Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I've said it before and I'll say it again until you understand. First Nations people are of country; we are not just from country. I want to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land, waters, air and sky of what we now call the Beetaloo and connected basins. The traditional owners that are still protecting country from desecration come from many nations and clans, but they have come together to fight for country. I acknowledge your struggle to protect your country. I support you, and everyone in this place must listen. They are standing united against the desecration of their lands and the poisoning of their waters. They fight for country like their ancestors and their law men and women, how their old people always have. They've maintained their country for thousands of generations, and you can see what's happened in just over 200 years: absolute desecration of country. They're in parliament this week with one message: together they will fight for country. I'm proud to be able to join with them in their fight. For years, they've been told lies by the gas and oil corporations—the very dirty companies that have brought so many of the politicians in this parliament.

I've sat with those companies, like Santos. They've told me how they con our people. For years, our people have been told that there would be no damage to country. They walk into communities and say: 'Everything's going to be alright. We're not going to damage.' They're lying. They're dirty liars, going into communities, destroying not only country but people's lives with lies that have been facilitated by the very politicians in this place that have been bought cheap by these dirty climate-destroying gas and oil corporations. Yes, we know that those opposite are in their pockets and vice versa; that's the problem in this country.

It's lies, like the acknowledgement of country: every morning we do an acknowledgement of country. You do your prayer and then have your acknowledgement of country right here in this chamber. What does that really mean, though? Do you really mean it from your heart, while you backdoor us, stab us in the back and rape and pillage our country and our water? Don't acknowledge country if you're going to go off and do that! These companies do not respect traditional owners. They have failed to consult properly. I know that Labor talks about consultation, but, gee, with their consultation Labor are just as bad as the government!

Consultation is not consent! Don't think that it is, because you've been getting away with it for too long—and both sides know that. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is clear: free, prior and informed consent of First Nations peoples must be secured before any action on country. Are you doing that, Labor? Are you doing that, Libs? We know that the National Party just don't give a stuff. So if that's how we're going to operate, with no consent, we know that— (Time expired)