Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

‘That is right,’ say my colleagues. It was done on the grounds that Brendan Nelson raised the issue of the Northern Territory intervention. That was the reason they decided to turn their backs during what was a bipartisan approach to saying sorry.

So, before they become so pleased with themselves in trumpeting their own compassion in this matter, I make the point that, while the Labor Party might be feeling chuffed with itself over this matter—and I have already referred to those who turned their backs and played politics right till the end—I am convinced that the apology is not a case of a change in the political landscape brought about by the new government bringing in this policy. I think the political landscape changed well before the election when we introduced the Northern Territory emergency action. The sea change occurred when the majority of the Australian people, who might once have been cynical about an apology and thought of it as hollow and lacking meaning, saw definite, practical action being taken by the government. We felt that sea change when we were in government. We felt that the great majority of Australians believed that an apology was acceptable and due because it would be combined with strong, practical action.

I think the sea change came for the Australian people when the great majority wanted an apology, for what they were once very cynical about, because of the strong action taken in the Northern Territory emergency action. So, it would be a tragedy if that action were to be unwound. It has been a marked success, with over 5,500 children in 48 communities now having had health checks, just to quote one figure, although it is probably the most significant figure of all. But to pull out the foundation stone upon which that action was built—that is, the removal of the permit system—would endanger the success of the whole action. The other side must know that it is the most practical action to take. The ability to succeed in the Northern Territory emergency action comes from the abolition of the permit system. Yet, in my judgement, the government are using the reinstatement of it as a symbol of the Left. They have reinstated it and, in so doing, they have unwound the most practical action taken in Aboriginal affairs for many decades.

It would be a tragedy if anything more was unwound; if you were not genuine and you caved in to the pressure I see on the news services to unwind the whole Northern Territory action. If you think I am overdramatising it, when you have staff members turning their backs on the Leader of the Opposition on the grounds that he raised the issue— (Time expired)