Stephen Bates (Brisbane, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge once again the failures that we see within the Closing the gap report. We live in a country which was violently stolen. We claimed it was empty. We murdered and massacred the longest continual culture on earth. We trashed the country and culture, locked people up and stole their children. The Closing the gap report shows us that very little has changed. The gap is too big. The time it takes to close is too long. The injustices aren't simply historic; they're happening every week. First Nations children are still being murdered, stolen and detained. Cassius Turvey was murdered for simply walking home from school. Kids are still being put in spit hoods, and men are dying in watch houses. As my colleague Lidia Thorpe said, we are treating the symptoms, and it's not working. The gap is created by colonisation, and the answer is treaty, because sovereignty has never been ceded.

This year Jack Charles died. He died a hero to his people. He was part of the stolen generation and was placed into a home run by the Salvation Army. He was abused and denied his culture. Jack's life speaks better than any report can to the power of First Nations people in this country. This year the Queen died too, and it was in her name, the name of the Crown, that the land was stolen and declared empty, that children were taken and abused, for this colonial project we now stand as a part of.

The report shows that the removal of First Nations children is at an all-time high. Even after everything we've been through, this is still happening. We need to reconcile that. To live on this land, to extract its resources, to eat the food and farm the fibre grown here, we need to come to terms with that. The Prime Minister spoke about caring for country and doubling the number of Indigenous rangers by 2030. But First Nations rangers can't care for country when the government keeps opening up new coal and gas mines. There can be no peace until there is justice, and we need truth, treaty and voice. There is no justice in detaining a 10-year-old child in prison. The rate of incarceration of First Nations people is rising. The Prime Minister mentioned the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody but doesn't have a plan for implementing the remaining recommendations. These will save First Nations people's lives.

This week the Nationals said they won't support the referendum because it would not help close the gap, but I ask: How would they know? After nine years of being in government, the gap is wider, 10-year-old children can still be placed in prisons, and more and more children are being removed. The Greens stand with First Nations people and their call for a treaty, for truth and for a voice. We stand for justice against the state and the racist policies that are tearing families apart.

The report is once again disgusting in the picture it paints about the treatment of First Nations people. First Nations people demand equal access to health, housing, education and secure employment. We can do things differently. We can change the racist justice system, stop the racist policing. The Greens will not stand in the way of any action which delivers justice for First Nations people and we welcome the standalone national plan to end violence against First Nations women and children that is developed, delivered and evaluated by First Nations women and community-controlled organisations. We are pleased the work has begun and we urge it to be funded properly and prioritised.

It's up to this place to fix it. It is a stain on our nation and a great shame on all of us that this report shows how limited progress has been. First Nations people like Jack Charles are strong, capable, talented and exceptional. We have so much to learn about this land and its waters, about food, about plants and animals, about the longest-living culture in the world before it's lost forever. We stand with all elders past, present, and emerging in their struggle for justice and we are once again ashamed by the size of the gap and of the length of time it is taking to close.

Debate adjourned.

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