Linda Burney
Linda Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian politician who is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing Barton since the 2016 federal election. She is Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Albanese ministry, and the first woman who identifies as Aboriginal to serve in that position.
Career in education
Burney began her career teaching at Lethbridge Park public school in western Sydney from 1979 to 1981, after which she worked at the Aboriginal Education Unit (Policy) of the NSW Department of Education from 1981 to 1983.
She was involved in the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (NSW AECG) from the 1983 to 1998, participating in the development and implementation of the first Aboriginal education policy in Australia. She became president of AECG in 1988.
Passing the baton
UTS Zoom event
with Verity Firth, The Hon. Linda Burney MP, Alison Whittaker and Professor Thalia Anthony Friday, 26 June 2020
Says Firth:
- Professor Thalia Anthony is a Professor with the UTS Law Faculty. She is an expert in criminal law, and procedure and Indigenous people and the law, specialising in Indigenous criminalisation and Indigenous community justice mechanisms. Thalia has provided advice and research to the High Court, the United Nations, the Attorney-General's Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse, as well as to Royal Commissions, parliamentary inquiries, Aboriginal Justice Agreements and coronial inquests. Thalia also regularly writes articles in The Conversation, some of which we will be quoting from today..[1]
With Tim Ayres
NSW Socialist Left representatives
Labor Left representatives who advocate the values and goals of the NSW Socialist Left faction in federal Parliament.
Anthony Albanese, Tanya Plibersek, Linda Burney, Stephen Jones, Susan Templeman, Pat Conroy, Sharon Claydon, Tim Ayres, Jerome Laxale, Jenny McAllister, Fiona Phillips, Anne Stanley.[2]
Young Labor Left and Labor Left women
Young Labor Left - NSW · June 3, 2016 Sydney, NSW, Australia ·
Some Young Labor Left members spent tonight with an incredible group of Labor Left women: Linda Burney, Penny Sharpe MLC, Verity Firth, Meredith Burgmann, Jenny McAllister, Carmel Tebbutt and, of course, the newest Senator Malarndirri McCarthy! What an inspiration.
David Pink, Thomas Matthew, Casey Thompson, Shannen Potter, Matthew Campbell, Oliver Plunkett.
Young Labor Left for Burney
Zac Gillies-Palmer, Bart Shteinman, Nick Daniel, Sam Alexander-Prideaux
Ama Somaratna, Ellie Zelniker, Georgina Goddard, Nina Qiu, Zac Gillies-Palmer, Cian Galea, Linda Burney, Simon Beck.
Ethan Pooley, Linda Burney, Sam Alexander-Prideaux, Nick Daniel.
Bart Shteinman, Leya Reid, Linda Burney, Linda Scott, Zac Gillies-Palmer.
Sam Alexander-Prideaux, Cian Galea, Nick Daniel.
Young Labor Left - NSW June 15, 2016 Sydney, NSW, Australia ·
One of our amazing YLL convenors, Shannen Potter, organised volunteer calls for Linda Burney tonight and these legends made CLOSE TO ONE THOUSAND CALLS!!! Thank you for your huge effort Matthew Campbell, Chloe Maclean, Zac Gillies-Palmer, James Gibson, Bella Pytka, Luke Chapman, Oliver Plunkett and Shannen!!! #ImBackingBurney #YLLDreamTeam
— with Oliver Plunkett and Matthew Campbell, Bella Pytka, Shannen Potter, Linda Burney, James Gibson, Zac Gillies-Palmer, Chloe Maclean at NSW Labor.
Back left to right Zac Gillies-Palmer, David Pink, Bella Pytka, Luke Chapman, Joey Watson.
Front left to right Casey Thompson, Chloe Maclean, Matthew Campbell, Shannen Potter, Ama Somaratna, Caitlin McMenamin, Oliver Plunkett.
Casey Thompson June 26, 2016.
Oliver Plunkett, Luke Coward, Caitlin McMenamin, Eleazar Brixey, Casey Thompson, James Gibson, Ella McDougall, Sinead Simpkins, Luke Chapman, Joey Watson, Chloe Maclean, Michelle Picone, David Bailey-McKay.
Zac Gillies-Palmer, Linda Burney, Ama Somaratna.
Luke Chapman, David Pink, Casey Thompson, Shannen Potter, Linda Burney, Oliver Plunkett, Chloe Maclean.
Socialist staffer
Shannen Potter has previously worked for then-Shadow Minister for Human Services and first Aboriginal woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, Linda Burney MP, and in the local government sector as a Policy Advisor to then-Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney Linda Scott.[3]
Watt connection
Erin Watt was Deputy Campaign Manager Linda Burney for Barton May 2016 - Jul 2016.[4]
The First Nations Referendum Working Group is co-chaired by the Hon Linda Burney MP, Minister for Indigenous Australians and Senator Patrick Dodson, Special Envoy for Reconciliation and the Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and includes a broad cross-section of representatives from First Nations communities across Australia. The Referendum Working Group will provide advice to Government on successfully implementing a referendum within this term of Parliament on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice enshrined in the Australian Constitution including timing to conduct a successful referendum, refining the proposed constitutional amendment and question, and the information on the Voice necessary for a successful referendum.
