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

Across the country, governments are tightening bail laws. In Victoria, shameful new laws have reversed improvements made after Veronica Nelson, an Aboriginal woman, was killed in custody through gross negligence after being denied bail. Last week in the Northern Territory, a young girl accused of shoplifting was locked in solitary confinement in an adult police watch house for three nights, with the lights left on, because an after hours bail service was axed.

We know cost-of-living pressures drive the theft of basics, but instead of receiving support, people, including children as young as 10, are caged and abused. Lack of bail access is the biggest driver of First Nations overincarceration, particularly for women. There are more women are in prison awaiting trial than those convicted, mostly for non-violent offences that wouldn't result in jail time. Thousands are locked up without ever being found guilty.

I've called on the Attorney-General, the Treasurer and the Minister for Indigenous Australians for urgent national investment in therapeutic bail support. They also have an open letter from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, co-signed by 91 Aboriginal organisations and legal services, demanding action. Bail reduces remand populations, keeps families together and supports rehabilitation and community safety. Minister McCarthy says she's raised bail issues with the states and territories—and what is the result? They don't listen to her. And, yesterday, her Prime Minister backed up the bail laws. Shame! (Time expired)