Moylan-Coombs, a member of the stolen generations, says she would like to be special envoy on Indigenous affairs if she wins

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A member of the stolen generations will run for Tony Abbott’s seat of Warringah at the upcoming federal election, with the independent vowing to put the environment and Indigenous affairs at the centre of her campaign.

Susan Moylan-Coombs, a broadcaster, mental health educator and the founding director of the Indigenous organisation the Gaimaragal Group, announced on Sunday her plans to contest the seat held by Abbott for almost 25 years.

The granddaughter of the high-profile public servant and prime ministerial adviser HC Coombs, and the daughter of former NSW Bar Association president John Coombs, Moylan-Coombs said she was no stranger to public service.

“Politics has been in and around my family, in and around myself,” she said. “I am a First Nations woman, whatever I do people think I’m being political.”

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A member of the stolen generations, Moylan-Coombs moved to the northern beaches at the age of three after being adopted by the Coombs family and has lived in the area for most of the past 50 years.

While entering the political sphere has long been on her mind, Moylan-Coombs said she had never wanted to take the step before as she did not want to compromise her beliefs.

She watched Kerryn Phelps’s bid and eventual victory in the Wentworth byelection carefully to gauge the way Phelps would be treated by the public and the press.

Should she win, Moylan-Coombs would like to take over Abbott’s role as special envoy on Indigenous affairs.

Moylan-Coombs said she was “not naive to think that it’s going to be easy”.

“I want to run a clean race, I want to do this with dignity,” she said. “Do I see myself in Canberra? I would like to think so.”