Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Well it's a bit rich to get a lecture on First Nations culture from the likes of Senator Pauline Hanson. It's also a bit rich to get a lecture about not wanting division from the likes of Pauline Hanson's One Nation. She seems entirely blind to her own privilege. It is not welcomes to country and acknowledgements of country that are dividing this nation; it is racism.

I stand in support of the statement made by Senator McCarthy—eloquently spoken, as always—and I note that we stand here on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land, over which sovereignty was never ceded, and that we should all take pride in the longest continuing culture on the planet and that that is a source of strength for all of us. It enriches all Australians.

I am pleased that we have an acknowledgment of country incorporated into our morning parliamentary processes, and I want to acknowledge that it took many years of many good people pushing for that before this chamber, as a whole, agreed to do that. That was a moment that made us all bigger, and I am proud of that moment.

I am also pleased that, after the discussion of respect in this chamber yesterday, this issue of the Pauline Hanson's One Nation senators turning their backs on an acknowledgement has been raised in that context. I note that it's not a censure motion, but I acknowledge that it was a respectful contribution made by Senator Malarndirri McCarthy.

I would like to finish by saying that the Greens are looking forward to working on issues to genuinely close the gap and looking forward to working on issues of the over-incarceration of First Nations people and the continued shameful record of Aboriginal deaths in custody, over which a really important royal commission report was drafted and has, sadly, gathered dust for far too long.