So who is Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, Australia’s new Indigenous Affairs Minister?

The former ABC TV journalist, known to many in the Territory as Mal, Barb, or sometimes as Yapa, grew up in Borroloola, a remote town in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

In that part of Australia life is tough, even today, and Senator McCarthy would have been exposed to domestic violence and community illness.

‘Barbara’ McCarthy (hence the ‘Barb’ nickname) moved to Darwin and college before being offered a cadetship with the ABC in the Territory, where she reported and presented news before heading south to Sydney.

Seen as a trailblazer for Aboriginal women in the media, Senator McCarthy spent 16 years at the ABC before being offered the chance to run for parliament in 2005, representing the seat of Arnhem, a NT electorate that included her home town of Borroloola.

In a recent interview with the ABC she said she felt she had more to give – and she did – rising to eventually become a minister.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy with Australian Governor-General Sam Mostyn.

Losing her seat in 2012, Ms McCarthy worked at NITV and SBS before becoming a senator four years later.

Fiercely outspoken on Indigenous issues like domestic violence and alcohol abuse, her appointment by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese means that for the first time in history both Minister and Shadow Minister (Jacinta Nampijinpa Price) positions are held by Indigenous women – and both from the Northern Territory.