Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Any death in custody is a tragedy, and of course we should work towards eliminating deaths in custody. The Prime Minister and my good friend and valued colleague the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, have demonstrated a willingness to work in a bipartisan fashion to address those very important issues. I reject the proposition of divisive comments from senior ministers.

Senator Wong interjecting—

I hear through your interjection that that is a reference to me and my comments on the weekend. Let me say to Senator Wong that, however legitimate the issue, however legitimate the cause, in the context of a pandemic, in the context of the many sacrifices that millions of Australians were asked to make in recent months in order to save lives and save livelihoods, it absolutely was reckless and irresponsible to conduct mass protests of this nature at this point in time. We are here—

Senator Wong interjecting—

Our mission as a country and our responsibility as a country is to avoid a second wave— (Time expired)