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

by leave—I table a non-conforming petition. I seek leave to make a two-minute statement.

Leave granted.

In April this year, I met with Larrakia people whose land the city of Darwin is built on. They spoke with me about the importance of Lee Point, an old-growth coastal bushland that is home to over 270 species of birds and to trees that are over 400 years old. For centuries Larrakia people have brought their children to Lee Point for ceremony, to collect and eat the native foods, to share Larrakia creation stories and to look after the land.

Despite the efforts of Larrakia people and the community of Darwin to protect Lee Point, on 30 April this government allowed Defence Housing Australia to begin bulldozing this pristine cultural country. But, with our continued pressure, Defence Housing Australia have been forced to pause their destruction of Larrakia country to investigate claims of illegal land-clearing practices.

I'm tabling a petition delivered to me by the Larrakia people today. This petition carries the names of 16,000 supporters not just from Darwin and the Northern Territory but from across Australia. It is time that the government listens to the Larrakia people. They're in the building today, and the minister should have respect and meet with them personally instead of making excuses. Larrakia people want their land returned—their sacred and ancestral lands—and the Australian government must permanently stop the destruction of Lee Point. The land that is being cleared must be replanted, and the Northern Territory government must recognise the significance of Lee Point for the continuation of Larrakia culture, a culture that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. I table this petition and support the call for Lee Point to be returned to the care, ownership and protection of Larrakia people.