Malarndirri McCarthy | |
|---|---|
 McCarthy in 2022 | |
| Minister for Indigenous Australians | |
| Assumed office 29 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese |
| Preceded by | Linda Burney |
| Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians | |
| In office 1 June 2022 – 28 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese |
| Preceded by | Chris Gallus(2004) |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health | |
| In office 1 June 2022 – 28 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ged Kearney |
| Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Multicultural Affairs | |
| In office 18 August 2008 – 8 February 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Kon Vatskalis |
| Succeeded by | Terry Mills |
| Minister for Children and Families | |
| In office 18 August 2008 – 3 December 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Marion Scrymgour |
| Succeeded by | Kon Vatskalis |
| Minister for Child Protection | |
| In office 18 August 2008 – 3 December 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Marion Scrymgour |
| Succeeded by | Kon Vatskalis |
| Minister for Statehood | |
| In office 18 August 2008 – 28 August 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Terry Mills |
| Minister for Senior Territorians and Young Territorians | |
| In office 18 August 2008 – 5 August 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Matthew Bonson |
| Succeeded by | Gerry McCarthy |
| Minister for Women's Policy | |
| In office 18 August 2008 – 5 August 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Clare Martin |
| Succeeded by | Robyn Lambley |
| Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Education | |
| In office 9 February 2009 – 5 August 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Syd Stirling |
| Succeeded by | Robyn Lambley |
| Minister for Indigenous Policy | |
| In office 6 August 2009 – 3 December 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Syd Stirling |
| Succeeded by | Alison Anderson |
| Minister for Local Government | |
| In office 4 December 2009 – 28 August 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Kon Vatskalis |
| Succeeded by | Adam Giles |
| Minister for Regional Development | |
| In office 4 December 2009 – 28 August 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Kon Vatskalis |
| Succeeded by | Alison Anderson |
| Minister for Indigenous Development | |
| In office 4 December 2009 – 28 August 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Clare Martin |
| Succeeded by | Alison Anderson |
| Minister for Tourism | |
| In office 4 December 2009 – 28 August 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Chris Burns |
| Succeeded by | Terry Mills |
| Senator for theNorthern Territory | |
| Assumed office 2 July 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Nova Peris |
| Member of theNorthern Territory Legislative Assembly forArnhem | |
| In office 18 June 2005 – 24 August 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Ah Kit |
| Succeeded by | Larisa Lee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Barbara Anne McCarthy 1970 (age 54–55) Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Political party | Labor |
| Alma mater | St Scholastica's College |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Website | malarndirrimccarthy |
Malarndirri Barbara Anne McCarthy (born 1970) is anIndigenous Australian politician and former journalist who has been aSenator for theNorthern Territory since 2016. She is theMinister for Indigenous Australians in theAlbanese Government since 29 July 2024. She previously served in theNorthern Territory Legislative Assembly.
After working for theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation as a reporter andnewsreader for 16 years,in 2005, McCarthy was elected to the NT Legislative Assembly for thedivision of Arnhem. She was re-elected unopposedin 2008, and was subsequently appointed to the ministry byPaul Henderson. She held a number of portfolios over the following four years, but lost her seat in Labor's landslide defeat at the2012 election. McCarthy subsequently returned to the media as a presenter forNITV andSBS News. She re-entered politics as Labor's lead Senate candidate in the Northern Territory at the2016 federal election. She was appointed Minister for Indigenous Australians in July 2024 afterLinda Burney announced her retirement from parliament.
