John Leonard Ah Kit (22 July 1950 – 12 July 2020) was an Australian politician. He was the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

in the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method fo ...

from 1995 to 2005.

Early life

Ah Kit was born on 22 July 1950 in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

, the fifth child in a

Jawoyn The Jawoyn, also written Djauan, are an Australian Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Bagala clan are of the Jawoyn people. Language Jawoyn, known as Kumertuo, is a non- Pama–Nyungan language that belongs t ...

family of 13. He moved with his family to Darwin in 1954. He attended Darwin and Parap primary schools and Darwin High School.

Biography

In 1983, he was elected to the Full Council of the Northern Land Council (NLC) representing Aboriginal people in the Katherine region. In 1984 he was appointed Director of the Northern Land Council from 1984 to 1990. He resigned in 1990 to contest the seat of Goyder for the Labor Party. He played an important role in 1991 in Jawoyn efforts to stop the mining of gold, palladium and platinum at Coronation Hill in 1991, Ah Kit was instrumental in the Jawoyn traditional owners’ battle to prevent gold, palladium and platinum mining at Coronation Hill, the resting site of Jawoyn creator being Bula. Ah Kit was Executive Director of the Jawoyn Association from 1991 to 1995 before his election to parliament in a by-election following the resignation of

Wes Lanhupuy Wesley Wagner Lanhupuy (1 November 1952 – 26 October 1995) was an Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Arnhem in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1983 until his resignation in 1995. He died shortly after the by ...

. He served as a minister in the first term of the

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

Government, a historical milestone as he was the first indigenous minister in the Territory's history. When elected to parliament, John Ah Kit became the ninth Indigenous parliamentarian in Australian history. While in parliament he held a number of portfolios: * Minister for Community Development * Minister for Housing * Minister for Local Government * Minister for Sport and Recreation * Minister for Regional Development * Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs Ah Kit retired in 2005 citing ill health. His daughter

Ngaree Ah Kit Ngaree Jane Ah Kit (born 4 June 1981) is an Australian politician, who was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly at the 2016 general election, representing the electoral division of Karama, Darwin, for the Labor Party. Ah Kit ...

was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2016. Ah Kit died at

Royal Darwin Hospital Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) is a 360-bed Australian teaching hospital located in Tiwi, Northern Territory, a northern suburb of the Territory capital Darwin. It is part of the Top End Health Service, which covers an area of . RDH is the only t ...

on the evening of 12 July 2020, aged 69.

Awards

* 2007 National NAIDOC Awards – Lifetime Achievement Award – John (Jak) Ah Kit * Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa awarded by the Council of Charles Darwin University

References

1950 births 2020 deaths Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Indigenous Australian politicians Australian politicians of Chinese descent 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-NorthernTerritory-MLA-stub