Ken Wyatt

Cashman was dismissed from the SAG on 28 January 2020 after her involvement with commentator Andrew Bolt in denouncing the Aboriginal identity of author Bruce Pascoe.

The third tier, the regional and local groups, will be announced in early February 2020. Wyatt said that he doesn't mind what models are used, and they may vary across the country. His prime targets are suicide prevention and Closing the Gap. A meeting with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, senior ministers and peak Aboriginal community representatives had agreed on “priority reforms”, which included greater Aboriginal involvement in decision-making and service delivery at all levels, and a commitment to ensuring that “all mainstream government agencies and institutions undertake systemic and structural transformation to contribute to closing the gap”. Wyatt said that he would need to manage expectations on all sides as he seeks to build a consensus on the matter.

Wyatt retained his marginal seat at the May 2019 federal election with an increased majority. After the election, he was appointed Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Second Morrison Ministry. He is the first Indigenous person to hold the position, and was also elevated to cabinet.

On 30 October 2019, Wyatt announced the commencement of a "co-design process" aimed at providing an "Indigenous voice to government". The Senior Advisory Group (SAG) is co-chaired by Professor Tom Calma AO , Chancellor of the University of Canberra, and Professor Dr Marcia Langton, Associate Provost at the University of Melbourne, and comprises a total of 20 leaders and experts from across the country. There was some skepticism about the process from the beginning, with the criticism that it did not honour the Uluru Statement from the Heart' s plea to "walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future".

The original other members of the SAG were Father Frank Brennan, Peter Buckskin, Josephine Cashman, Marcia Ella-Duncan, Joanne Farrell, Mick Gooda, Chris Kenny, Vonda Malone, June Oscar, Alison Page, Noel Pearson, Benson Saulo, Pat Turner, Maggie Walter, Tony Wurramarrba, Peter Yu, and Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu. The first meeting of the group was held in Canberra on 13 November 2019. The SAG will propose models for the voice by June 2020.

On 20 September 2015, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that Wyatt would become Assistant Minister for Health, making him the first Indigenous frontbencher in federal parliament. Although his term commenced on 21 September, he was not sworn in with the other ministers as he was overseas, with his ceremony taking place on 30 September. On 18 February 2016, Wyatt's responsibilities were expanded to include aged care in addition to health following a rearrangement in the ministry; and were expanded further when on 24 January 2017 Wyatt was the first indigenous Australian appointed as an Australian Government Minister, with responsibility for the portfolio of Aged Care and the newly established portfolio of Indigenous Health.

Wyatt stood for the Liberal Party in the seat of Hasluck in the 2010 election, defeating Labor incumbent Sharryn Jackson. He won the seat with a 1.4-point swing, and became the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives (if one excludes David Kennedy who was Member for Bendigo from 1969 to 1972), and the third elected to the Parliament (behind Neville Bonner and Aden Ridgeway, both Senators). Mal Brough is of Aboriginal descent but does not identify himself as such.

On 28 September 2010, Wyatt attended the opening of the 43rd Australian Parliament to take up his seat as member for Hasluck. He wore a traditional Booka – a kangaroo skin coat with feathers from a red-tailed black cockatoo, signifying a leadership role in Noongar culture. The cloak had been presented to him by Noongar elders. He made his maiden speech to the Parliament on 29 September and received a standing ovation from both the government and opposition benches as well as from the public galleries.

In 1996 Wyatt was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for services to Aboriginal health. He received the Centenary Medal in 2001.

Kenneth George Wyatt AM (born 4 August 1952) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2010, representing the Division of Hasluck for the Liberal Party. He is the first Indigenous Australian elected to the House of Representatives, the first to serve as a government minister, and the first appointed to cabinet. Wyatt was appointed Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health in the Turnbull Government in January 2017, after previously serving as an assistant minister since September 2015. He was elevated to cabinet in May 2019 as Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Morrison Government.