The government did not step forward for a press conference following the announcement.
The news ends days of speculation over who would take the role, with acting deputy speaker and former AFL player Joel Bowden also considered to be in contention.
The rest of the Fyles government ministry will be confirmed and sworn in on Monday, the chief minister said.
