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Australia's only Indigenous Senator delivers annual lecture

September 08, 2004

Senator Aden Ridgeway, the only Indigenous member of the Australian
Parliament, will visit Armidale next week to present the University of New
England’s Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture for 2004.
Aden Ridgeway, from the Gumbayngirr people of northern NSW, was named
“Indigenous Person of the Year” in this year’s national NAIDOC awards. Frank
Archibald, commemorated in the Memorial Lecture series, was a revered member of Armidale’s Indigenous community who was renowned for his knowledge of (and interest in) all issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This year’s Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture will be in Armidale
Town Hall on Thursday 16 September.

Elected to the Senate in July 1999, Aden Ridgeway became the first
Indigenous politician to hold a Federal political leadership position when
he became Deputy Leader of the Democrats in April 2001. While advocating for
Indigenous Australians is a priority, he takes an active personal interest
in all his portfolios. (These are: Arts & Sport, Consumer Affairs, Forestry,
Indigenous Affairs, Industry, Small Business & Tourism, and Trade & Overseas
Development.) For example, he actively campaigned against the Australia-US
Free Trade Agreement after spending much time weighing up the costs and
benefits of the agreement and participating in two Senate Inquiries.
The free public lecture will be at 7.30 pm, followed by supper in the Town
Hall foyer. Earlier in the day, Senator Ridgeway will visit UNE’s Oorala
Aboriginal Centre for morning tea, a tree-planting ceremony, and lunch,
during which he will meet invited guests including local students,
Indigenous UNE staff members, and members of the Archibald family. After
lunch he will attend a meeting of the UNE Reconciliation Statement Working
Party as guest of the Oorala Centre’s Director, Diane Golden.
UNE inaugurated the series of annual Frank Archibald Memorial Lectures in
1986. The speakers are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are
leading professionals in fields such as education, law, social justice and
government. Last year’s speaker was NSW Local Court magistrate Pat O’Shane,
who was Chancellor of UNE from 1995 till the end of 2003. Other speakers
have included Jackie Huggins, Mick Dodson, and Noel Pearson.
For more information, and notice of attendance, please phone (02) 6773 2736
or e-mail: frank_archibald_rsvp@une.edu.au.
Media contact: Kathie Hunt, Events Coordinator, UNE (02) 6773 3955 or Jim
Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at September 8, 2004 11:33 AM