Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister's and the Minister for Indigenous Australians' statements have shown that Labor intends to kick the can down the road, dodge questions, delay progress, say treaty is a state responsibility and hope people forget that they've broken yet another promise. Trifecta of Labor prime ministers: shame on you! This is a basic human right that everyone in this country takes for granted. Three per cent of the country has to wait for this report card to show us, yet again, that we have no rights in this country.

Closing the Gap continues to frame First Peoples in comparison to whiteness—your whiteness—and white achievement. We are only considered successful when we subscribe to the colonial system and its individualistic values. We have to go begging for basic human rights in 2024—begging for governments to stop taking our children and to stop locking us up. First Nations women are the most incarcerated women in the world. Our babies, as young as 10, are getting locked up at higher and higher rates. And you wonder why we're not meeting targets for early childhood development and why First Nations suicides are at crisis levels.

You expect us to come to your morning teas and get excited about the new commissioner, Closing the Gap and saying sorry. Our sovereign rights, as outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, continue to be denied by this government. We need truth and treaty so we can heal and move forward in a way that respects human rights and international standards. Stop the genocide of our people, Labor. Stop using the native police to get there. (Time expired)