David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of Senator Thorpe's motion. I would like to thank her for her tireless work on this issue and for trying to get elected representatives, our Senate and our parliament to take this more seriously after decades and decades of inaction. This is something that affects all states and territories. If you look here in the nation's capital, in the ACT, two Indigenous men died in custody within four days at Canberra's only prison in mid-February this year. We've had three deaths in custody at AMC since August 2024.

These deaths have rightly prompted demands from families and people in Indigenous communities for leaders to actually get on with long-overdue reform. In May 2025, the ACT government committed to establishing an independent inquiry into systemic issues concerning Indigenous detainees. This is clearly part of a bigger crisis, and I don't understand why we haven't seen more appetite from the major parties to really deal with this. Again, I thank Senator Thorpe for her work.

Here, in the ACT, we've seen Thomas Emerson MLA doing some great work in the legislative assembly to push the Labor government here and to actually align their actions with their rhetoric and sort this out. I'd also like to mention Julie Tongs from Winnunga. She has been a fierce voice in this debate and is constantly pushing for change, as well as people like Joe Hedger and many others who, I think, have finally got the ACT government to start to take this seriously.