Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move a motion relating to Kumanjayi Little Baby, as circulated:

Omit all words after "That the Senate" and insert:

(a) mourns the tragic death of 5-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby;

(b) extends its deepest sympathies to her family, her communities in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, the Warlpiri and Gurindji families of Kalkarindji, and all Australians who grieve her loss;

(c) recognises that this child's death is not an isolated tragedy but a consequence of ongoing community dysfunction that governments have failed to address honestly or effectively;

(d) commends the volunteers, community members, police and emergency service workers who searched tirelessly for Kumanjayi Little Baby, especially the NT Police;

(e) calls on the Federal and Territory Governments to take immediate, concrete action to address the conditions including family violence, inadequate policing resources, and child protection failures that put children at risk in remote communities;

(f) demands that governments be held accountable for delivering measurable outcomes, and that community safety in remote Australia be treated with the same urgency afforded to any other Australian community;

(g) affirms that every child in this country deserves protection regardless of where they live, and that real respect for this community means action and accountability; and

(h) affirms that the safety and wellbeing of Indigenous children must always come first.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call you, Senator McCarthy, and before we begin, I inform senators that, at the family's request, 'Kumanjayi Little Baby' should be used as the culturally appropriate form of reference. I also remind senators that the family has requested that her short life not be used by parliamentarians for reasons that do not honour and respect her.

Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Senate today for this opportunity on behalf of the families, the Warlpiri families and the Gurindji families, and I acknowledge the deep loss for a fellow senator, Senator Nampijinpa Price, and her families.

As a Yanyuwa Garrwa woman, as senator for the Northern Territory and as Minister for Indigenous Australians, I rise today to share my heartbreak and extend my deepest condolences to Kumanjayi Little Baby's mum, brother and family, who loved this little girl so much. I reach out to the people of Alice Springs and to every single person involved in the search. Hundreds and hundreds of people from right around came together from all walks of life, and to each and every one of you involved: thank you for the days and the hours that you put into looking for this little baby girl. I reach out to my constituents in Alice Springs/Mparntwe and across the Northern Territory, who are devastated that this could happen in their community; to First Nations people across the country, who feel this loss so intensely; and to the whole Australian community, who have been shattered by news of the loss.

This nationwide sorrow was demonstrated by the sea of pink that swept the country on Thursday night—gatherings of reflection and remembrance for the loss of this little girl. It was heartening to see hundreds of Australians take part in these vigils, standing together and supporting each other. It has enabled the families who have come together to know that they are not alone, whether it be in the Centre or where Special Envoy Scrymgour, Senator Price and the member for Berowra were in Alice Springs; whether it was in Perth, in the west where I know you, President, Senator Cox and the member for Perth gathered with the community; whether it was in Melbourne in the south-east, where I know Senator Stewart was with the member for Cooper, Assistant Minister Kearney; or whether it was in the desert in Yuendumu, where Warlpiri families put together a beautiful pink shrine to this beautiful girl. In Darwin an enormous crowd gathered on the grounds outside parliament in quiet reflection. I attended with my girls, who are only a few years older than Kumanjayi Little Baby was, bringing the loss of this young life into gut-wrenching reality.

In this grief it's also heartening to remember the search and, as I said, the community of volunteers. Right across Australia people reached out. I thank all those Australians who reached out both to my office and to that of Marion Scrymgour. I pay tribute to them—hundreds of people, volunteers and police and people from all walks of life. The search ended in heartbreak, but it does not diminish the determination of those who dropped everything to assist in the search. I want to use this opportunity to thank them again.

That community effort helps us all to remember that this little baby girl isn't just a headline or a statistic. She was a little girl, as important as any other, and she was so loved. In the words of her mum, whom I spent time with and whose words were read at the vigil in Alice: 'I want you all to know that my heart is broken into a million pieces and I want you to know that I'm having trouble knowing how I can repair it and how I can live without my baby girl. She loved cuddling puppies. She loved watching Blueyand Masha and the Bear. She was my little princess—my princess who loved the colour pink. She also loved the colours of the rainbow. For all these reasons, I ask that her short life not be used by any politician for reasons that do not honour and respect my baby girl.'

