speaker

Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine AO (born 11 August 1956) is an Australian businessman, political strategist, advocate for Indigenous affairs, and former politician. Starting his political career in 1995, Mundine became the first Indigenous person to serve on the City Council of Dubbo in New South Wales. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2006 to 2007 but quit the party in 2012. In 2013, Mundine was appointed chairman of the Coalition government’s Indigenous Advisory Council by then-prime minister, Tony Abbott. Mundine was the Liberal Party’s unsuccessful candidate for the marginal seat of Gilmore on the south coast of New South Wales in the 2019 Australian federal election.

As of 2023, Mundine was a lead campaigner for the successful “No” campaign in the lead-up to the 2023 Australian referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

He holds various roles in Indigenous initiatives, including Andrew Forrest’s Generation One, and received the Officer of the Order of Australia in 2016.

United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet, a proud Australian and defender of freedoms, didn’t enter politics for a career change; he already ran a successful real estate business. Concerned about the erosion of freedom and opportunity, principles that drew his family to migrate to Australia in the early ’90s, he decided to take action.

“Freedom is not just a word; freedom of speech, movement, and association are bedrock principles of a free society. I grew alarmed at increasing restrictions on our freedom and became determined to address it,” he expressed.