There are 11 First Nations members in the 47th parliament, and nine of them are currently standing outside Parliament House on a cold Canberra night.
They cut across parties, states and ideologies, but they’ve agreed to stand together and have their photo taken to commemorate being among the highest number of Indigenous people in federal parliament.
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, says the moment is “historic”. Indigenous parliamentarians will work together to try to deliver an ambitious agenda, she says.
They come from different First Nations, from Tiwi to Tasmania – underscoring the reality that Aboriginal and Islander Australia is very diverse, with different protocols, languages, ceremonies and cultural obligations.
“I felt moved and proud and almost cried,” Burney says.
“The fact that we have 11 First Nations people in the parliament is just extraordinary, and in all the different parties and across the two houses, in the space of five years is just remarkable.”
The Coalition’s NT senator, Jacinta Price, and South Australian senator, Kerrynne Liddle, are quietly chatting, standing next to Labor’s Jana Stewart.
Price says the occasion is significant and hopes they can work together to bring change for their constituents and communities.
“I am happy to work across party lines for the those very important aims,” the Warlpiri-Celtic woman says.
“I will be working with people who want to make the lives of particularly marginalised Indigenous Australians better. That is why I am here, that is one of my main focuses.”
The members assembled represent Labor, the Greens, the Jacqui Lambie party and the Coalition. Some are senators, some are MPs, and three are ministers in the Albanese government. Two couldn’t make it – Labor senator for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour and the Greens senator Lidia Thorpe.
The longtime West Australian Labor senator Patrick Dodson says to be gathered together on the forecourt of Parliament House was “impressive”. He says he hoped that their presence in the parliament would bring meaningful change.
“To stand in the front of Parliament House with such a group of diverse thinkers,” the Yawuru man says, “I hope we can return to the Aboriginal people the trust that they put in us all and deliver better outcomes.
“I am very privileged to have been amongst the group, particularly on the site where the Warlpiri leaders have gifted to Australia that famous fire dreaming story,” Dodson says, referring to the mosaic in the parliament’s forecourt where they are standing.
The mosaic, by the Warlpiri artist Kumantjayi Jagamara, symbolises the deep spiritual relationship between First Nations peoples and their country.
In the design, Indigenous people are meeting to talk and to enact ceremonial obligations. It’s a strong metaphor for the business of government, and their role in it.
“It’s incredibly humbling,” Price says, particularly because the mural was created by one of her own people.
“My grandmother’s brother created this. Being here and being able to represent Australians, it’s an incredible honour.
“I think it’s wonderful that we have so much Indigenous representation, from so many different political backgrounds this time. I think it has become a true reflection of Indigenous Australians,” she says.
Guardian Australia’s photographer-at-large, Mike Bowers, has spent weeks wrangling to get everyone together as the 47th Parliament prepares to sit for the first time on Tuesday.
The politicians joke, laugh, and sometimes swear despite the cool Canberra night. Bowers is known to them all. After decades in politics, he is one of very few photographers who could summon them all together.
“I have been around for a very long time, and I was honoured that they had enough trust in me to let me take the photographs,” Bowers says.
“There was a really good feeling with all of them across the parties and they were all laughing and having a great time, and it just felt great to be there.”
After about half an hour, Bowers says he is happy with the result, and delighted that it hasn’t rained.
The photographer says he’s just surprised that, given the speed with which news travels in the parliamentary corridors, he managed to keep this one quiet.
