Marion Rose Scrymgour (born 13 September 1960) is an Australian politician and the current MP for Lingiari. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the electorate of Arafura. She was the Labor Party Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from November 2007 until February 2009, and was the highest-ranked Indigenous Australian woman in government in Australia's history. She was also the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the Northern Territory Parliament. Scrymgour, a senior minister under former Chief Minister Clare Martin, had a rapid rise within the party throughout the 2000s, and despite a reputation for outspoken views on Indigenous issues, rose to become Deputy Chief Minister under Paul Henderson after the retirement of long-time deputy Syd Stirling in 2007. She had a controversial term as Education Minister under Henderson, and was shifted to the Attorney-General portfolio in February 2009, in a move widely seen as a demotion. Several days later, she resigned from Cabinet and as Deputy Chief Minister, citing "health reasons". Scrymgour remained on the Labor backbench until June 2009, when she resigned from the Labor Party over its stance on remote Indigenous communities. She sat in the Legislative Assembly as an independent, and held the balance of power; Labor had held only a one-seat majority before her departure. On 4 August 2009, Scrymgour rejoined the ALP. Early life Scrymgour was born on 13 September 1960 in Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory. She is the daughter of Claire () and Jack Scrymgour. Her mother was a Tiwi Islander, and her father had been forcibly removed as a child from his home in Central Australia. Scrymgour attended primary and secondary school in Darwin, but initially decided against tertiary education, working in several office administration positions. She later undertook correspondence courses as a mature age student in book-keeping, accounting, administration and health economics. She subsequently served as director of the Wurli Wurlinjang Aboriginal Corporation, co-ordinated several trial community care programs around Katherine, and as Director of the Katherine West Health Board Aboriginal Corporation. Scrymgour was also an active member of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, and had represented the union at the national conference of the Australian Labor Party. Territory political career Early career |} Scrymgour contested and won Labor preselection for the Legislative Assembly seat of Arafura, after the retirement of Maurice Rioli. The seat was