Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by thanking the Prime Minister and the opposition leader on their Closing the Gap speeches just before. I'd also like to thank the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Mr Ken Wyatt, and the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, for their powerful advocacy in this place. I want to talk more about a personal experience. My wife is a very strong advocate and proud Aboriginal woman. My mother-in-law is a very proud Aboriginal woman from Palm Island in the electorate of Herbert. She is very vocal to me, which is great. She's with my wife today helping her out. I have a two-year-old daughter, who is a young Aboriginal woman, whether she is pretending she's off the movie TheCroods or dancing like Elsa from Frozen. Every day that I'm here and I get to work with people on both sides of this House and in the other place to better support and advocate for our Indigenous Australians, it just brings tears to my eyes, knowing that it's so personal not just for me but for many others. I'd like to really reiterate: we can always do more, and Indigenous Australians should never be used as a political football for political pointscoring. I thank the minister for his leadership.

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