Marion Scrymgour MP, Member for Lingiari, takes the Chair for the first time. Photo: AUSPIC.
History has been made in the Federal Parliament this week, with Marion Scrymgour MP becoming the first Aboriginal person to chair the House of Representatives chamber.
The Member for Lingiari took the chair Monday morning (28 July) as a member of the Speaker’s Panel.
The Speaker’s Panel supports the Speaker of the House of Representatives by chairing debates and maintaining order during parliamentary proceedings.
Speaker Milton Dick congratulated Ms Scrymgour after her stint in the chair when she handed the reins over to him before Question Time.
Ms Scrymgour was appointed to the Speaker’s Panel in the 47th Parliament and has been chairing the Federation Chamber for more than a year, but has not, until now, in the 48th Parliament, chaired a session in the House of Reps.
Marion Scrymgour is thanked and congratulated by Speaker Milton Dick. Photo: AUSPIC.
Prior to entering the Australian Parliament, Ms Scrymgour was a Deputy Speaker in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.
She is also a former Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.
Ms Scrymgour was elected to Federal Parliament for Labor in 2022 and re-elected in 2025.
Following this year’s election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese named her a Special Envoy for Remote Communities in his second ministry.
