Marion Scrymgour discusses representing Indigenous men, 2008

Transcript of interview

Whilst I stand up and advocate quite strongly with women and children, I'm also very conscious of the fact that Aboriginal men become part of the solution rather than the problem. So it's balancing that to get men to take some responsibility for working with them to ensure that, you know, they can get empowered rather than where they've been feeling disempowered or, you know, isolated from those very issues and take some responsibility for.

So, look, it's a balance that I've been able to do for many years in the health sector, in Aboriginal health prior to coming to politics, and I think it's been a balancing act and something I've been able to balance in my role as the elected member. I don't have too many barriers in terms of my position as a local member, elected, in my communication with those traditional men that I have to deal with in my electorate. They quite openly, readily, you know, communicate with me on issues that are affecting them as well.

And that was part of the myth that was out there, was that women, you know, any Indigenous woman, wouldn't be able to communicate with Aboriginal men on certain issues. But I think when it comes to addressing, you know, the conditions and problems encountered in remote Aboriginal communities, you're able to communicate to both men and women, and listen to them, and then represent their views at that level without compromising yourself in terms of breaching, you know, certain cultural protocols. I mean being an Aboriginal person myself, I suppose I'm better prepared than some would in being able to know, you know, what those protocols and what my limitations are in that area.