West Australian Aboriginal MP Ken Wyatt has been sworn into the federal ministry to become the first Indigenous Member of Parliament to reach the frontbench.

The Member for Hasluck was elevated as part of the Turnbull Government reshuffle and will serve as Assistant Health Minister, working with Health Minister Sussan Ley and Rural Health Minister Fiona Nash.

In an interview with Radio National's Patricia Karvelas to be aired after 6:00pm, Mr Wyatt reflected on the symbolic and practical impact of his promotion.

"We're breaking, in a sense, a ceiling that we put there and thought that we would never, ever break through," he said.

"There's the symbolism of having made it at a level that is a prime position in the nation."

Before entering politics Mr Wyatt was the director of Aboriginal health within both the NSW and West Australian health departments.

He supported Malcolm Turnbull to take over as Prime Minister but said he wanted to acknowledge former leader Tony Abbott's heart and drive for Indigenous affairs.

He said the Turnbull Government needed to learn from past mistakes.

"I look back on some of the prime ministers we've had who wanted to make a difference, but I think one of the ingredients that is missing out of all of it has been a genuine partnership with Aboriginal people at the community level," he said.

Mr Turnbull presented Mr Wyatt at the swearing-in ceremony at Government House.

"I come to a moment that is one of great significance in history," Mr Turnbull said.

"I present to you Mr Ken Wyatt MP, a great and good and first Australian, to be parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Health known as the Assistant Minister for Health."

Wyatt received job offer mid-flight

Mr Wyatt was not present for last week's ministerial swearing-in ceremony because he had not been expecting a frontbench role and had instead headed overseas.

The leadership team managed to track down his flight number and sent a customer service officer to make a mid-air job offer.

"I was in a deep sleep and I had this jab, jab, jab in the shoulder," he said.

He said the woman leaned over with a piece of paper addressed to him on behalf of Mr Turnbull offering him the frontbench role.

"She said, 'I need an answer', and I said, 'it's an emphatic yes'," he said.

"You don't get these offers very often and it's an incredible privilege."

The new role means Mr Wyatt has left his position as the head of the backbench committee into the referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution.

Support for Adam Goodes' leadership

Mr Wyatt also praised the work done by AFL player Adam Goodes to promote the push for a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution.

The former Australian of the Year was a vocal supporter of recognition and appeared in widespread advertising for change.

The Sydney Swans player faced continual and targeted booing of his performance. He has since announced plans to retire.

"I was disappointed for him on the basis that he wanted to fight for change, he wanted to strongly support recognition and he was committed to using his role as Australian of the Year to bring to the minds of all of us to discuss the key interests that are important to us," Mr Wyatt said.

He said he was saddened to hear the news Goodes would not take part in the grand final motorcade of retiring players.

"I hope that the way in which he's bowed out will not reflect on the work he will be doing in the future."

But Mr Wyatt said some good had come from the saga because it triggered a debate among Australians.

"I think that's the important learning out of all of this, and to that end Adam has done tremendous good in getting that debate going."

He said he was often approached by young Indigenous Australians wanting to know about how to enter politics and the challenges associated with a leadership role.

"We will fail sometimes and it doesn't matter if we fail," he said.

"Come back and have another go because that is the important part of the political journey and it's not straightforward, it's tough."

Good choice by the Liberals here. I hope that Wyatt makes a difference to health outcomes for Indigenous people.

mariacostel wrote on Sep 30^th, 2015 at 4:02pm:

It's not intractable. It just takes an effort of will, something that has been somewhat lacking. We can make a difference by spending less than $10 million a year on scholarships for medical degrees that are only available for people who are fluent in one or more Indigenous languages as well as English. Few things can improve the health outcomes for our Indigenous people more than access to medical care in their own language. How many doctors are there in the whole country that can speak an Indigenous language fluently?

Bam wrote on Sep 30^th, 2015 at 4:54pm:


Maybe a better question is why people born and bred in Australia don't speak English. It would be far easier to get doctors who can speak in English than in one of the many aboriginal languages. Once again, the failure to assimilate rears its ugly head. Many good people have come and gone trying to fix a problem that seems to have no solution. You cannot help people who don't want to be helped and if they refuse to assimilate then they will be always behind in getting services despite everyone else's best efforts. No one can rectify that problem.

mariacostel wrote on Sep 30^th, 2015 at 6:30pm:


Oh, I see. We invade and conquer the Natives, and it is then their job to assimilate.  Gotcha.

I am hoping against hope he is a full blood aboriginal....