The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement,both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups,it was Australia's largest minor party from its formation in 1977 through to 2004 and frequently held the balance of power in the Senate during that time.
Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AO is an Australian diplomat,advocate,author,and former politician. Starting her career in student politics,she became an advisor to the Australian Democrats and was appointed to the Australian Senate in 1995 at the age of 26. At the time,she was the youngest woman to serve in federal Parliament. She went on to become deputy leader of the Democrats in 1997 and then federal leader from 2001 to 2002. She retired from the Senate in 2008 as the longest-serving senator from her party.
Lynette Fay Allison is an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1996 to 2008,representing the state of Victoria. As of October 2019 she is the national president of the Australian Democrats.
Meg Heather Lees is a former member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 2005,representing the state of South Australia. She represented the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 2002,and was her party's leader from 1997 to 2001. After being deposed by Natasha Stott Despoja,she quit the party to sit as an independent senator in 2002,adopting the party designation Australian Progressive Alliance from 2003 until her electoral defeat in 2005. As party leader,she controversially facilitated passage of the Howard government's Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Brian Andrew Greig OAM is a former Australian politician. Grieg was an Australian Democrats member of the Australian Senate from 1999 to 2005,representing the state of Western Australia.
John Richard Coulter is an Australian medical researcher and former politician. He was the fourth elected parliamentary Senate leader of the Australian Democrats,serving from 2 October 1991 to 29 April 1993. His understanding of conservation and environment principles was exceptional for the time,though his concern about Australian immigration and population growth occasionally brought him into conflict with the party's non-discriminatory humanitarian and human-rights platforms and got him nicknamed "Doctor Who" by the Australian media.
Darkinjung is an Australian Aboriginal language,the traditional language of the Darkinjung people. While no audio recordings of the language survive,several researchers have compiled wordlists and grammatical descriptions. It has been classified as a language no longer fully spoken and it can be classified as needing a language renewal program. It was spoken adjacent to Dharuk,Wiradhuri,Guringai,Gamilaraay,and Awabakal. The Darkinjung tribe occupied a small part of southeastern Australia inside what is now the New South Wales area. They likely inhabited a considerable tract of land within Hunter,Northumberland,and Cook counties.
Gumbaynggir language is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Gumbaynggirr people,who are native to the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.
The Motion of Reconciliation was a motion to the Australian Parliament introduced and passed on 26 August 1999. Drafted by Prime Minister John Howard in consultation with Aboriginal Senator Aden Ridgeway,it dedicated the Parliament to the "cause of reconciliation" and recognised historic maltreatment of Indigenous Australians as the "most blemished chapter" in Australian history. While falling short of an apology,the motion included a statement of regret for past injustices suffered by Indigenous Australians.
The Gumbaynggirr people,also rendered Kumbainggar,Gumbangeri and other variant spellings,are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Gumbathagang was a probable clan or sub-group. The traditional lands of the Gumbaynggirr nation stretch from Tabbimoble Yamba-Clarence River to Ngambaa-Stuarts Point,SWR- Macleay to Guyra and to Oban.
Yaygir,also spelt Yaygirr or Yegir,is an Australian Aboriginal language. It was spoken by the Yaygir people in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.
The NAIDOC Awards are annual Australian awards conferred on Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals during the national celebration of the history,culture and achievements of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples known as NAIDOC Week.
Wayne Quilliam is an Aboriginal Australian photographic artist,curator,and cultural adviser based in Melbourne. He specializes in portraits and landscapes.
Patricia O'Connor is an Australian Aboriginal elder of the Yugambeh people. She is known for her work in reviving the Yugambeh language and opening the Yugambeh Museum. In 2014 she received the NAIDOC Award for Female Elder of the Year,and in 2019 she was named a Queensland Great.
Elsie Heiss,also known as Aunty Elsie,is an Indigenous Australian,a Wiradjuri elder and a Catholic religious leader. She has led Aboriginal Catholic Ministry programs for over three decades and was NAIDOC Female Elder of the Year in 2009.
Yvonne Weldon is an Australian local government politician. She was elected deputy chairwoman of Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and was the first Aboriginal candidate for Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney in the 2021 NSW local government elections. She is the first Aboriginal councillor elected in the City of Sydney.
Hannah McGlade CF is an Australian academic,human rights advocate and lawyer. She is a Kurin Minang Noongar woman of the Bibulman nation and is as of May 2022 an associate professor at Curtin University's law school. She was appointed Senior Indigenous Fellow at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2016 and has been a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since 2020.
Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative is a language revitalisation centre for Aboriginal Australian languages of a region in New South Wales,situated in Nambucca Heads.
