The cabinet of Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has officially been sworn in. And one minister stands out.
Ken Wyatt is Australia’s first aboriginal man to serve in any federal cabinet and the first indigenous man to serve as Minister of Indigenous Affairs.
He walked into the ceremony Wednesday in a booka, a traditional kangaroo skin coat that symbolizes Aboriginal leadership. He received a standing ovation from his fellow cabinet members.
A primary school teacher earlier in his life, Wyatt worked his way into the Department of Education first before becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to be elected to the House of Representatives in 2010.
‘When I was a kid, I never thought that I’d be sitting as a cabinet minister,” Wyatt told CNN affiliate Seven Network
Aboriginal Australians didn’t get the right to vote until 1962. About 798,400 aboriginal people and Torres Strait islanders resided in the country as of 2016.
