Indigenous WA MP Josie Farrer to retire

Aboriginal woman Josie Farrer will retire from the West Australian parliament and the northern seat of Kimberley.

Kimberley MP Josie Farrer.

Aboriginal woman Josie Farrer will retire from the West Australian parliament and the northern seat of Kimberley, held continuously by an Indigenous woman since 2001.

Ms Farrer, 72, will step down at the next state election in March. A Labor MP, she introduced a bill in 2014 that amended WA’s constitution to recognise Aboriginal people as the first peoples of the state.

In 2013, Ms Farrer succeeded Labor MP Carol Martin, the first Indigenous woman elected to an Australian parliament. Half the population of the Kimberley is Indigenous, and the seat was held by Aboriginal man Ernie Bridge for Labor in 1980-96.

Ms Farrer was born on Moola Bulla station, near the town of Halls Creek. She has raised 13 children.

She was a member of the Stolen Generations in the 1950s, and became known as a fierce advocate for Aboriginal people, delivering significant improvements to health, mental health and education services to the Kimberley as a whole.