Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw, but I find it offensive that I was promised—call it what you like—in March that Simon Crean, the minister, would support it. It took till August. I complied 100 percent and it took till August, and the government came out and voted and supported it. There was no argument about it. Now we find, almost a year later, that we are no closer to having it happen. What they have done is totally inappropriate. They have definitely misled me. There is no question about it. They have misled me and they have misled the Torres Strait people, who are sitting there waiting for the next king tide, which is in a couple of months time, when more of the cemetery is going to be washed away and more of their ancestors are going to disappear into the sea. More infrastructure is going to be destroyed, and it is going to raise the risk of cholera, dysentery, meningitis and Japanese encephalitis.

It is a cruel hoax. It is a disgusting trick on the Torres Strait people. The minister and this government should stand condemned for their appalling treatment of these people in their deliberate attempts to avoid, in any way they can, fulfilling their obligations and responsibilities. These people are Australians. They may live in the Torres Strait, but they are very, very proud Australians and they are entitled to have a government that steps up to its responsibilities and takes the appropriate action to ensure that they have security of their own communities.

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