Share and Follow
It has 602 notches.
“There have been at least 17 deaths this year alone and still no government has fully implemented the Royal Commission’s recommendations after more than three decades.”
“This motion extends the Senate’s deepest sympathies to his family, to the Yuendumu community, to the families of the 17 First Peoples who have died in custody this year, and to the families of all those who have died since the 1991 Royal Commission,” she said.
These are not just statistics; they are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, cousins, siblings, grandchildren – lost to a system that continues to harm our people.
Her motion received support from crossbench and Labor parliamentarians in both the Senate and House of Representatives and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Senator Kerrynne Liddle.
Senator Watt said the Albanese Government was investing in First Nations-led justice reinvestment initiatives (where money that would be spent on prisons is, instead, invested in early intervention and diversionary programs) and called on the states and territories to do more.
“Change then was necessary; 34 years later, the job is still not done.”
Senator Thorpe called for unity and said the issue of First Nations deaths in custody was not about politics but about compassion.
“Together, we can get this done.”
