Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to begin by commending for a short moment the motion moved by the member for Leichhardt, who just spoke, in relation to the plight of the people of the Torres Strait Islands. I think everyone in this House would agree that in some parts of Northern Queensland and closer to Papua New Guinea the people of the Torres Strait do do it tough and have for many years been affected by flooding. They have a whole range of very complex problems that they are facing and it is good to hear that people do stand up and have a voice so that we can actually look at better ways to address some of the complex problems. But I will criticise the member, just for two things. One is that he oversimplified the problem by just playing a simple game of blaming government. If you are going to do this then do it properly. The member smiles and I know why he does. If you are going to do it, just do it properly and be genuine and sincere about being a voice—

See this speech in context