Barbara Anne McCarthy[1] was born in 1970 inKatherine, Northern Territory,[2] the daughter of Limandabina Charlie and John McCarthy. She embraces herAboriginal identity, being descended through her mother from theGarrwa andYanyuwa peoples, whose traditional lands straddle theMcArthur River and theGulf of Carpentaria. Her father, originally fromSydney, is descended from an Irishman who arrived in Australia in 1842.[3] Being of Catholic faith, his daughter was baptised in the Catholic church.[4] She grew up "with a deep respect both traditional Indigenous and Catholic values".[5] McCarthy was raised mainly by her father, but was always encouraged to stay connected to herAboriginal culture; she later said she was brought up ontwo-way learning, although it was not so named at the time.[6]
McCarthy attended school first inBorroloola, on theMcArthur River,[7] and then at a Catholic primary school inAlice Springs. Following this she spent six years of boarding school[5] atSt Scholastica's College,Sydney, where she was school captain in 1988.[7]
After her Year 12 English teacher suggested that she apply for a cadetship at theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation, McCarthy began her cadetship as a journalist for ABC Darwin in 1989.[8][5] She worked across Australia as a news and current affairs television and radio reporter. In 1993, after a trial run at presenting the late news from Sydney, she was appointed as weeknight newsreader forABC News inDarwin.[7] She also presented the current affairs programmeStateline.[9]
Returning to Borroloola in 1997,[9] she co-established its firstcommunity radio station, B102.9FM-The Voice of the Gulf, in 1998, with assistance from the ABC, and also set up the Lijakarda Cultural Festivals & Media, Arts & Training Centre for Yanyuwa, Kudanji, Garrawa andMara people from Borroloola.[7][9]
She spent 16 years working for the ABC, first as a reporter behind the camera, and then as newsreader.[5] She then set up her own media consultancy,[6] called Malarndirri Media.[2]
In 2005, McCarthy was preselected as the Labor candidate in Arnhem to replace the retiring memberJack Ah Kit. She received 73.9% of thetwo-party preferred vote, a 12.5% increase on Ah Kit's result.[10] As a result of her election, McCarthy became one of ten women in the 25-seat assembly, considered at the time to be in the top 10 in the world in male-to-female ratio in a parliament.[11]
| Years | Term | Electoral division | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–2008 | 10th | Arnhem | Labor | |
| 2008–2012 | 11th | Arnhem | Labor | |
McCarthy was one of five Indigenous candidates elected, properly reflecting the population ratio of Indigenous people in the Territory. Her first term was highlighted bycrossing the floor with two other ALP members to vote against the government's decision to divert theMcArthur River to allow moremining developments on spiritual, cultural, and environmental grounds in herCountry, of Borroloola.[12][13][8]
In August 2007, on the sudden death of her mother, who had been a strong advocate for the Borroloola people's struggle for land rights, linguistic, and cultural parity, and who despaired at the river diversion, McCarthy added her Yanyuwa name of Malarndirri, out of cultural respect for her mother.[14]
She was re-elected unopposed in the2008 election. Immediately following her re-election, McCarthy was promoted to the ministry and, from August 2008 to November 2009, was the Minister for Children and Families, Child Protection, Statehood, Women's Policy, Senior Territorians, Young Territorians, and the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Multicultural Affairs.[15] She called for apublic inquiry into the NT's child protection system,[13] and drove reform in this area as well as thehomelands policy.[9]
In December 2009, aCabinet reshuffle took place as a result of a Labor Cabinet Minister leaving the NT Labor government and was not replaced in the Cabinet. McCarthy's portfolios then doubled, and she was tasked to implement major reforms in the areas of Local Government, Regional Economic Development and Indigenous Development, while keeping the Women's and statehood portfolio, Tourism was also added to her brief. At the2012 election, McCarthy was defeated byCountry Liberal Party challengerLarisa Lee amid Labor's collapse in the remote portions of the Territory.[13]
McCarthy then returned to journalism, working forNational Indigenous Television (NITV) andSBS until 2016.[8]
She won the 2013 Journalism Story of the YearDeadly Award for her story on twoPerth Noongar brothers, theThorne Brothers, who were in Saudi Arabia. Shayden Thorne had been arrested on terrorism charges inRiyadh, while his brotherJunaid was in hiding after protesting his brother's innocence. Both Shayden and Junaid returned to their families in Perth.[16][17]
In 2013, McCarthy wrote a story onMercedes-Benz, which filmed its advertisement atWave Rock inWestern Australia, aplace of deep cultural significance to Aboriginal custodians. The general manager of Mercedes-Benz flew to Wave Rock to personally apologise to thetraditional custodians.[18]
McCarthy was a journalist and presenter at NITV andSBS News. She headed a team of journalists as executive producer ofNITV National News, until the program was cut in 2015.[19] She was presentingNITV News Week in Review later that year.[20]
Following the resignation ofNova Peris, McCarthy was invited by Labor to nominate as a candidate for theSenate at the2016 federal election, representing theNorthern Territory,[21] includingChristmas andCocos (Keeling) Islands.[22] She was subsequently endorsed as the Labor candidate despite not being enrolled to vote in the Northern Territory.[23] McCarthy went on to win a Senate seat at the 2 July 2016 federal election, bringing a much higher primary vote and a swing of nearly 7 points to the Australian Labor Party.[24][25]