These are difficult days, but I do thank the Senate. I thank my colleagues who've reached out. We all send our strength to the families in Central Australia, and we all know that we have work in front of us.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

Omit all words after "That the Senate" and insert:

(a) mourns the tragic death of 5-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby;

(b) extends its deepest sympathies to her family, her communities in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, the Warlpiri and Gurindji families of Kalkarindji, and all Australians who grieve her loss;

(c) recognises that this child's death is not an isolated tragedy but a consequence of ongoing community dysfunction that governments have failed to address honestly or effectively;

(d) commends the volunteers, community members, police and emergency service workers who searched tirelessly for Kumanjayi Little Baby, especially the NT Police;

(e) calls on the Federal and Territory Governments to take immediate, concrete action to address the conditions including family violence, inadequate policing resources, and child protection failures that put children at risk in remote communities;

(f) demands that governments be held accountable for delivering measurable outcomes, and that community safety in remote Australia be treated with the same urgency afforded to any other Australian community;

(g) affirms that every child in this country deserves protection regardless of where they live, and that real respect for this community means action and accountability; and

(h) affirms that the safety and wellbeing of Indigenous children must always come first.

I don't want to be here right now—to have to stand in this chamber to deliver a condolence speech for a little girl in my family, Sharon Napanangka Granites. I read her name into the history books today in her honour. She was five years old. She was loved. She should still be here. I think about my late brother, Leonard, who passed away too young, before he had a chance to grow into adulthood. In our culture he would have been one of her other fathers. I find myself wondering whether things might have been different if he had lived, whether he would have been able to protect her. The only comfort I can take from these circumstances is in believing that she is now with him and so many of our family who have been taken from us too soon. The only comfort I can take is that they are with our heavenly father now.

But there is no escaping the reality of what happened. My niece's life was taken senselessly, selfishly and horrifically. The hardest truth of all is that for many in my home town none of this came as a surprise. The truth is that people do not want to speak this out loud. For too long in this country, there has been silence around what is happening in too many town camps and remote communities. It's a silence driven by fear—a fear of causing offence, a fear of being labelled racist and fear of speaking honestly about the conditions of dysfunction, violence, alcohol abuse and neglect vulnerable children are growing up in. That silence is killing our babies.

When I say our babies, our people, I mean Australians. My niece was a little Australian girl, yet there is an ideology in this country that has deliberately encouraged people to treat children like her differently because of her racial heritage. It is that same ideology that has created a hands-off culture within parts of the child-protection system—an ideology that too often places cultural sensitivities and political correctness ahead of the safety of children, the same ideology that reveres organisations, bureaucracies and so-called 'leadership structures' while vulnerable women and children continue to suffer behind closed doors. It is the same ideology that teaches people to stay silent in the face of wrongdoing, because speaking honestly might offend somebody. Well, I am no longer interested in protecting adults who feel uncomfortable about truths while children are being buried.

As more details have emerged around my niece's death, Australians have learnt that multiple warnings were reported, made in regard to her safety, and these warnings were not acted upon adequately. They should horrify every single one of us in this chamber and across this country. Let me say clearly that this is not an isolated case. For years I have raised concerns about the failures within child protection. I have spoken to foster carers who have raised loved ones, Aboriginal children, from infancy, who have seen them placed back into dangerous and dysfunctional circumstances. I have spoken to police officers, social workers, paediatricians and frontline workers who have watched children be retraumatised over and over again in a system that's supposed to protect them. Every time these concerns are raised, those who attempt to shut down the conversation say, 'Now is not the time.' They say, 'We should not politicise tragedy,' but, as my niece's aunt, I have an obligation to fight for justice in her honour. As a parliamentarian, the very reason I chose to come to this place—I have an obligation to fight for change so that fewer families endure what my family is enduring right now.

Condolences become empty when they are accompanied by excuses for inaction. Condolences become hollow when difficult conversations are avoided in the name of cultural sensitivity while vulnerable children are exposed to violence, abuse and neglect. I'm tired of the excuses. I'm tired of governments announcing billions of dollars in spending while conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate. I'm tired of hearing about symbolism, acknowledgements and gestures while children continue to grow up in unsafe environments. Housing matters, but housing alone is not going to solve this crisis. Building another house means nothing if violence, alcoholism, abuse and neglect continue unchecked inside these homes. We've got to be honest. We've got to admit this. And town camps, which many people romanticise, have become places of entrenched dysfunction; places where alcohol restrictions exist on paper but are routinely ignored; places where overcrowding, violence and criminal behaviour have become normalised; places where vulnerable women and children are too often left unprotected.

