Outgoing Northern Territory senator Nova Peris has rebuked critics of her shock resignation by insisting that her legacy was intact and pointing to the challenges faced by Indigenous Australians.
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In an emotional press conference, Senator Peris said she "walked into Parliament as the first Aboriginal woman and until you are an Aboriginal person, do not criticise me for the decisions I have made".
She was backed up by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who said the senator's "choosing the terms on which she leaves" shows her dignity and does not diminish her accomplishments in the Parliament.
The Labor campaign was blindsided on Monday by Fairfax Media's revelations that Senator Peris was in talks with the AFL about a job opportunity three years after being handpicked by Julia Gillard, at the expense of Labor senator Trish Crossin.
"This isn't easy. It's hard," the former Olympian said in Darwin on Thursday morning, her first public appearance since her resignation.
"I may be leaving but I am leaving on my terms and I want to make this clear: no-one should judge me. I am an inherited Aboriginal women with strengths and resilience that I have had to endure for 45 years.
"And it's not easy to wake up every morning and bounce out of bed and pretend that life is fantastic. Because it isn't."
May 26 is National Sorry Day. Eighteen years ago the Human Rights Commission's Bringing Them Home report found stubbornly high rates of removal of Indigenous children from their homes.
Standing with her mother and aunt, members of the Stolen Generations, Ms Peris said the country has "a long, long way to go" in addressing Aboriginal disadvantage.
She said Mr Shorten, recently appointed senator and 'father of reconciliation' Pat Dodson and Lingiari MP Warren Snowdon had vision and would make a difference for Indigenous people.
When questioned over the timing of her resignation, six weeks from election day, Ms Peris responded: "Well, I didn't call the election."