Former Hockeyroo Nova Peris has become the first indigenous woman elected to the Federal Parliament of Australia following her election victory at the weekend.
Peris, who stood for the Labor Party, won Olympic gold with the Hockeyroos at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games and becomes the first indigenous woman to win a seat in the Senate. She also becomes only the fourth indigenous person to sit in Parliament House.
No stranger to breaking down boundaries, when Ric Charlesworth’s Hockeyroos stood on the top step of the podium in Atlanta, Darwin-born Peris became the first Aboriginal Australian to do so. Two years earlier she was a member of the Hockeyroos team that won World Cup gold in Dublin.
After switching from hockey to athletics in 1997 she became a double Commonwealth Games gold medallist, winning the 200m and 4x100m relay.
Nova’s cousin Brooke Peris is a current member of the Jillaroos and has made two appearances for the Hockeyroos.
Source: Hockey Australia
