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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-07-06 Daily Xml
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NAIDOC Awards

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:15): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Following on from his answers yesterday about the male winner of this year's Premier's NAIDOC Award, will the minister inform the council about this year's female winner?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Attorney-General, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in this area. It is a pleasure to be able to inform the chamber about the achievement of Aboriginal people that is celebrated at this time each year in July in NAIDOC Week. I will have to have a word to my colleagues in another place to see whether there is a possibility that parliament might not sit next year during NAIDOC Week so that all of us can get to many events.

In previous years, I have enjoyed attending NAIDOC Week events in regional South Australia, as I outlined yesterday. This year, Port Augusta has in excess of 30 NAIDOC Week events just this week alone in Port Augusta, and I have attended those in the past. With any luck we might have a non-sitting week in NAIDOC Week next year to allow all of us to attend events, and I will be sure, if that is possible, to send to all my colleagues in this chamber a full list of events so that we might all get out to them.

One of the great parts of NAIDOC Week is not just the celebration of Aboriginal culture but the celebration of achievements of Aboriginal people. I outlined yesterday and spoke about the male winner of this year's Premier's NAIDOC Award; I wish today to inform the chamber of this year's Aboriginal woman winner of the Premier's NAIDOC Award. Kunyi June Anne McInerney is a Yankunytjatjara woman and a renowned Aboriginal artist. She has been described as a quiet achiever with an enormous legacy, which I think rightly sums up this remarkable woman.

Kunyi is a member of the stolen generation. At the age of four she was taken from her home, her community and her family, along with one of her sisters and two brothers. They were placed at the United Aboriginal Mission at Oodnadatta Children's Home. When she was four years old she was placed with one of her sisters and two brothers at that home, where she remained until the age of nine. Eventually, she was fostered to a family in Adelaide, far from her country in the far north-west of the state.

Kunyi became a qualified nurse and midwife, before going on to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Aboriginal Studies at the University of South Australia. Today, Kunyi is a respected and accomplished artist, with works on display in many places, including as part of the Art Gallery of South Australia's collection, which is an extraordinary collection of over 70 pieces of art and stories by Kunyi that was published and later exhibited at the Migration Museum, titled My Paintings Speak For Me.

Her works are known for using vibrant colours and expression and depicting our country's unique landscape. She often draws on her experiences as a member of the stolen generation through her work. Last year, Kunyi published a children's book simply titled Kunyi. The book has been nominated for a number of awards, including the publisher's children's book of the year and the Children's Book Council of Australia's Eve Pownall Award. This is just the latest in a number of books she has co-authored or co-illustrated, including Down the Hole Up the Tree Across the Sandhills, Tracker and Bush Games and Knucklebones.

But it is not just her extraordinary art work that Kunyi is known for. She is an active member of the community, including being a member of the Blackwood Reconciliation Group, which I was fortunate to attend only weeks ago. She has volunteered her efforts at Colebrook Reconciliation Park, including in the campfire mosaic and the Fountain of Tears at that park.

I understand, in addition to having three children of her own, she has fostered or provided respite to more than 40 Aboriginal children. Kunyi June McInerney is an extraordinary Aboriginal woman who has contributed much to supporting her people and promoting her culture and knowledge through her work. She was a very deserving joint winner of this year's Premier's NAIDOC Award.

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