Labor senator and dual Olympian says: ‘Until you are an Aboriginal person do not criticise me for the decisions I have made’

Outgoing Labor senator Nova Peris has delivered a powerful and emotional speech as she explained her surprise departure from politics.

Speaking at a Sorry Day event in Darwin on Thursday, Peris said she walked into federal parliament three years ago as its first elected Aboriginal woman and was leaving now on her own terms to take care of her children.

She announced her resignation earlier this week after it emerged she was in talks with the AFL about taking its top Indigenous role.

“Until you are an Aboriginal person, do not criticise me for the decisions I have made,” Peris told media in Darwin.



Nova Peris resigns from the Senate after reports she was seeking AFL job Read more

With the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, at her side, Peris said she wanted to acknowledge the work of the Labor party “in trying to elevate and empower the lives of Aboriginal people”.

Shorten said Peris was a “remarkable Australian” and the Labor party had been fortunate to have her “energy and commitment” in the Senate.



And her decision to focus on family reflected that she was “a great mum as well”.



Asked why she hadn’t announced she would be stepping down earlier, rather than during the election campaign, Peris said: “I didn’t call the election.”



Guardian Australia understands Peris’s lack of contact with colleagues after the AFL story broke had angered them.

The dual Olympian won the Senate seat after the then-prime minister, Julia Gillard, made a “captain’s pick” and replaced the incumbent Trish Crossin. This week Crossin has suggested she deserves an apology.

Frontrunners for Peris’s replacement as number one NT Senate ticket include the journalist and former NT minister Malarndirri McCarthy, who has said she was seeking the nomination, and Peris’s chief-of-staff, Ursula Raymond, who has said she is thinking about it. It is believed the new candidate will be announced on Saturday.

The Coalition senator for the NT, Nigel Scullion, said Peris had made history in entering parliament.

“As a senator for 15 years I know how tough those first years in parliament can be and respect her decision,” he said. “I wish her well for the future.”



With Shorten beside her Peris said: