SENATOR MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY
MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
SENATOR FOR THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
GROOTE RADIO
FRIDAY, 4 APRIL 2025

SUBJECTS: Federal Election.
 
PERCY BISHOP, HOST: We all know Malarndirri McCarthy, Minister for Indigenous Australians, first of all, good morning to you.
 
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Good morning Percy, good morning to all your listeners.
 
BISHOP: So nice to have you here.
 
McCARTHY: Lovely to be here on beautiful Groote.
 
BISHOP: Now, I know you’ve done this a few times, you’ve been in Groote a few times.
 
McCARTHY: I love Groote.
 
BISHOP: I think I remember bumping into you in 2012 you might have come with Gunner there.
 
MCCARTHY: I was actually here 20 years ago, as the Local Member for Groote Eylandt, and Numbulwar, and Ngukurr –
 
BISHOP: Hang on, just let me look at my research notes.
 
MCCARTHY: Yeah, it’s a long way back. Can I just say before we start Percy, my sincere condolences to families on Groote for some of the sad news.
 
BISHOP: Yeah, I appreciate that.
 
MCCARTHY: Especially out at Umbakumba. My team and I are here and we're just so conscious that there's sorry business and I do want to just reach out to the families here and say really sorry for your sad news.
 
BISHOP: Well, we really appreciate that, I have no doubt that you would certainly be on top of that, so we’ve shared that with community with the change in some of the schedule of yesterday, but everyone was kind of expecting, so we appreciate that very much. You got quite a team here.
 
MCCARTHY: I’ve got a great team and this is just some of them, there’s even more back where I came from.
 
BISHOP: Are they just selected on their good looks or is it –
 
MCCARTHY: It’s their bright coloured shirts, and you know it's Friday and you’ve got to wear bright coloured shirts on Friday.
 
BISHOP: Well Minister, I’ve got to say to you, I wanted to ask you questions, because I've seen your interviews. Obviously, I do you remember you, was it 93? Because that's the first time I saw an Indigenous woman do the news on TV. And I remember seeing it and thinking ‘there's a sister girl on the TV doing the news!’
 
MCCARTHY: Gee, we’re going back a bit now, Percy, ay come on.
 
BISHOP: I remember. And the only other one I saw, when you’re talking about Indigenous, Stan Grant making some noise. So, for me it was like wow, there is actually Indigenous that are doing mainstream television for newsreaders. Then the young Dan Conifer, who I was doing Koori radio for 18 years, a young Dan was doing broadcasting with ABC, two or three years ago.


MCCARTHY: And he’s done really well too.
 
BISHOP: Where is he now?
 
MCCARTHY: Well, I think he's in New South Wales at the moment. He’s done very well, and it's good to see so many other First Nations mob in the media, whether it's behind the microphone or behind the camera, editing, everywhere, and it's really wonderful.
 
BISHOP: My family arrived in the seventies, my family that I married into, desert mob, but the profile of Indigenous has certainly emerged. It's taken a while, but seeing black actors, black writers, black politicians, producers –
 
MCCARTHY: It does take time Percy, but it also takes role models, like yourself, for example, behind the microphone here and enabling young ones to hear and know that this is a job that they can do, you know working in local radio. It’s something that, I'm very passionate about from Borroloola, that was one of the first things I was able to set up.
 
BISHOP: I was going to highlight one, look there’s a few of them, which one am I going to highlight, there’s too many. Well, I really thought the best one that stood out for me amongst a few things, your cadetship, extraordinary what you did there, your awards are outstanding, but what I did like, as you set it up, you are right, B102.9 FM.
 
MCCARTHY: The voice of the Gulf.
 
BISHOP: The voice of the Gulf, I love it. Lijakarda is it?
 
MCCARTHY: Lijakarda. So, Lijakarda means in Yanyuwa, big mob altogether, come together.
 
BISHOP: Nice and your media arts training centre you set up.
 
MCCARTHY: That's right and I did that with a wonderful family member Maria Piro. She and I both worked on the Lijakarda Arts, Culture and Media Training Centre and it was just really important to teach numeracy and literacy, but also to encourage families to basically get up and have a go.
 
BISHOP: So outside of that, with the things I've read, I thought ‘Nah, I'm gonna ask her something that no one’s asked, so do you know the cha-cha or quickstep or tango?
 
MCCARTHY: Oh well, I could give it a go. I mean, I'm always in for having a go at new things. I have seen people do that and I just think I would love to know how to do that. My staff are laughing at me, I think I might get them to do it first Percy.
 
BISHOP: I had to ask something that no one's asked you and I thought ‘Nah stuff it, I'm gonna ask something quite different, blackfellas can dance, she probably could do it!’ So, I thought I’d throw that out there. At least you can be asked a question nobody’s asked.
 
MCCARTHY: That's it. I've never been asked that question ever before Percy, so there you go.
 
BISHOP: But I thought there was a high risk you could, because of that natural rhythm. I know that you went back to school in Borroloola, for your younger years there. Do you have strong memories of that?
 
