Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this motion. Before I begin, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that, probably since this motion was drafted, we've had the deaths of more women, particularly the horrific and tragic death of a mother of three earlier this week in Perth. I don't know what the culturally appropriate thing to do is, but I want to extend my deepest sympathies to her family and note that she was described by her family as very caring:

Everyone knew her, felt safe with her. She loved her children, everyone's children. She made a fuss over everyone.

She is no longer with us today.

I want to thank Senator Thorpe for moving this motion, and I want to thank Senator Thorpe for moving the motion which established the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children. I do want to use this as an opportunity to update the Senate on the work that were doing. The chair has aptly done that today. I really do want to make sure that we're conducting those hearings in a way that protects the confidence and privacy of families. That's why we are being very diligent. It might seem like we've asked for a lot of time to conduct these hearings. We've asked for an extension of time, and we intend to provide an update to the Senate on the work. But it was really important to me as a member of that committee that we took the time to understand what some of the issues and barriers would be, not only to the evidence we would receive but even for families as they relived that trauma by giving evidence. We looked at how we could do that in an appropriate and safe way. The deputy chair uses the word 'trauma', and that is the only word to describe what these families have been through. It is trauma that is not just intergenerational but unrelenting. In most circumstances and in the evidence we've heard, I'd say that trauma has been unnecessary and inflicted on people who didn't deserve to live a life without their loved ones. Carefully, without naming the families we met, I want to thank them for participating in hearings. I know that it's been really difficult and really painful to relive a lot of that storytelling.

As a senator, you get these opportunities from time to time to participate in work outside your realm of expertise, and it's some of the most meaningful work I think I'll ever do in the Senate. It's meaningful because I've never had the opportunity to hear those stories firsthand. They're not just moving but do change the way you see and understand the world. That's an experience that I don't think I would have ever had unless I was part of this committee process. I'm sorry that families have had to go through the process of telling these stories again, but I'm very grateful for it.

On the substantive issues that are raised in the committee around the conduct of police and authorities, what is real and alive to us as committee members is that we are hearing evidence of systemic issues that cannot be addressed by a couple of recommendations through a Senate inquiry. This work does need to be methodical and really well thought out. We thank the Senate for the extension of time, and we thank Senator Thorpe for supporting the work that we're doing. We intend to hold further hearings, but we are really mindful of going back to authorities, putting these issues to them and then going back to families and asking them if there's anything else we need to be aware of. We're going to hold some hearings—I think I can say—in Queensland. We're not just looking at one state or one police service. I know you've raised issues about the NSW police and the families from New South Wales, but I just want to make it clear that we are looking at this at a national level, and that's what this inquiry was meant to do, because only the Senate can consider this from a federal point of view.

With the few moments I have left, I want to thank the chair for the way that you've conducted the hearings and the way you've approached the task. I thank Senator Cox for her contribution, and I thank Senator Thorpe. I hope we can continue on the path forward that we've established in creating a safe space for senators to ask the dumb questions that we don't know the answers to, to make mistakes and to understand that it's really important that we don't have all the answers yet, but that the reason we're doing the work is so that we can establish some justice and some resolution, albeit very small, for families who have suffered for a very long time.

I thank Senator Thorpe for moving this motion because it gave us an opportunity to talk about the work we have been doing. The work we have been doing isn't finished. It will be a very emotional day, I think, when we do finalise the work of the inquiry, and I hope all senators benefit from the opportunity to hear from the committee once we have finished.

Debate interrupted.