Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I was interested in a line of questioning from Senator Nampijinpa Price late yesterday around cultural practice et cetera. I was quite disturbed, actually, by some of the examples she raised. I listened to Senator McCarthy's very strident and appropriate comments around the government not condoning violence in any way, shape or form. For me, as someone who is not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, I'm listening to this conversation, hearing these practices that are legitimate under customary law and cultural practice, as outlined by Senator Nampijinpa Price. I'm also similarly hearing from the government, through Senator McCarthy, that the government won't condone practices that are violent. I'm just asking: what happens when there's a conflict between Australian law and cultural practice?