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| home | news l2004 General Election: Indigenous Candidate Profiles
Wayne Connop, Senate Candidate for Northern Territory
Wayne has worked for the department of workplace relations for a number of years as a aboriginal liaison officer/compliance officer and recently as a legal officer in the corporate legal unit. Wayne spent a number of years working for NT education and before that as a plumber and drainer throughout the NT in remote areas like Lajamanu, Borroloola, Katherine, Timber creek, Wave Hill and Ngukurr etc. Wayne has lived in the Northern Territory most of his life and is a proud Territorian and epitomises the Territory. 1998 – 2003: Bachelor of Law Australian National University Graduate Dimploma Legal studies Source: ALP Waluwe Simpson-Lyttle, Candidate for Barker, South Australia
Her life outside of work has seen her serve in a range of honorary and professional positions with distinction. She is married with five children and three grandchildren. She has helped develop and implement Aboriginal Employment, Recruitment and Training Strategies for the Correctional Services. The concept was driven by the Recommendations from the Royal Commission Inquiry into Black Deaths in Custody. The aim being for the Department to be more accountable in creating employment opportunities for Aboriginal people in the system as well as to prevent deaths in custody. As Chairperson for the Aboriginal Health Initiative Working Party at the Flinders Medical Centre, her aim was to establish an Aboriginal Health Unit so that Aboriginal people could have access to the full range of hospital services. In Riverland, a hard Murray River seat for Labor to win, her focus is the need for good community health care in rural areas, more teachers and prioritising the Murray River Salinity Reduction Program. Party campaigning is new territory for Waluwe so she needs good support from EMILY's List in both funding and mentoring. Source: Emily's List Kado Muir, candidate for Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Kado is passionate about three things, people, culture and country. He believes that Aboriginal and other Australians share the opportunity for a great future. There are issues from the past, which need to be resolved quickly so that all Australians might move together into a prosperous future. He is passionate about Aboriginal culture and sees it as one of the greatest treasures in Australia. The lives of all Australians will be greatly enriched with an understanding and awareness of Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal Australians enjoy a spiritual connection with this country that ensures their use of its resources flow on to embrace its natural beauty and to also care for the environment in a pragmatic modern world. There is an opportunity to spread this understanding of the land to all Australians. He was born in the Goldfields town of Leonora and apart from four years studying and working in Perth and another three years living and working in Canberra, Kado has spent most of his life living in the Kalgoorlie electorate. He mostly lived in Goldfields towns like Leonora, Wiluna and Kalgoorlie but has also lived and worked in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions. Kado blends a traditional Aboriginal education with western education; he is an initiated tribal lawman as well as holding a University Masters degree in Anthropology and Archaeology. Kado has worked in Government, in Aboriginal community organisations and today operates a Cultural Communication company educating other Australians about Aboriginal culture and history. Kado Muir is an Aboriginal community and business leader. He is a cultural ambassador who works to break down barriers between Aboriginal and other Australians. He sits on a number of boards and is active in many regional and community organisations. As an outback West Australian he is extremely well aware of the need for everyone to work together for the common good of all Australians who make the choice to live and work in the bush. Source: Greens Sam Wagan-Watson, Senate candidate for Queensland
perspective." Sam helped gather signatures to demand a referendum on including Aboriginal people in the census. When Sam enrolled at the University of Queensland he was the only Aboriginal student on campus. His student activism spanned all of the burning issues of the day, from support for the landmark Gurindji strike of Aboriginal workers in the Northern Territory to the famous "freedom bus rides" and the campaign to establish a network of Aboriginal legal aid and housing organisations in Queensland during the early 1970s. Influenced by the radical leadership of the movement to end Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war, Sam became a socialist. "I realised that the struggle of my people was not a race struggle, but one facet of a broader class struggle". As the deputy director of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Inslander Study Centre at UQ, Sam lectures in indigneous Australian literature. His loving partner of many years, their two adult children and eight grandchildren are part of an extended family with blood ties to two Aboriginal nations and the Torres Straight Islander people. Sam was the lead senate candidate for the Socialist Alliance in Queensland in the 2001 federal election and will front the Alliance's senate team in the 2004 election. Source: Socialist Alliance Monica Morgan, candidate for Murray, Victoria Monica is an advocate for Indigenous advancement and environmental issues. She has worked as coordinator for the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation for 10 years, representing them at regional, state, national and international levels. In addition, Monica has overseen the development of numerous enterprises and training facilities, as well as coordinating several campaigns such as the Yorta Yorta Native Title application. Monica has been successful in building relationships between the Yorta Yorta people, social groups and environmental campaigners. These include the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), Friends of the Earth, Goulburn Broken Vegetation Environmental Group, Victorian National Parks Association (VPA), Shepparton Aboriginal Reconciliation Council, Australians for Native Title among other community groups and organisations. Monica currently works with the Murray Darling Basin Commission as Manager for Indigenous Partnerships. In her current position she assists with coordinating the Indigenous response to the Living Murray Initiative. Source: Greens Richard Hoolihan, candidate for Herbert, Queensland
