Russell Broadbent (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

And supported by the community—all the community, whichever colour they were. It was supported by all of them. There's always more to the story. My uncle Keith Skinner was the lighthouse harbour master pilot for Ceduna port. My Aunty Loris and Uncle Keith lived over there after he came off the Lighthouse Supply Ship Cape York as the deputy mate. He went to Ceduna and he brought all the ships into the harbour. I only ever heard these wonderful stories about this beautiful place—Ceduna—yet in this parliament today, what do I hear? I hear shocking stories about what's going on in Ceduna. I hear the complaints that are coming to members. I hear the difficulties that the police force and all the agencies that support the Indigenous communities are now having. That doesn't paint a beautiful picture of a wonderful city. That doesn't mean you should have guard fences and barbed wire for protection. That doesn't mean people are being exploited for their weaknesses. Goodness! We do that right across Australia. What it does say to me is, 'We've made a mistake.' And no-one's been brave enough to say, 'Yes, we have made a mistake, and this is the legislation we're putting in place to fix it.' If that were the case, I'd be totally supporting you.

We're not opposing this legislation, but we are making the point that people with a certain ideology and process, within the parliament, make big commitments in election campaigns without addressing what the people actually need and want, and what a difference it's made in certain communities, and what a blessing it's been to a lot of women and children who were better off under the old scheme. Does anybody think of that? I'll say that again: women and children. They're real people; they bleed. They could be my kids or your kids. It could be your wife, your sister or your family. And what do Indigenous people hold most sacred? Family. What we can do for family, as a nation, is get on with this legislation. We can recognise we've made a mistake and get this over with as quickly as possible because we may just save one life.

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