McCarthy was the first federal politician to listownership of traditional Indigenous lands as part of herdeclaration of interests.[9] She was Temporary Chair of Committees from October 2017 until July 2019, when she was appointed as Opposition Deputy Whip in the Senate.[2]
Before the2017 same-sex marriage, she advocated strongly for a change in the laws.[6] She has been vocal on issues such asdomestic violence andalcohol abuse in the NT, and has fought for better representation in theSenate for all territories.[8] She has opposed the permanent introduction of thecashless debit card to the NT, and believes that the territory needs a remote program that creates jobs with proper wages and conditions.[22]
Following the2022 federal election in July 2022 McCarthy was appointed theAssistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and theAssistant Minister for Indigenous Health.[26] She was unable to attend the first swearing-in ceremony of theAlbanese ministry owing to havingCOVID-19, but was sworn in separately on 16 June 2022.[27] She has maintained a focus on Indigenous health, including the high incidence ofkidney disease amongAboriginal Australians, especially in the NT.[28]
In the lead-up to the2023 Indigenous Voice to Paraliament referendum, McCarthy was a staunch supporter of the Yes vote.[29][30][31]
McCarthy has been very active inparliamentary committees,[2] including:
In the July 2024reshuffle, she was appointedMinister for Indigenous Australians and elevated to cabinet.[32][33] This is the first time that both the positions of minister and shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, which is held byJacinta Nampijinpa Price, are both held by Aboriginal women from the Northern Territory.[8]
Shortly after her appointment, the latestClosing the Gap report was published, showing that only five of the 19 Closing the Gap targets were on track, and several had slipped further. She said that she would be focused on these targets, and hoped to work on Indigenous affairs in a bipartisan manner.[34][35]
She attended theGarma Festival inArnhem Land with Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese within a week of being sworn in as minister, and while there also gave her first television interview since her appointment.[36]
During her time working as a journalist for SBS and NITV, McCarthy also worked part-time at her sons' schoolSaint Ignatius' College atRiverview, New South Wales, assisting in developing the First Nations Unit program and teaching a cross-cultural program at theCatholic school, including teaching year 7 students aboutIndigenous landcare.[37] She would also take boys to stay in the NT, which she described as a "deeply spiritual experience for [her]".[5]
In 2017, she gave a speech at theNational Indigenous Human Rights Awards atParliament House, in which, citing the example of trailblazing land rights campaignerEddie Koiki Mabo, said "Believing in the impossible is really what leads us to where we get to in life".[38]
In 2018, McCarthy was invited to give theKerferd Oration,[39] which is held inBeechworth, Victoria each year since 2003.[40]
She gave the Venerable Mary Aikenhead Oration 2024[4] (named afterMary Aikenhead, founder ofSisters of Charity of Australia) at theAustralian Catholic University in Sydney on 25 July 2025. Her topic was "Improving health and education outcomes for Indigenous Australians".[22]
She has participated in the Community Development Fund run by theArts Council, and was a patron for SIDS & Kids NT for 12 years. She has also been a member ofEmily's List and Women's Network NT.[13]
McCarthy has been a guest onABC Television'sQ+A panel show several times.[29][41][30][31]
A photographic portrait of McCarthy by British photojournalistPenny Tweedie hangs in theNational Portrait Gallery of Australia.[9]
Awards and nominations during her career as a journalist include:
McCarthy raised three sons as a single mother.[5][6][a] One of them CJ,[3] has lived with a physical disability since birth, and works with young people.[4] He won a scholarship to playwheelchair basketball for the University of Texas.[5]
After announcing her engagement in January 2021, McCarthy married Richard Bryant on 2 July 2022 in Darwin. SenatorDon Farrell attended the wedding.[43]
She has also spoken of herkinship responsibilities towards four young women: the two daughters of her "cousin–sister", and twin daughters of her "cousin-brother". She and her husband also act as parents to these children.[4]
In the remote area in Northern Territory where she grew up, she is known simply as "Mal" or "Barb" or "yapa".[8]
McCarthy was diagnosed in 2015 as suffering frompolycystic kidney disease, which she inherited from her mother. An acute kidney infection saw her having to be rushed out of Parliament to a hospital in 2019.[28]
Read Assistant Minister McCarthy's speech at the VenerableMary Aikenhead Ministries Oration.
| Northern Territory Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forArnhem 2005–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Australia | ||
| Preceded by | Senator for theNorthern Territory 2016–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Indigenous Australians 2024–present | Incumbent |
Prime Minister:Anthony Albanese | ||
| Cabinet | .jpg) | |
| Outer Ministry | ||
| Assistant Ministers | ||
| Resigned | ||
Prime Minister:Anthony Albanese | ||
| Cabinet | | |
| Outer Ministry | ||
| Assistant Ministers | ||