Source: Democrats Tony Bennell, candidate for Canning, Western Australia He has a background in the pastoral industry as a Shearer for 10-12 years and still manages to shear a few sheep on weekends for friends. Tony has a diverse employment history as a Blue Coller Worker, Shearer, Scraper Operator, White Collar worker, Educator, State & Commonwealth Public Servant, Administrator, Community Service employee, which has allowed him to see and understand different experiences through practical hands on activities. He is currently employed as a Case Manager working within a Non Profit Organisation to assist Indigenous Men by raising awareness that the notion of Family Violence is not culturally appropriate within Indigenous society. Socially He has travelled the great state of WA for recreation and employment and, with his family, was a resident of the East Kimberley for 5 years prior to returning to Perth in 2000. Community involvement Environmental As an active member of his community, he assisted the Canning River Catchment, Swan River Trust to revegetate the banks along the Canning near Fancote Park directly behind the Kelmscott Shopping Centre. Men of the community along with local youth did this as a positive activity of contributing, rather than negative images that appear within the media about indigenous people in the wider community. Source: Democrats Janeen Bulsey, Senate candidate for the Northern Territory
Janeen has been employed by private industry, Indigenous community organisations and the public service in a wide range of positions and roles. Janeen's personal, educational and employment experience have enabled her to increase her understanding of the complexities involved in undertaking consultation processes. She has also developed a deep understanding of the diverse cultures and societies and issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in contemporary Australian society. Her interest in the Australian Democrats has developed over the last few years due to an overwhelming dissatisfaction with the other major political parties. Janeen's main community interests are:
Lester Pearce is 49 and has been a resident of Ambarvale for the past 14 years. Born in Canterbury and moved to Campbelltown at the age of 7. Lester attended Kentlyn Public and Campbelltown High schools. In my younger days, travelled up and down the east coast of our great nation, but always returned home to Campbelltown, 'A Great Place To Live!' He has been involved with local sports, coaching junior rugby league from 6 years through to under 15's. Lester has also been actively involved with 'Little Athletics' and with baseball, in Campbelltown and Camden. Lester works locally as a forklift driver and is married with 5 children and 7 grandchildren. All Lester's children grew up in Campbelltown and attended local schools at Airds and Ambarvale. Four still live in the Macarthur area. What Cheeses Lester off at present?
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Urgent action ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ Music by The GetUp Mob! Kev Carmody and lots more
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Wayne is an indigenous person from the Jawoyn people in Katherine NT, his grandfather was a fitter on the very first NT railway line and his great grandfather Henry Ventilia Peckham "The Fizzer” was the first outback mailman in the NT who is dedicated in the book called "the we of the never never". Wayne’s grandmother is Lindy Peckham. Wayne is married with four children, currently living in Palmerston, NT.
Waluwe was born into a Labor family in an Irupi village situated 15 miles from the border in the Torres Strait. Living in Adelaide for the past 26 years she has attained a degree in social work, an Associate Diploma in Community Development and a Diploma in Management and Leadership Practice through the Australian Institute of Management. In her working life, Waluwe has held high level positions in the public sector, pioneered Aboriginal community health programs including a world first renal screening program in Coober Pedy and the far North. 
Kado Muir is a member of the Ngalia tribe of the Northern Goldfields and Desert regions of Western Australia. Kado is married with three young children. As a family, Kado and his wife decided to leave a promising career in Canberra to take their children back out bush so they might grow up immersed in Ngalia culture, close to family and in the bush where the way of life is healthier, cleaner and free. 
Sam Wagan-Watson is a well known Aboriginal leader and community activist based in Brisbane. Sam first became politically active as a high school student during the late 1960s, when radical students from across Brisbane used to gather outside the post office to hear speakers denouncing injustice. "It was there that I heard Communist Party [of Australia] speakers talk about the White Australia policy from a workers 
Monica Morgan is a Yorta Yorta woman, mother of four children and grandmother of three. She has lived in the electorate of Murray for most of her life and is currently based at Barmah. 
Community participation: 
As a Noongar man Tony sees family as very important as it represents the cornerstones to identity, respect, values and beliefs, which creates an individual within a society.
Born in Brisbane in 1958 Janeen spent her childhood in Tennant Creek, NT... Her mother is Bundjalung from Northern New South Wales and her father is Noonuccal from North Stradbroke Island. As a single mother of one teenager and two adult children, Janeen is aware of the issues facing families in today's political and economic climate.
Lester Pearce, candidate for Macarthur, NSW
