Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Tonight, we are on the cusp of a historic achievement. For the first time in years there now exists, I am pleased to inform the chamber, consensus among the majority parties of both the Senate and the House of Representatives on the need for a royal commission into the violence, abuse and neglect of disabled persons in institutional settings. Today, I put a motion before this Senate calling on the House and this chamber to express that just same view, and I am thrilled to be able to say that that motion was put with the co-sponsorship of the Labor Party and Centre Alliance and with the support of Senators Hinch, Storer and Burston. I am equally thrilled to be able to inform the Australian people that this motion now has the majority support of the House of Representatives, with members McGowan, Phelps, Bandt and Wilkie all signing on, alongside Ms Banks, indicating that they will support this motion when put before them tomorrow.

This is a breakthrough. It has been hard fought for by disability advocates since 2015. We have spent years campaigning to bring the Labor and Liberal parties on board with this proposal. Stories have been told. Pain has been relived. Extraordinary effort has been expended. But now we have consensus. Now is the opportunity, now is the window, for both houses of parliament to express their view that there must urgently be the establishment of a royal commission to investigate the horrendous systemic abuses of disabled people in institutional care.

The only barrier which exists to the parliament expressing this view, a view which is held in the overwhelming majority by the Australian people, is this government's tendency to use process to avoid democratic reality. I'm sure in the next 24 hours we will see instances of this. I'm sure that there will be many occasions on which the government will try and try—and try again—to avoid the reality that they have been wrong on this issue since day one. They are wrong now and have always been wrong in their opposition to a royal commission. I urge them, I urge members of this chamber and I urge members of the House: take this evening to reconsider your position. Again and again, new evidence has come to light. Again and again, the stories of disabled people have been told in this place. It is okay to change your mind when new information comes to light. It is what mature, responsible people do. I call on the government to take that mature, responsible and moral course of action tomorrow. Join with us in passing this motion. Across the aisle, let us begin this urgently needed investigation. I thank the chamber.