Ken Wyatt may be used to making history in Australian politics.
He was the first indigenous person elected to the House of Representatives.
But he says he still got a shock when he received the Cabinet call up from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
"I said are you serious and after that it was that whole sense of emotion that rides through you."
He claimed the Western Australian seat of Hasluck in 2010.
In his maiden speech he thanked Kevin Rudd for apologising to a stolen generation that included his own mother.
"I shed tears for my mother, and her siblings. My mother and her siblings along with many others, did not live to hear the words delivered in the apology. I as an aboriginal voice in this chamber say thank you for the apology."
It's a voice that knows some of the challenges ahead.
The life expectancy of Indigenous Australians remains around ten years less than others.
"I know that there has been disappointment with closing the gap reports over the last three or four years - we've made minor gains but we want to make major gains."
One of the priorities of the former labourer is improving services in remote areas.
"Some of the reform is not significant. But in some other areas it is about how do you access in remote and regional Australia specialist services. If I had a heart attack I wouldn't want a heart attack out in the Bush.
He's also vowing to also focus on Aboriginal youth suicide.
"I'm going to focus on young people as well. Because it's in that area that we have some challenges in terms of suicides, in terms of levels of social and emotional well-being. And some of the stress levels in younger mothers. So There's got to be a better way in approaching services and providing them."
Along the way he hopes his latest appointment won't be the last shattering of what he calls "the brown glass ceiling*."
"From an Indigenous perspective its another pathway to creating opportunities for those who come behind."
He'll be sworn in on Tuesday 24th January.
