Malarndirri McCarthy is an Australian politician and has represented Arnhem

Electoral division of Arnhem

The Electoral division of Arnhem is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1974, and takes its name from Arnhem Land, the region encompassing much of the northern part of the Territory....

 in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral parliament of the Northern Territory in Australia. It sits in Parliament House, located on State Square, close to the centre of the city of Darwin.-History:...

 since 2005.

McCarthy is a Yanyuwa woman from Borroloola

Borroloola, Northern Territory

Borroloola is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located on the McArthur River, about 50 km upstream from the Gulf of Carpentaria. At the 2006 census, Borroloola had a population of 773, of whom 579 declared themselves indigenous....

 in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. Born in Katherine

Katherine, Northern Territory

Katherine is a town situated southeast of Darwin in the "Top End" of Australia in the Northern Territory. It is the fourth largest settlement in the Territory after the capital Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs...

 in 1970, Malarndirri attended school in Borroloola, Alice Springs

Alice Springs, Northern Territory

Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...

 and St Scholastica's College

St Scholastica's College

St Scholastica's College , is a day and boarding, Roman Catholic school for girls, located in Glebe Point, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

 in Glebe

Glebe, New South Wales

Glebe is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located 3 km south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, in the Inner West region....

, Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, where she was School Captain in 1988. She and partner Norm Grogan have two sons, CJ and Grayson.

McCarthy is a former ABC

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 newsreader and journalist who began her cadetship in 1989.

Political life

McCarthy, then known as Barbara McCarthy, became the Member for Arnhem in 2005 when she was preselected as a high profile candidate to replace the retiring member John Ah Kit

John Ah Kit

John Leonard Ah Kit is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Arnhem in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1995 to 2005....

.

Considered by many political pundits as a star recruit for Chief Minister

Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory is appointed by the Administrator, who in normal circumstances will appoint the head of whatever party holds the majority of seats in the legislature of the territory...

 Clare Martin

Clare Martin

Clare Majella Martin is a former Australian politician. She is the current CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service . A former journalist, she was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in a shock by-election win in 1995...

 and the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, she also proved to be a very hard worker and was rewarded by receiving 73.9% of the 2PP vote, a 12.5% increase on the outgoing incumbent, Ah Kit.

With the election result McCarthy also became one of 10 women in the 25 seat assembly considered at the time to be in the top 10 in the world in male to female ratio in a parliament.

McCarthy was also as one of five successful indigenous candidates elected, properly reflecting the population ratio of indigenous people in the Territory.

Her first term was highlighted by McCarthy crossing the floor, with two other ALP members, to vote against the government's decision to divert the McArthur River to allow more mining developments.

McCarthy was re-elected unopposed in the 2008 election, with the CLP opposition unable to find anyone to run against her.

Immediately following the election McCarthy was promoted to the Ministry and is currently the Minister for Children and Families, Child Protection, Statehood, Women's Policy, Senior Territorians, Young Territorians and is the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Multicultural Affairs.