Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm a senator for the Northern Territory. It is very important to understand that we have the Northern Territory as well as the ACT. The Northern Territory is a very unique place in comparison to places like the ACT. While I can respect the way in which this parliament is likely to vote on this particular issue, there have been very little in the way of safeguards with regard to some of our most vulnerable members of this country who reside in the Northern Territory, where I'm from.

This is not just a matter of repealing a bill to allow for territories to make decisions. Being a representative of the Northern Territory, I also recognise some of the very dire decisions that the current Territory government have made with regard to the lives of some of the most vulnerable. I think my colleague the member for Lingiari, in the House of Representatives, has also expressed some of her deep concerns with regard to some of the decisions that the current Territory government have made.

In the Northern Territory, death is something that occurs on a regular basis. It's certainly featured heavily in my life, from when I was a child. So I see it as my responsibility as a senator for the Northern Territory to do everything that I can to save lives. I think it's very important not to disregard my colleagues' request in terms of taking into consideration these amendments going forward. It's not a flippant, last-minute decision to try to delay the decision on this particular bill, the Restoring Territory Rights Bill 2022. It is actually about considering what those safeguards might look like, particularly for vulnerable Australians, who are often unheard and often disregarded because they're often out of sight and out of mind, certainly for this place here in Canberra and for other parts of the nation.

We hear platitudes of acknowledgement and respect for vulnerable Aboriginal Australians all the time. We hear it constantly. But, having spent only a short time in these chambers, I feel we never really, deeply take consideration of those very vulnerable people in those communities. That is why I am here.

I hope you can understand this, Senator Pocock: our circumstances are very different from your territory to my territory. I hope that my colleagues in these chambers can understand what I am trying to convey, not just with this particular issue but with other issues that are going to have consequences for some of our most vulnerable people in this nation.

I cannot stop the outcome of the vote on this bill. What I can do is support this chamber considering the amendments that have been foreshadowed by my colleague in order that we might have some level of safeguard going forward. That's because I do recognise that, in the Northern Territory, we have a government that is not listening—that has allowed for the destruction of vulnerable people. I field calls every single day about alcohol-fuelled violence, because they respect the rights of drinkers and perpetrators who act out violently, as opposed to the rights of vulnerable victims in those communities, who are fleeing the communities—children are being taken out of school right now.

I do not trust that the current government can make the right decisions for some of our most vulnerable. We need to consider these amendments so that there might be some level of safeguard.

Progress reported.