MCCARTHY: Of growing up in Borroloola? Back in the day we didn’t have good roads, a lot of us kids had to actually leave Borroloola to go away for school, and many of us actually went to Alice Springs. So, we travelled from Borroloola to the highway, which back in those days took a long time, and then we'd have to wait by the highway, Stuart Highway, and we'd have to wait for the buses to come and sometimes we’d just have to roll our swags out and just camp and wait for the bus and then the bus would come and we’d all get on the bus, go to Alice Springs and I went to boarding school in Alice Springs. I kind of feel like I've always been traveling all my life.
 
BISHOP: You have. So, Senator I’ll put this question to you, so do you think your experience being a blackfella, being in those areas, that's informed you probably more than anything? The knowledge that a lot of other people acquire, reading, academia, your experience as a black woman, in a black context and now walking the two worlds. This is a mighty challenge, but I'm guessing you’re informed through your experience, through your culture a lot.
 
MCCARTHY: And your family, like my family has been really central to all of that growing up, and I'd say to young people listening, listen to your families, stay strong with your family. Never forget who you are and where you come from, but be open to learning about new experiences, because it's a beautiful thing. And stay with positive people, people that lift you, not people that put you down.
 
BISHOP: For challenges in your life, to get to where you are now, can you identify what would be some of the toughest that you were able to work out? Was it that you always had good people around you, which is part of it? One question I’ve always loved asking, I guess one of the biggest influences or some of the biggest influences, what kind of people were they or are they?
 
MCCARTHY: I have to say it has always been those closest to me. Whether it's my grandfather, watching him going through fighting for land rights, for the Yanyuwa people, whether it's my aunties who were the first Aboriginal health workers, seeing them trying to balance their responsibilities as senior women in the community, but at the same time encouraging us young ones to do what we could. I have to say it's those closest to me and I always found that you need to be with people, I think, who keep encouraging you to keep going and that’s tough at times. Sometimes you can even have family members who aren't always positive and you’ve gotta try to work with that and I know there's so many pressures in our communities amongst kin, with kinship relationships, our responsibilities and how do we manage that, then also be out in a Balanda world and try and cope with the expectations of that. And that's you know, that is tough, but we can do it.
 
BISHOP: You know I thought you could do the cha-cha because you'd have to know a few dances, because you’d have to know a few –
 
MCCARTHY: You are gonna make me get up and dance it now, aren't you?
 
BISHOP: Because you’d have to know how to dance in Parliament, that what I've learnt by observing. The music changes so many times. Duck and weave.
 
MCCARTHY: Duck and weave, there is lots of different styles of dancing you can do.
 
BISHOP: So, I think there’s a lot of admiration, I saw Selena Uibo who’d gone from, not that experienced, but certainly mightily has moved forward. I did ask her ‘what's the biggest challenge besides different opinions of your own party’ when she first started. She did laugh, she didn't comment, but she laughed. I think it must be challenging in this world that we live in that, particularly, I mean, yours is quite essential for the fact that New Zealand, if I go back to Māori history, we’re the freshest Indigenous group in the world. You're talking a thousand something years, 8,000 years just this island and 75,000 years Australia, so that's extraordinary. It blew me away when I got to Australia, the length, continuity of this culture. And so, then to have this imposition of another culture come through and the things that have occurred, I think it’s challenging. And I think for you to be commended by many that you're able to walk this world, and it's not easy. Decision makers, major top political decision makers, is where you sit. That's a huge challenge, that burden, you feel it sometimes?
 
MCCARTHY: It's most definitely difficult, and it's tough, but I also feel it's a privilege. It's an absolute privilege to be given the opportunity to represent, especially to represent the people of the Northern Territory and I think of where I grew up and my families and I’m enormously grateful. In fact, every day I wake with that view, ‘what can I do today that can help someone else?’ And it is important to keep that in mind. It is tough, you get everything thrown at you and some of it's not pleasant.
 
BISHOP: I’ve watched some of Parliament, many times. If I'm looking for adventure or tragedy, I just turn to Parliament, just watch that during the session.
 
MCCARTHY: And you can see the worst of people's behaviour, but you can also see the best, and I guess I just have a real love for democracy. I think it's important that you stand up and speak your views, but you do it respectfully.
 
BISHOP: Yeah, absolutely. Politics is a hard thing always, but in regards to being language speakers on this island and remote WA, all the remote communities, I have always found that complicated for our community. I was grateful that the Electoral Commission started over the last eight years I noticed considerably, coming out to teach how to vote. Which was great, but I did say 10 years ago, what's my bother, it's great to know how to vote, but no one knows who they're voting for.
 
MCCARTHY: Yeah and why you vote. There’s so much more that can be done.
 
BISHOP: But a lot of this to be fair, I understand it. You know, we talk about the gap, the gap, the gap, the gap is as huge as the Grand Canyon right now and it's very hard to close, but a lot of it can be with the blockages that have come up in the lives of Indigenous anyway, I understand that gap, why it's hard, we're not informed, language, respect to the language on land here, I can understand why, but the logic of why it's complicated for community. A couple of times in the last 18 years, once was in Atitjere, I walked around with the current Prime Minister. One was Tony Abbott, I had his image and I walked around the community and asked, ‘do you know this guy?’, ‘No, who’s that man? Is he a good guy?’ It was Tony Abbott. No one had no idea he was the Prime Minister. I did it with Morrison as well. ‘Do you know this man?’ This is during the Federal Election, no-one in the community, no-one had any idea, which told me straight up, the message isn’t getting across. It's been a wee while now. Is government aware of, well you’re there, so I am sure they are aware, closing that gap of information, how do we go about that?
 