While billions continue to flow through Indigenous programs, organisations and bureaucracies, Australians are entitled to ask a simple question: where are the outcomes? Right now, the outcomes are not there. We cannot continue hiding behind race. We cannot continue pretending that lowering expectations for Aboriginal children is compassion. It is not compassion; it's neglect. It's the racism of low expectations. It's become deeply embedded in parts of our institutions. Aboriginal children are treated as though they should tolerate conditions that would never be accepted in any other child's life in this country, and this must end.

Children deserve safety before ideology. They deserve protection before symbolism. Children deserve love, stability and educational opportunity before political sensitivities—and, yes, culture matters, but no child should be sacrificed on the altar of culture or political correctness. No child should be left in danger because adults are too afraid to intervene. No child should lose their life because governments lack the courage to act.

We need, at the very least, a serious inquiry into the failures that continue to place vulnerable Indigenous children at risk. We need scrutiny of how this money is being spent. We need stronger accountability across organisations responsible for town camps and service delivery. We need child protection systems that prioritise safety above ideology, and we need leadership that's prepared to speak honestly about these realities. Most of all, we need courage—courage to stop pretending, courage to stop hiding behind slogans, courage to stop treating honesty as racism, because the cost of silence is now measured in the life of my five-year-old niece.

She was not a statistic. She was a child. She was part of my family. She was part of this nation. She deserved the same safety, dignity and opportunities every Australian child deserves, and, if her death does not confirm the need to confront the truth, then I fear we will continue failing the next little girl—and the next one, the next one and then the next one. I don't want another family to stand where mine stands today. I don't want my family to continue to stand where my family stands today. I don't want to bury another child from my own family.

I don't want this parliament to offer condolences while refusing to confront the conditions that make those condolences necessary in the first place. I want the parliament to put aside our political differences and stand up for what's right for our children. This is what we're here for. This should be the most important thing that every single one of us is here for—to put aside our differences and to put our children first. That is what we need to do, and that is all I ask.

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

On behalf of the Australian Greens, I rise to offer my deepest condolences to the family, including Senator Price, and community of Kumanjayi Little Baby. My heart aches for them, as I'm sure all of our hearts do. Words will never be enough to express the pain and the grief that the loss of this beautiful little girl has caused. A five-year-old with a cheeky smile, she was loved dearly by her mother and her family. Her future was stolen from her.

The pain is felt not just in Kumanjayi Little Baby's community, not just in Mparntwe/Alice Springs; it is felt throughout Australia. Thank you deeply to everyone who helped with the search for Kumanjayi Little Baby. Mparntwe/Alice Springs demonstrated what a united and supportive community looks like. Hundreds of residents, first responders, Aboriginal organisations, people who had never even met Kumanjayi Little Baby, gave everything to try and bring her home. When her family's worst fears were realised, the community came together again. The sea of pink at community led vigils around the country last Thursday was a show of support, of solidarity and of love. Thank you to everyone who will hold Kumanjayi Little Baby's family close in this sorry time. Thank you to the staff of 13YARN, who have been supporting so many First Nations people affected by this tragedy. While sorry business is ongoing, we must give Kumanjayi Little Baby's family space, respect and time to mourn and grieve in accordance with cultural practices.

This motion is a condolence motion. This motion is not calling for action, but those calls will come, and they must. The Greens condemn the epidemic of violence against First Nations women and children. We must work collectively to prevent anything like this from ever happening again. There is a criminal case underway. There will be a coronial inquest. The Northern Territory government has announced an inquiry into its child protection system. These processes will interrogate what has happened and what needs to happen. There will be complex questions and uncomfortable answers. Weaponisation and politicisation will not help us find solutions. Kneejerk intervention in First Nations communities historically has at best failed to deliver lasting change and at worst been harmful to those communities.

Top-down political responses do not work. Responses must be evidence based. They must be holistic and look beyond this case to the underlying drivers of harm. Most importantly, any response must be led by Aboriginal women and their communities. Aboriginal self-determination and leadership and the collective wisdom of First Nations women must light the way. Their voices are strong, and we must listen. The staunch Aboriginal leadership in Central Australia has held community together over an extremely difficult time. They will lead on critical next steps. Passionate statements of new National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Sue-Anne Hunter, and the Northern Territory Commissioner for Children, Shahleena Musk, demand that the rights and safety of children guide our actions.

