Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Thorpe, for your question. I agree—and I would like to think that everyone in this chamber would agree—with Senator Dodson that, 32 years after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the rates of incarcerated First Nations adults and youth are unacceptable and the rates of deaths in custody among First Nations adults and youth are unacceptable. There are many members of our government, and those across the chamber, who have said before—and will I'm sure keep saying—that First Nations incarceration rates and deaths in custody are a national shame.

Coming into government, it was clear to us, unfortunately, that for the past nine years First Nations justice was just not a priority for the former government. That's why last year the Attorney-General worked closely with his colleague Ms Burney to form a First Nations justice task force with officials from the Attorney-General's Department and the National Indigenous Australians Agency.