Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

As a co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine, I'd like to associate myself with the remarks of the member for Caldwell.

Last weekend in my electorate, which has a very high Indigenous population, the 'yes' vote was clearly not supported in the referendum. Just under 80 per cent of people voted no. I take great pride in the fact that I've represented such a large Indigenous population and really relish the relationships that I've built over that time.

Through community efforts, Clontarf and the individual efforts of school teachers and others, we've seen great work being done for young people coming through, but there is a gap, and I'm afraid we are letting down some of the small children. I've been saying this for some time. I believe the rights of a child to be safe, cared for and nurtured should trump the rights of a parent to treat that child poorly. So I do support the call from Senator Nampijinpa Price for an investigation and for a commission into this situation, because I'm told now by community leaders that these children are at risk and have been for some time.

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