Josephine Cashman

Josephine Amy Cashman is an Aboriginal Australian lawyer and entrepreneur, of Warrimay heritage. Cashman was an inaugural member of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council in 2013, appointed by Tony Abbott.

Career

Cashman is a lawyer and businesswoman, and was an inaugural member of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Indigenous Advisory Council in 2017. She addressed a UN Human Rights Council session focussing on violence against Indigenous girls and women.[1]

Cashman's book, Lani's Story, was launched by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2013 when Cashman sent a copy to his office following her publisher being unable to fund a book launch.[2]

Cashman is the chair of a public benevolent institution named Big River Impact Foundation.[3] It aims to establish a learning centre focused on building confidence with improving literacy, writing and public speaking skills. This is likely to improve the confidence of Aboriginal women and has the potential to encourage positive lifestyle choices, stable employment and/or generate enhanced business opportunities and outcomes for these women and their communities.[4]

On 8 November 2019 Cashman was appointed to Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt's Senior Advisory Group responsible for planning an "Indigenous voice to government".[1][5]

In late 2019, Cashman challenged author Bruce Pascoe on his Aboriginal identity claims. She said that he had benefited financially from falsely claiming to be Aboriginal, and requested that Peter Dutton (Australian Minister for Home Affairs) investigate the matter.[6] On 24 December 2019, Dutton referred the issue to the Australian Federal Police, who determined no offence had been identified.[7]

On 28 January 2020, Wyatt removed Cashman from the Senior Advisory Group after she was found to have provided a letter, alleged to be from Yolngu elder Terry Yumbulul, supporting Cashman and denouncing Bruce Pascoe and his book Dark Emu, to conservative commentator Andrew Bolt. Bolt published it on his Herald Sun blog on 26 January 2020. The next day, Yumbulul released a statement saying that he had not authored the letter, nor given permission for anything to be published under his name.[8][9][10] Cashman said she helped Yumbulul write the letter at his request, and he had multiple communications with her about its content.[11]

Cashman has called for a formal register to assess people's Aboriginality.[12] Wyatt rejected the idea of a national register and said the government should play no role in determining a person's Aboriginal identity.[6][13]

As of November 2020 she is an Ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.[14]

Family

Cashman has an older sister, two brothers, a step-brother and step-sister and a son. She belongs to the Warrimay, extended family links to Aranda peoples and has connections with Marika and Yunupingu people in Eastern Arnhem Land and with the south coast of New South Wales and eastern Victoria.[15]

References
  1. Cross, Hannah (12 November 2019). "Co-design Senior Advisory Group revealed by Ken Wyatt". National Indigenous Times. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  2. Butler, Nicola (18 November 2013). "Let me introduce you to Josephine Cashman". The Stringer. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  3. "Big River Imact Foundation's New Program Launch". Big River Impact Foundation. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  4. "Big River Impact Foundation Limited". Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  5. Latimore, Jack (11 January 2020). "Dutton refers matter of Bruce Pascoe's identity to Federal Police". National Indigenous Television. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  6. Taylor, Paige (13 January 2020). "Ken Wyatt rejects call for national register of Aboriginality". The Weekend Australian. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  7. Hope, Zach (23 January 2020). "AFP drops Bruce Pascoe investigation after Dark Emu author accused of faking Aboriginal heritage". The Age. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  8. Archibald-Binge, Ella (28 January 2020). "Businesswoman ousted from advisory group after Andrew Bolt claim". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  9. Latimore, Jack (28 January 2020). "Letter revealed to contain paragraphs lifted from academic papers and websites". National Indigenous Television. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  10. Perry, Jodan (28 January 2020). "Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt drops Josephine Cashman from Voice co-design Senior Advisory Group". National Indigenous Television. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  11. Grand, Chip Le (1 February 2020). "Under fire: Josephine Cashman stands firm against author Bruce Pascoe". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  12. Topsfield, Jewel (18 January 2020). "Bruce Pascoe says Aboriginality queries an attempt to discredit Dark Emu". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  13. "Indigenous Australians Minister dismisses call for Aboriginal identity register". SBS News. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  14. "Ambassadors - About". Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  15. Butler, Nicola (18 November 2013). "Let me introduce you to Josephine Cashman". The Stringer. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
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