Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tomorrow, Tuesday, 13 February, is the 10th anniversary of the apology to the stolen generation. I remember, 10 years ago, being in front of the Royal Darwin Hospital when then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came to visit the Timor-Leste President, Jose Ramos-Horta, and the looks on the faces of countrymen and countrywomen—Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Territorians—out the front of that hospital when they saw Prime Minister Rudd was something to behold. There was genuine thanks and relief that someone had finally said sorry. It has caused me to reflect on some of the priorities of people in my electorate, and when I sat through the Prime Minister's Closing the gap presentation just a little while ago I was underwhelmed, to say the least.

Let me just point out a couple of quick things. The response of the government and the Prime Minister to the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory was grossly inadequate. It is easy to call for a royal commission. How about putting your hand in your pocket to help us come up with some solutions? Then there is Senator Scullion's backflip on remote housing. The Northern Territory government is putting in record amounts of funding but, unfortunately, that's not being met by the Commonwealth, which is shameful. It needs to be reviewed. (Time expired)