With election day only three weeks away, both parties have been splashing cash across country.
Recently, the Northern Territory had its turn: over $124 million in funding has been promised by Labor, should they be victorious come May 21.
However, that victory isn't assured. Despite holding a traditionally safe senate seat, NT Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy isn’t taking anything for granted.
Her caution is well founded, and with more on the line than ever, McCarthy is determined to win.
“I think I've still got a lot more to give," she told Living Black's Karla Grant.
"I think my experiences, both in politics and outside, have enabled me to communicate in a way that brings people together.”
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy walks with Journalist Karla Grant inside Parliament House Canberra (Source: Living Black)
Walking in two worlds
The Yanyuwa Garrwa woman was raised Barbara McCarthy in the town of Borroloola in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Culture and ceremony were important parts of her youth and they have remained steadfast in McCarthy’s life.
But life would get more difficult for Barbara when her parents split, forcing her to walk in two worlds, one where racism became more prominent.
“My Dad worked as a teacher in Alice Springs, and I would go between Alice and Borroloola.
"[At the time] that seemed very normal, but it was hard. I did experience the racism and the difficulties of having a white father and a black mother. It was quite hostile, especially as we tried to fight for land rights.”
As McCarthy entered high school her family sent her to Sydney to board at St Scholastica’s College in Glebe. During this time she would come to know her father’s side of the family and learn about her Irish heritage.
McCarthy in time would draw on her Kujika, her songline.
"[It] allowed me to see both worlds, that of the Western worldview and that of my Yanyuwa Garrwa worldview. I am at home in both. I am neither one without the other."
Barbara (now Malarndirri) McCarthy attending Saint Scholastica's College in Glebe NSW (Source: Margaret Taborda)
Making a difference
Journalism became McCarthy’s calling almost by chance. Approached by her English teacher with an ABC cadetship ad, she was told ‘I think you should go for this job’.
McCarthy decided to apply and was accepted into the program, and Barbara set about wanting to help change broadcast media from within. Negative reporting and narratives about Indigenous Australians had been common during her youth.
“There were a lot of things as I was growing up that I saw and thought the interpretation of who we were was wrong. I just thought, ‘Well, that's not us, that’s not my life’.”
The repatriation of the ancient remains of Mungo Lady back to Barkindji land was an opportunity for McCarthy to help change the negative perceptions.
“It was a real chance to talk about what death means to First Nations people and the significance of ceremony around death.”
But mysterious circumstances would follow the story.
ABC reporter Barbara McCarthy at Lake Mungo for the repatriation of Lady Mungo's remains (Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
“I asked the camera crew to be careful; don't film inside the box, if it is opened. We don't need to do that. We're also on the land of the Barkindji and we need to respect [their wishes]”.
McCarthy’s wishes sadly were cast aside and filming of the remains occurred.
“I just remember standing there at Lake Mungo with the Elders and this wind just blew through and I just felt it and thought, 'Kurdardi binji: no good.'”
As the crew returned from the shoot, their car would suddenly roll on a dirt road; a tree fell atop the car when it came to a stop. The crew avoided serious injury, but McCarthy always felt the spirits had made themselves known for breaking cultural law.
“What occurred there wasn’t right.”
The crashed ABC car in which journalist Barbara McCarthy and her crew had been travelling home from Lake Mungo (Source: Mildura Library & Rural City Council)
“A massive leap"
At the age of 35 McCarthy reached a turning point in her life and she decided to enter the bear pit of politics, running as a territory Labor candidate for the seat of Arnhem in the Northern Territory.
“I realized that that there was so much more I could do to improve the lives of First Nations people. I had the chance to question politicians on the spot about what they were doing [as a journalist] and then I thought, ‘I think I could do that. I think I should try and do that’.
"It was a massive, terrifying leap.”
McCarthy would end up fighting for her own side of politics to prevent the expansion of the McArthur River Mine at Borroloola.
The fight would ultimately see her cross the floor against the Clare Martin government's rushed legislation which would overrule the Supreme Court's ruling that had prevented the mine's expansion.
“It was a really difficult time then, there was the sorry business of my brother's passing and then my mother passed [four months later], and I just didn't feel I had the strength to keep going.
Barbara McCarthy at the Opening of Northern Territory Parliament with the Nardiji Dancers (Source: Supplied)
"The only thing I knew would give me strength was to remember who I am.”
Barbara would change to her Yanyuwa name of Malarndirri out of respect for her mother.
At the following year's election, McCarthy retained the seat of Arnhem after running unopposed.
“I felt like it was a vindication of everything I'd gone through.”
Federal politics
Eventually losing her seat in the Territory in 2012, McCarthy re-joined the media. But in 2016, federal Labor reached out to McCarthy to run for the Northern Territory’s senate seat.
Asked if she felt the Labor party had forgiven her for crossing the floor, McCarthy didn’t think that was the case.
“I'm not quite sure if you're ever really forgiven in politics.
"I think there's second chances, but you do make a lot of enemies along the way and are aware of the people who support you and those who don't.
"But you become more adept at picking the difference, but also to stay focused on what you think you're there to achieve.”
Focus is what keeps McCarthy going. As chair of the First Nations Caucus for the federal Labor Party, she is pushing to see the Uluru Statement from the Heart implemented should they win office.
With election day just around the corner, Senator McCarthy reminded voters that a vision for hope is what’s needed when casting their ballots.
“We need a vision for our country that brings Australians together with all our diversity and differences.
"When you go to the ballot box, think really hard: is this the person who can give you that hope for a better way of life for our country to be better, and to be closer to what our history is?
"Because our history was born of and still is with First Nations people.”
Catch the full conversation on NITV’s Living Black, Monday 2nd May at 8.30pm or on SBS OnDemand.
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy attending a Close The Gap event in 2017 (Source: Supplied) Source: Supplied
