Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The irony of the urgency here this afternoon—all this from a group of people who not only governed for nigh on a decade but have a long track record of railing against royal commissions or being dragged kicking and screaming to support them and who are largely the standard-bearers for action against inquiry. So we find ourselves on the Thursday of the week after a referendum—the first one in 25 years—where the nation said no. The Prime Minister, who is a man of his word, took the question to the people, as he said he would. As he said in question time today, he took it in the frame that had been requested by our First Nations people. They said yes, in large effect, in their seats, and the rest of the country said no.

We accept that decision, and we know that there is nothing like getting on with the job. That's what we are doing. Normally they would be the calls from those opposite, but, somewhere between last Saturday and this Thursday, they have found within their hearts the thought of a royal commission. I do not want to cast upon them the word 'hypocrite', but I do find it most telling that, in less than a week, they have suddenly found the urgency to provide a voice through a royal commission and not call for action, as we have been doing since we have been in government.

I have sat on the redress committee and watched the process of redress being afforded to people from our last royal commission, which was that of child sexual abuse in institutions. We not only conducted that royal commission as a Labor fraternity but sought redress for those people, and we have been implementing that redress. So I would urge the opposition to not lecture this government nor previous Labor governments on conducting royal commissions or taking action or providing very real redress for people. We are the walking embodiment of doing just that.

I come from a region, and I also acknowledge the member for Newcastle, who sits in the chair—it was so interesting that the member for Maranoa, the Leader of the Nationals, used the terminology 'shine the light' because that was the very phrase that was used by the Newcastle Herald, who led the charge with journalist Joanne McCarthy to shine that very light on institutionalised sexual abuse of children. It was rife in our community of the Hunter, and it just goes to show that it is not just First Nations communities that need that investigation. It happens in every community, in every social setting and in every area of disadvantage and advantage. It is a terrible, terrible curse on humanity, and it is something that we all have to actively work on, not politicise at a time of incredible political convenience, when it is not being used as a tool for the betterment of people. Call me cynical, if you will, Deputy Speaker, but I feel that this is the ultimate of insults to our First Nations people. Not only have we said to them, 'No, you're not getting a voice,' when they voted for it in large numbers, 'but now we're going to in some rather bizarre and perverse way accuse your communities of the disproportionate sexual abuse of children when we know that every community has that.'

I'm not turning my back on the fact that there is an issue. We are working on actual and practical solutions for our First Nations people. We haven't given them a voice, but we will continue to work with them. We will continue to put real promises in place for these children in their lives, going forward, and that's what we need here. I do acknowledge that we have elected 11 First Nations people, and, let me tell you, the place is better for members like the member for Lingiari, who I count as a friend and a colleague—she is a bright light in this place—and the member for Barton—the courage, the patience and the grace that our First Nations people display.

It is worthy of our urgent action. This government, the Albanese government, is doing that. We don't need a royal commission to tell us how to act on this. Our good conscience tells us what to do.

See this speech in context