First Nations Referendum Working Group
The First Nations Referendum Working Group was co-chaired by the Hon Linda Burney MP, Minister for Indigenous Australians and Senator Patrick Dodson, Special Envoy for Reconciliation and the Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and includes a broad cross-section of representatives from First Nations communities across Australia. The Referendum Working Group will provide advice to Government on successfully implementing a referendum within this term of Parliament on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice enshrined in the Australian Constitution including timing to conduct a successful referendum, refining the proposed constitutional amendment and question, and the information on the Voice necessary for a successful referendum.
Voice to Parliament bill
The Voice to Parliament bill passed the Senate 52–19 on June 19 2023 and Australians will vote on enshrining a Voice in the Constitution in the next six months.
A handful of Coalition MPs voted against the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 bill, as did Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, the United Australia Party and independent Djab Wurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara Senator Lidia Thorpe.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 31, 121–25, with Liberal leader Peter Dutton voting in favour.
The referendum will ask whether or not Australians want an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to be added to the Constitution — one of the reforms proposed by the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said the vote took the country “one step closer” to acknowledging Indigenous Australians in the Constitution and added, “Today the political debate ends”.
On the same day Yamatji Noongar woman and Greens Senator Derinda Cox tweeted: “Our work as parliamentarians is done, it’s over to the grassroots Yes campaigners now.”
A motion by Cox and co-signed by Northern Territory Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy the same day noted the Senate “endorses the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full”.
Further, it said “all members of the Constitutional Expert Group have agreed that the proposed alteration to the Constitution ‘would not affect the sovereignty of any group or body’”. It passed by a much narrower margin: 32–29.[5]
Mayo connection
Linda Burney with Thomas Mayo.
Ingram connection
NSW Indigenous Labor Network
In 2014, at Unions NSW, Linda Burney re-formed the NSW Indigenous Labor Network.
- John Cavanagh (Associate)
- Warren Roberts (Communications Officer)
- Gerry Moore (Secretary)
- Linda Burney (Deputy leader, ALP co-chair)
- Trevor James (Co-chair)
- Bill Moyle (Associate)
- Bryce Nimmo
- Peter Botsman (Associate)
Students protest women’s services cuts
The Students for Women Only Services Group held a vigil in Sydney on July 24, 2014 to protest against the recent decision to defund specialist women’s and children’s refuge centres in NSW.
The vigil was attended by about 300 people. Speakers included Asian Australian Alliance convener Daphne Lowe Kelley, United Muslim Women Association CEO Maha Abdo, NSW Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi and Labor MLC Sophie Cotsis.
The government’s decision to cut funding to specialist women and children’s services across the state has meant some refuges will be forced to close and others will be handed over to private organisations.
NSW Labor MLC Linda Burney said the women-only refuges provided an important service to the community.
“The reason why women’s only services were established 40 years ago by women for women was because of the high rates of domestic violence and the high rates of sexual assault. These numbers are still on the rise,” she said.[6]
Albanese protege
- One of the things that arose out of this view of the world was his very early belief that women should be members of parliament. He was crucially important in organising women into seats from the early ‘90s onwards (well before quotas). He (Anthony Albanese) was instrumental in encouraging Janelle Saffin, Tanya Plibersek, Maggie Deahm, Linda Burney, Carmel Tebbutt, Penny Sharpe, Jo Haylen and many others to take on the role.
Labor wipeout
LABOR is preparing to fight a rearguard action in Nathan Rees's seat of Toongabbie amid fears virtually all the senior leadership talent in the Left will be swept away at the election.
The Left has assigned its best campaigners to defend Toongabbie, sources saying there is a big risk of the former premier being unseated on March 26, 2011.
Luke Whitington, a former star of Young Labor and principal policy adviser to Small Business Minister Peter Primrose, will direct the Rees campaign.
Felix Eldridge, one of Sussex Street's key Left organisers, will also focus on Toongabbie, where Mr Rees's margin of 14.5 per cent is seen as desperately thin in the current anti-Labor climate.
Having been shielded by Labor's head office from a rank-and-file preselection vote, Mr Rees is expected to struggle to mobilise branch members in the campaign. Some of his colleagues say he has spent too much time settling old scores.
Wiser heads in the Left have repeatedly urged Nathan to let the grudge go, put his bum down and focus on resurrecting his career, a Labor source said. He's ignored that advice and now he's playing catch-up.
A senior Left source denied there would be significantly more resources for the campaign than for other Labor electorates in Sydney on similar margins.
Party sources said the seats of Marrickville, held by Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt, and Balmain, held by Education Minister Verity Firth, have been all but written off.
Another under pressure is Roads Minister David Borger, whose margin of 11.1 per cent in Granville would not save him in an expected statewide swing against Labor of at least 15 per cent.
Mr Borger, a former mayor of Parramatta, is seen as future leadership material for the Left, so his campaign will also be heavily backed by head office.
If he is punted by voters on March 26 along with Ms Firth and Ms Tebbutt, the ranks of the Left will be severely depleted.
