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

Prime Minister. If people are protesting what they see as an unjust and inhumane genocide, the first step toward social cohesion is to come to the table with legitimacy and recognise that there can be no cohesion as long as the injustice persists. The Vietnam protests ended when the Vietnam War ended. Protests against apartheid in South Africa stopped once apartheid was dismantled. First Peoples here, the Palestinian people, the Kanak people, the Tibetans and many more continue to live, love and resist. We celebrate and acknowledge the warriors and the continued, lasting legacies of all the resistance, the love and the culture. We are still here. The Palestinians and the Lebanese are still here. We are one with country, and we are rooted in the land and in each other. Together, we have an unlimited amount of love, joy and grief between us. We will never stop. We are a never-ending song and storyline.

To those who commit this violence: you will be stopped. There will be no injustice left. There will be peace and liberation—that will be our legacy. You or your children or your children's children will look back and condemn this genocide. The truth will be told far and wide that the western civilisation you have built sits upon the graves of our people—that is your legacy. You live with that; you sleep with that at night.

The truth has splintered the narrative and the truth will set us free. We must continue to call out genocide, racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and human rights abuses everywhere we see them. We must make a commitment to truth, healing, treaty and justice. In the words of Kieran Stewart Assheton:

Our leadership is grounded in a deep connection to the land and a commitment to collective wellbeing that transcends individual or profit motives … that priorities the needs of the people and planet.

Kieran is pointing to something important: a commitment to taking direction from our elders and to lead with love and understanding.

I acknowledge this debate has taken place on the unceded sovereign lands of the real sovereigns—because this place ain't sovereign. You're not from here. This colonial government is not from here; it's from England. Charlie is your boss—our boss—