Ernie Bridge was the first Indigenous Australian to become a minister in a government. Neville Bonner was the first Indigenous man to become a member of the Federal Parliament, when he was appointed to fill a casual Senate vacancy in 1971.
Ernie Bridge made history as the first Indigenous person to hold a cabinet post in government. Neville Bonner preceded him by becoming the first Indigenous man elected to the Federal Parliament in 1971, after filling a vacant Senate seat.