First indigenous federal politician Neville Bonner used his maiden speech in 1971 to declare he was "first and foremost" an Australian citizen.
More than 40 years later, his great niece, Joanna Lindgren, made the same declaration in the same chamber of the federal parliament.
"This, too, is how I see myself in the Senate," she said during her first speech on Tuesday.
The Queensland Liberal National Party senator pledged not to continue the work of her uncle, because that had been completed by those before her.
"I am here to do the work of today," Senator Lindgren said.
"Uncle Neville sat in the old parliament house and I now sit in the new parliament house, which to me signifies that he was a man for his time and now I am for mine."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott was joined by coalition MPs to watch Senator Lindgren give her first speech, three months after she filled a casual vacancy caused by Brett Mason's resignation.
A former teacher of 25 years, Senator Lindgren grew up in the low-socioeconomic suburb of Inala on the outskirts of Brisbane.
"Growing up in Inala was simply magical," she said, saying she enjoyed going to school with first generation migrants whose names sounded exotic.
She says her past has moulded her into the tolerant, fair, patient and considerate person standing in the Senate.
Senator Lindgren owes her success to a sound education, something she wants for every Australian child.
"Education is the key to unlocking individual potential and success," she said.
Along with education, she plans to be a passionate advocate for the Defence Force, women in politics and indigenous constitutional recognition.
"Aboriginal people give the modern nation of Australia 80,000 years of history in return for a few of lines in the constitution," she said.
She hopes the path to Canberra will one day become "quite normal and even expected" for her people.
