Wyatt was a member of the
Moderate/Modern Liberal faction of the Liberal Party.
2010–2015: backbencher Wyatt stood for the
Liberal Party in the seat of
Hasluck in the
2010 election, defeating
Labor incumbent
Sharryn Jackson. He won the seat with a 1.4-point swing, and became the first Aboriginal person to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives, and the third elected to the Parliament (behind
Neville Bonner and
Aden Ridgeway, both Senators). After his election, he received racist hate mail from people who said that they would not have voted for him if they had realised that he was Indigenous. On 28 September 2010, Wyatt attended the opening of the 43rd Australian Parliament to take up his seat as member for Hasluck. He wore a traditional Booka – a kangaroo skin coat with feathers from a red-tailed
black cockatoo, signifying a leadership role in Noongar culture. The cloak had been presented to him by
Noongar elders. He made his maiden speech to the Parliament on 29 September and received a standing ovation from both the
government and opposition benches as well as from the public galleries.
2015–2019: frontbencher On 20 September 2015, Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull announced that Wyatt would become
Assistant Minister for Health, making him the first Indigenous frontbencher in federal parliament. Although his term commenced on 21 September, he was not sworn in with the other ministers as he was overseas, with his ceremony taking place on 30 September. On 18 February 2016, Wyatt's responsibilities were expanded to include aged care in addition to health following a
rearrangement in the ministry; and were expanded further when on 24 January 2017 Wyatt was the first indigenous Australian appointed as an Australian Government Minister, with responsibility for the portfolio of Aged Care and the newly established portfolio of Indigenous Health.
2019–2022: Minister for Indigenous Australians Wyatt retained his marginal seat at the May
2019 federal election with an increased majority. After the election, he was appointed
Minister for Indigenous Australians in the
Second Morrison Ministry. He is the first Indigenous person to hold the position and was also elevated to cabinet. In July 2019, he gave an address to the
National Press Club, in which he spoke of the theme of
NAIDOC Week 2019: "Voice. Treaty. Truth.". He said that he would "develop and bring forward a consensus option for
constitutional recognition to be put to
a referendum during the current parliamentary term". He spoke of the development of a local, regional and national voice, and said "with respect to Indigenous treaties in Australia|[Indigenous] Treaty, it's important that states and territory jurisdictions take the lead. When you consider the constitution, they are better placed to undertake that work", and with regard to
truth-telling, he would "work on approaches to work on how we progress towards truth-telling". In January 2022, Wyatt announced that the federal government had secured copyright over the
Australian Aboriginal flag, following negotiations with the flag's designer
Harold Thomas. At the
2022 federal election, Wyatt lost his seat to the Labor candidate
Tania Lawrence.
Indigenous voice to government On 30 October 2019, Wyatt announced the commencement of a "co-design process" aimed at providing an "
Indigenous voice to government". The Senior Advisory Group (SAG) is co-chaired by Professor
Tom Calma , Chancellor of the
University of Canberra, and Professor Dr
Marcia Langton, Associate Provost at the
University of Melbourne, and as of October 2019 comprised a total of 20 leaders and experts from across the country. The models for the Voice were developed in two stages. The first meeting of the group was held in
Canberra on 13 November 2019. In June 2022, after the WA Liberal Party passed a motion at its state conference urging the national leader of the party,
Peter Dutton, to oppose the Voice, Wyatt said "I just find it very disappointing that a party that I have been heavily involved with, believe in, and see as having a set of values that match mine, make such a decision". He said that he still believed in the values of the Liberal Party, but he no longer believed in what the Liberals had become. "Aboriginal people are reaching out to be heard but the Liberals have rejected their invitation", he said. In April 2025, Wyatt commented that he supports
Welcome to Country ceremonies and rejects any political interference against these events. == Honours ==