MCCARTHY: The way I approach it Percy is that Closing the Gap is actually about an agreement, and that agreement is by all governments across Australia and that agreement is between them and Aboriginal organisations called the Coalition of Peaks. My job as federal Indigenous Australians Minister is to remind all of those parliamentarians, you have a responsibility to this agreement. You signed a contract to help improve the lives of First Nations peoples, how are you doing it? How am I, as part of the Commonwealth, doing it? So, there's many levels in which people can approach Closing the Gap, that's mine. To keep politicians accountable, including myself.
 
BISHOP: That's pretty honest with you. There was one question I wanted to put to you. OK, what's been your biggest asset to get you this far in regards to preparing yourself? Obviously, you have an outstanding journalist award, I was going to ask you what was your best award and I know you have a couple of big ones there, Walkley nominations. Do you miss journalism?
 
MCCARTHY: Oh, look, I've been carrying around a microphone and I'm holding this one now. Did you see how quick I grabbed this microphone?
 
BISHOP: You did yeah!
 
MCCARTHY: I must miss it. But can I just say Percy, just on the election, talking about the election and the electoral roll. I just want to say, a part of being here on Groote is to just remind residents that a federal election is coming up, it is about choosing who you want to be the next Prime Minister. I work with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, he's the Labor Prime Minister. I naturally would like people to support me, to support him, to see him get back in and that's why I'm here on Groote.
 
BISHOP: And on that moment is what we’ve been alluding to all week, is about your position with the party. I have given the history, let's be fair, I know you’re with Labor, but I'm not trying to grease around you. It is known Labor, New Zealand from the early days to Australia, Labor had naturally leaned towards Indigenous, I have no doubt about that. It's not being biased, it is in the politics, so there was a natural lean towards that. I thought it would be fair and with what you know for our community, if you could share with us, why would Labor be a suit for community with some of the things that you’re trying to work on.
 
MCCARTHY: Well, I've been here with the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers, we support rangers across Australia. We want to see more First Nations people in the ranger groups to double that number and to see more women and it was great to be with the men and women there this morning. We're also about health and the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, we want to see the rolling out of these Medicare Urgent Care Clinics. We actually have one here at Alyangula and just to let your residents know, that's us, that’s Labor, that's the Prime Minister. We did that because we know that people need assistance with health outside of hours, not just with the 9 to 5 and going to the clinic, but that you have someone there to help you –
 
[Interruption]
 
MCCARTHY: That's your phone.
 
[Interruption]
 
BISHOP: We announced that when it came out, what a great idea, what a relief, the fact that it now opens in the afternoon and goes into the evening now. That was a –
 
[Interruption]
 
BISHOP: I’m with the Minister.
 
MCCARTHY: I love the fact that you can just have a conversation on the phone while we are chatting away, this is great on Groote.
 
[Interruption]
 
BISHOP: Every now and then a dog will walk through –
 
MCCARTHY: Well, we saw Tex, the dog at the rangers.
 
BISHOP: Oh, Tex is always there.
 
MCCARTHY: Yeah Tex, everyone must know about Tex and what’s the other one? Icon is it? There's two dogs with biosecurity.
 
BISHOP: Ah yeah, I haven't met Icon. I met Tex, I used to know the other one. So, I know cost of living is a big one, a big thing.
 
MCCARTHY: Yes, absolutely. And so, the cost of living side of things for us is to see the food reduced in the stores. So, one of the things I want to roll out across remote and regional Australia, which includes here, Groote’s remote, is to see 30 essential items reduced in cost. That's really important, but the other thing too Percy, was we saw with heavy rains, a lot of our communities get cut off and they don't get the food transported in, because the roads are cut or in this instance, there’s something wrong with the barge landing. So, we were able to put in a massive resilience package for communities to be able to have extra storage, so that sort of investment is really important to keep people going with food.
 
BISHOP: Well, I've seen this promoted as the biggest election of all time. Oh, you gotta go? Okay, cool. Gotta go? Go.
 
MCCARTHY: Can I do a shoutout?
 
BISHOP: Please do.
 
MCCARTHY: We have a barbecue here in Angurugu at 12:30. I just wanted to let people know you're very welcome. I also understand there is sorry business, but I just wanted to mention that that's there and if you'd like to come and have a chat please feel free.
 
BISHOP: So, I told you community, she’s an ex-gun broadcaster, I told you she's taking my job. Minister thanks for your time, I know you're busy. We appreciate it. We love it that there’s someone from community in there fighting, it's a good fight and we know you’re up for it. Appreciate your work. Good to meet your team.
 
MCCARTHY: Appreciate it.
 
ENDS

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