Attorney-General Selena Uibo delivers speech in local languages after federal Senator’s assumption
NT Attorney-General made a power move in a bid to help Aboriginal Territorians better understand the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, after she was assumed to be a white man by a Greens senator.
Northern Territory
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ATTORNEY-General Selena Uibo delivered a speech entirely in local Indigenous languages on Thursday, displaying her credentials to the inner Melbourne Greens senator who assumed she was a white man.
Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe seemed to assume Ms Uibo was a white man in a speech in Canberra on Tuesday night, while speaking about the Territory’s youth bail laws.
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The NT News understands Ms Thorpe has still not reached out to the Attorney-General, who is an Aboriginal woman, since making the comments.
It’s understood Ms Thorpe’s office believed Ms Uibo had misunderstood the comments, with the comments supposedly made toward the federal Attorney-General.
“I do hope the Attorney-General — given he probably didn’t read the royal commission recommendations — listens to these experts. Hopefully, they’re white — and, you know, white is right in this place,” Ms Thorpe said in the senate.
Neither the federal Attorney-General Michaelia Cash nor Ms Uibo are men, and Ms Uibo was led to believe the comments were aimed at her.
Speaking on Thursday, opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said the Greens were “completely out of touch”.
“I don’t think interstate politicians have much business in the Territory at all,” Ms Finocchiaro said.
Ms Uibo delivered a speech to parliament on Thursday entirely in Eastside Kriol and Wubuy language.
Ms Uibo talked about the importance of translation services for local Aboriginal communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
It follows her fiery speech on Wednesday night, in which Ms Uibo snapped back at the Greens senator for her assumption she was a white man.
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