"It's not about me": Nova Peris IT'S never been about her, Nova Peris says. After being formally declared a senator on Wednesday, Ms Peris said her focus is on helping and inspiring the people of the Northern Territory. It was an honour to be asked to serve by the then-prime minister Julia Gillard, who said, 'would you serve for the people of the territory?' And I accepted that," a teary Ms Peris told supporters in Darwin at the Australian Electoral Commission headquarters. I hope I can serve the people of the territory as well as I have the people of Australia in my sporting career. The Olympian is Australia's first female indigenous federal parliamentarian, and one of two senators for the Northern Territory, the other being the Country Liberal Party's re-elected Nigel Scullion, now indigenous affairs minister in the Abbott government. She can't change the past, but Ms Peris says she wants to be a progressive politician and a driver for change, and to see Aboriginal life expectancy climb. "What I found, being a candidate and talking to people in the bush and on the street, is that people are over politicians, they're over politics; they've had enough," she said. We're dealing with people's lives and livelihoods and I get that. People say 'you haven't been through the political system', but I've been to 55 countries and I've seen success, poverty, the disparity. She thanked her husband Scott Appleton for his support, along with her children Jessica, 23, Destiny, 11, and Jack, nine, and her four-year-old grandson Isaac. She also thanked voters at bush electorates who lined up to cast their vote hours before polling opened. She said that although she wouldn't make everyone happy, she would be doing her best. "It's never been about me," she said. It's been about doing things I hope inspire people to be game to take that step forward. Ms Peris, 42, was raised in Darwin and is a survivor of Cyclone Tracy. She has been a trailblazer for indigenous people in sport, becoming the first Aboriginal woman to win an Olympic gold medal when she was part of Australia's victorious hockey team in 1996. When she switched to athletics, she won gold in the 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay at the Commonwealth Games in 1998.