My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Minister Wong. Does your government agree that a genocide has occurred on this continent?

I understand that that is a word that is used as a political point. There's also a legal definition. And I would say to you—

Sorry? No, what I was going to say is I think different senators, including in our party, would have used different words, but what I would say to you is I think the history of First Nations people in this country is a history that involves not only hardship but also brutality and death and murders and dispossession. And I am very aware of that. I appreciate the point you're making, but I don't want the definitional argument to suggest in any way that my view or the government's views detract from that.

Senator Thorpe, first supplementary?

New groundbreaking, peer reviewed research published in the Nature journal yesterday shows 2.2 million First Peoples lived on this continent before invasion—2.2 million, not 250,000 as previously thought. Over two million people were wiped out in the first years of invasion. What would you call wiping out up to two million people if not genocide? (Time expired)

I'm grateful to my colleagues who have provided me with some additional information in particular in relation to the Yoorrook Justice Commission finding. What I would again say to you is this. Firstly, we know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived and thrived for over 60,000 years. It is important that we as a country know and understand what has happened in Australia, including history that has not been spoken of and history which has not been taught. Part of that history is the painful truths, some of which you have alluded to, that there was, as I said, brutality, killing and dispossession. I am one that does believe that we should talk about that and understand that more— (Time expired)

Senator Thorpe, second supplementary?

Have you have you or any former federal government ever investigated whether a genocide has occurred on this continent?

What I am saying to you—and this is what the government's view is—is that we should have more telling of the truth of our history. Different people will have different words to describe that, but we should have more truth-telling. You ask this question of me in a week when great disrespect has been shown to First Nations people. If we as a country understood better our history, as painful as it is, then it might be that there would be more respect and understanding shown to our First Nations people.