If that happens, Luke Foley, the former assistant general secretary of the ALP, who entered the upper house in June, would come to the fore, along with Community Services Minister Linda Burney.
There is no doubt that Luke Foley has real leadership potential even though he hasn't been in Parliament long, a senior Labor source said.
Another party source said: He will play a big role in the situation where we are in opposition.[7]
"Harmony afternoon of reconciliation"
More than 300 people attended the "harmony afternoon of reconciliation" at the University of Technology on September 12 1998. Organised by Black, White and Pink, the forum addressed the need for gays and lesbians to take up the issues of racism and native title.
Wiradjuri woman Sylvia Scott welcomed participants and applauded gays and lesbians for leading in the struggle for reconciliation. In response to Pauline Hanson's claim to be the mother of all Australians, Scott joked "the Aboriginal people are going to put her up for child abuse".
Journalist David Marr said: "Directing and nurturing and focusing hate is one of the primary tasks of politics — communists know all about that, homosexuals know all about that, Asian immigrants know all about that, Aboriginal Australia knows it in its bones."
Linda Burney from the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board described Australia's racist history: "Australia was built on imperialism. It was founded on a lie. We can no longer think that our political masters are going to deliver. The only people who will deliver reconciliation are ourselves."
Democrat Senate candidate Aden Ridgeway, Greens Senator Bob Brown, Reverend Dorothy McMahon, Aids Council of NSW president Chris Gration and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras board member Wendy Brady also spoke.[8]
International Women's Day
On March 7 1998, tens of thousands of women and male supporters joined International Women's Day marches and rallies around the country.
In Sydney, reports Lucy Honey, at least 5000 marchers joined an incredible array of speakers and entertainers around the theme Women Unite for Social Justice and Native Title.
Marchers wound through the city from Town Hall to Circular Quay chanting "One struggle, one fight; women of the world unite!" and "Women must decide their fate!".
Jenny Munro from the Metropolitan Lands Council, Linda Burney from the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, and Letty Scott, an Aboriginal activist against deaths in custody, addressed the crowd.[9]
"Cookie" connection
Heather Goodall on Kevin Cook's 70th birthday:
The photographs of Cookie’s 70th birthday in 2009 tell a great deal about his life. They all show Judy Chester beside him. Cookie is sitting in a wheelchair, older of course and more frail, but around him as always are the family, mates and campaigners who had stood shoulder to shoulder with him in the exciting process of making changes happen.
His aunty Kit is sitting on one side and on the other side is Sylvia Scott, long time friend of both Judy and Cookie. Standing next to Cookie are Joe Owens, presenting Cookie with the last remaining Life Membership badge of the Builders Labourers’ Federation and Pat Geraghty, towering leader of the Maritime Union and a friend from way back, talking with Cookie about memories of Alf Clint and then all the times with Cookie at helm of the Co-operative.
The Tranby people were there, along with those others who have shared Cookie’s vision of education for change: Brian Doolan, Linda Burney, Chrissy Kerr, Robyn Ridgeway and Derek Mortimer.
The old friends from the early land rights days: Meredith Burgmann, Nadia Wheatley, Rod Pickette.
And those stalwart unionists – Hal Alexander, Russell Hermann and Tony O'Bierne.
There are close friends: Paul Torzillo, Janny Ely (Judy’s sister) and her husband Tommy, Norma Walford and Greta North.
"Making Change Happen"
"Making Change Happen" is a collection of 45 interviews by Kevin Cook with black and white campaigners about how people get ideas and make them happen. Kevin Cook, nicknamed “Cookie”, couldn’t be there due to his state of health.
A ceremony orchestrated by Barbara Flick, an Aboriginal campaigner, paid tribute to Cookie’s life.
Several people delivered speeches. Among them, Linda Burney, Deputy Leader of the NSW Opposition and Indigenous Activist, and Paddy Crumlin, National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia and President, International Transport Workers Federation.
At the end of the ceremony, Heather Goodall was very moved and concluded her speech by saying: “Cookie is the hero of my children, the hero of our children, the hero of the future.”[10]
Broadside Weekly
Broadside Weekly Number 6, July 8, 1992.
Anti-Bicentenary March
The Anti-Bicentenary March in 1988 [which] was organized by the Freedom Justice Hope Committee with Judy Chester, Kevin Cook, Reverend Charlie Harris, Linda Burney, Chris Kirkbright and Karen Flick on the board along with many others. Everyone came together protesting against the Bicentenary and 200 years of colonisation.
The poster for the event was based on design from long time CPA supporter Chips Mackinolty.[11]
"Women in Unity"
In August 1990 Jan McKemmish reported for Tribune on the first NSW Aboriginal Women's Conference "Women in Unity" held in Dubbo June 25 to 27.
Linda Burney spoke and gave an interview to Tribune. Wilma Moran chaired the conference. Pauline Gardon was elected as a delegate to the next Indigenous Women's Conference to be held in Norway.
Communist Party event
On December 15, 1988 Linda Burney of the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group and Geoff Kelso addressed the Sydney Branch of the Communist Party of Australia's end of year party.
Tribune interview with Peter Murphy
Linda Burney was interviewed for Tribune by Peter Murphy December 13, 1989.