The Honourable Linda Jean Burney MP (born 1957) is an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. She was the 2008-2009 National President of the Australian Labor Party.[1][2]
Burney is of Wiradjuri descent and grew up in Whitton, near Leeton. She obtained a Diploma of Teaching from the then Mitchell College of Advanced Education and she began teaching at Lethbridge Park public school in western Sydney in 1979. She has been involved in the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group since the mid 1980s and has participated in the development and implementation of the first Aboriginal education policy in Australia.[3] Burney was later the Director-General of the New South Wales Department of Aboriginal Affairs.[4] In 2006 she was elected National Vice President of the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
Burney was elected as the ALP member for Canterbury in 2003. She is the first Australian Aborigine person to serve in the NSW Parliament. In her inaugural speech to the Legislative Assembly she said, referring to the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) Act, 1967:
For the first ten years of my life, like all indigenous people at that time, I was not a citizen of this country. We existed under the Flora and Fauna Act of New South Wales.[5]
Following the 2007 election Burney became Minister for Fair Trading, Minister for Youth, and Minister for Volunteering. She is currently the Minister for Community Services.
Among her initiatives is the NSW Volunteer of the Year Award. [6]
Her partner was Rick Farley.[citation needed]
Notes
- ^ New ALP president spells out her agenda: The Age 28/1/2009
- ^ Australian Labor Party: The new ALP National Presidential team
- ^ "Burney, Linda Jean (c. 1957 - )". Australian Women. http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE1256b.htm. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
- ^ "Linda Burney". University of Western Sydney. http://www.uws.edu.au/about/university/governance/boardoftrustees/boardmembership/lburney. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
- ^ "Linda Burney's Inaugural Speech To Parliament". NSW/ACT Independent Education Union. http://www.ieu.asn.au/issues/general/51.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
- ^ "The Inaugural NSW Volunteer of the Year Award"
External links
| Parliament of New South Wales | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kevin Moss |
Member for Canterbury 2003 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
 |
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