Chansey Paech

Chansey Paech
MLA
Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
for Namatjira
Assumed office
27 August 2016
Preceded by Alison Anderson
Personal details
Born Chanston James Paech
1987-88
Alice Springs
Nationality Australian
Political party Labor Party

Chanston James "Chansey" Paech (born 1987[1]) is an Australian politician. He is an Labor Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016, representing the electorate of Namatjira. He is of Aranda and Gurindji descent.[2]

Paech is the Deputy Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and chairman of committees.

Early years and career

Paech grew up in Alice Springs.[3] He is the son of an Eastern Arrernte woman,[2] his father is a descendant of German immigrants.[1]

He was elected to the Alice Springs Town Council in 2012.[4]

Paech completed his secondary education at Anzac Hill High, Alice Springs , Northern Territory. He later studied at Charles Darwin University in the field of land management, conservation and horticulture production.[2]

Paech has been a sound advocate for infrastructure investments, economic development opportunities and employment pathways that retain our people in the regional, remote and rural areas.

Paech has a long standing relationships with the Aboriginal community controlled sector in the Central Australian community. He is the great-grandson of legendary bushman Walter Smith.[5]

Paech is the only openly gay male MP in the NT Legislative Assembly; before entering politics, Paech was a prominent LGBT rights activist.

Politics

Paech was preselected as the Labor candidate for Namatjira for the 2016 Territory election. The seat's incumbent since 2005 (dating to when the seat was known as MacDonnell), independent Alison Anderson, was retiring after three terms. On paper, Paech faced daunting odds. The seat had a notional Country Liberal Party majority of 20.8 percent, and a redistribution had seemingly consolidated the CLP's hold on the seat by pushing it into Alice Springs.[6] However, Anderson, who had served under four banners during her tenure (Labor, CLP, independent, Palmer United and independent again) endorsed Paech as her successor; she is a longtime indigenous activist, and retained substantial goodwill in the area.[7] The ABC's Antony Green believed that Anderson's endorsement made Namatjira "a certain Labor gain."[8]

Paech won the seat resoundingly, taking 59 percent of the two-party vote on a swing of over 29 percent, the second-largest swing of the election—enough to revert Namatjira to its traditional status as a safe Labor seat. He was subsequently made Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees.[9]

Paech is the first openly gay indigenous MP in Australia.[10] He gave his maiden parliamentary speech on 19 October 2016, in which he said he entered the chamber "eternally proud of who I am and where I come from ... I am young, I am gay, I am black; a true-blue Territorian. I am a proud face of the diversity and future of the great Australian Labor party."[11] He added: "I look forward to the day when this country will recognise my rights as equal rights, when I too can marry in my country, on my country, as a recognised first Australian."[11][1]

Paech is a member of the Left faction of the Labor Party.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Winsor, Ben (19 October 2016). "Full Text: Chansey Paech's maiden speech to parliament". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Winsor, Ben (25 October 2016). "Chansey Paech is Australia's first gay, Indigenous parliamentarian". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "Chansey Paech - Namatjira". Territory Labor. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Brash, Stewart (31 March 2012). "Damien Ryan re-elected as Alice Springs Mayor". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Alice Springs. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "WALKING THROUGH TIME: THE GHANS RETURN". Alice Springs News. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "Electorate: Namatjira". ABC News. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  7. ↑ Bardon, Jane (11 August 2016). "CLP facing uphill battle in bush electorates". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Green, Antony. NT election preview. ABC News, 2016-08-08.
  9. ↑ "List of Members" (PDF). Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  10. ↑ "Meet The First Gay Aboriginal Politician Elected To An Australian Parliament". Buzzfeed. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  11. 1 2 Davidson, Helen (19 October 2016). "'I am young, I am gay, I am black,' says Chansey Paech to NT parliament". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Alison Anderson		 Member for Namatjira
2016–present		 Incumbent
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