Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The results of the referendum on the weekend were painful for many people, and we hear the hurt and distress, especially from First Nations people who worked so hard for change. We know that now there needs to be healing. What's clear already, though, is that the Liberals sowed fear and division with a Trumpian campaign of misinformation. That campaign will cause lasting hurt and set back reconciliation in this country unless we tackle it head-on. The Leader of the Opposition's Trumpian misinformation campaign shows the urgent need for a truth-telling process in this country. We need a process of truth-telling that lets everyone in this country tell their experience of this country's history so that we can all learn from each other and come together.

Colonisation has been brutal on First Nations people. We need to hear the stories of the massacres, dispossession, stolen and detained children, deaths in custody and neglect. The Greens are calling for $250 million to be committed to a truth and justice commission in this term of parliament. Truth will lay the foundation for treaty and for lasting justice in this country, where we recognise First Nations peoples' sovereignty and all move forward together. These kinds of processes are underway across Australia at the state level, and they're working. Truth-telling is part of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. There's no need for delay, and we can't leave the country without a clear pathway forward. I urge the government to now move forward with truth and treaty.

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