The minister has spoken about Our Ways—Strong Ways—Our Voices, the standalone national plan launched in March after many years of dedicated advocacy by First Nations women. That plan emphasises community controlled responses and the addressing of systemic factors. The plan recognises that the safety and wellbeing of children and women is not just about a justice response. It's about supporting families to thrive. It's about actively facilitating culture, community and connection to country. It's about tackling unmet needs and the chronic underfunding that keeps too many First Nations people from accessing services.

I acknowledge again the profound grief felt by Kumanjayi Little Baby's family, her community and affected First Nations people, and all people across the country. We owe it to Kumanjayi Little Baby and to those grieving her to do better.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My heart goes out to the family of this poor little girl. You'd think there could be nothing worse for a family than to experience the abduction and murder of an innocent five-year-old. However, there are things that make it worse. This was a tragedy that could have been prevented and was not unprecedented. The appalling setting in which it happened is a national disgrace that shames Australia. It should disgust us all that any Australian child is forced to live in such squalid and dangerous conditions in an obviously dysfunctional community.

It's been almost 20 years since the Little children are sacred report, and it's evident that children in these Northern Territory communities are no safer today than they were back then. Justice for this tragedy will be fully served only when children in these communities are no less safe than children anywhere else in Australia. Justice will be completely served only when those who are responsible for the ongoing dysfunction of these communities are held to account. Justice will be achieved only when the Indigenous corporations, which receive huge amounts of taxpayers money to close the gaps, are held accountable for their failures and their rampant corruption and nepotism.

For years now I have spoken out about what is happening in our Aboriginal communities, these Aboriginal industries—corporations—and the waste of money. It is not about lack of money; it is about lack of ability or will to do something about it. How many times over the years have we spoken about this, time and time again? And nothing happens. How often have we spoken about Closing the Gap? And it's only got worse.

We have to get rid of the racial division that's happening in this nation and pull together as leaders, to listen to the people in these communities, to read one report from a resident in this town saying: 'I've been complaining about the conditions of the house. I can't get a lock on my door. The stove doesn't work.' It's not through a lack of money, because millions of dollars have gone to that community, run by the same council leaders that have done it for years because there's corruption and nepotism. How many times have I asked for reports to be done, audits to be done, but you shut your ears to it; you're not interested. What's happened is disgraceful, and I've spoken about it before.

I've been to Doomadgee. I've seen the children on the streets there. You know why? Because they're frightened to go home because of dysfunctional homes and because of the abuse, the domestic violence, the alcohol, the drugs that are taken—even the sexual abuse of these children. But we turn a blind eye to it. You can't say anything about it, because you're called a racist. It's disgraceful. I feel for these poor children. I feel for the communities where there is domestic violence. Until you really face facts about what is happening in these communities and speak up and be truthful about the matter—go and find out where the billions of dollars are going. Why hasn't it been spent to improve these lives? Why do these people and these children live in squalor? They don't have the right education. You can't intervene, because you're called a racist. Call it out for what it is. Look past that.

We have an obligation to every child in this nation—every child. It doesn't matter what colour their skin is. If they're living in these conditions, then you take them out of those conditions and put them where they are going to be loved and cared for. But this man who allegedly committed this offence—that has to stop, too. And this is not the first child. I have heard that this has been happening to other children, children as young as two. The sexual abuse that happens in these communities has to stop. We have to intervene. We have to do something about it. For God's sake, we're all Australians. Get past what colour our skins are, whether Indigenous or non-Indigenous. Look after our future generations.

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a specific kind of silence that fills a space when a community carries their collective heartache. I rise to speak about a five-year-old girl. Her name was Kumanjayi Little Baby. She was a Warlpiri girl living at Old Timers, just outside Alice Springs. She loved the colour pink, and, just like so many of our families who love their children, she was loved, very loved, by her family. Grief does not stop at community boundaries, and so today this Senate extends its sympathies to her family, to her communities in Alice Springs and across Central Australia, and to the Warlpiri families and to the Gurindji families for whom this loss is just as real and just as close. While many questions remain, Kumanjayi Little Baby's family have asked for this moment not to be politicised.

Last week, Australians held vigils across the nation, wearing her favourite colour, pink. In Melbourne we gathered at the Aborigines Advancement League in Thornbury. At the league we had a smoking ceremony, dances and a poem. We held candles. But, importantly, we stood together, and within that quiet reflection lies a profound moral necessity—the refusal to look away. I carry that night into the chamber with me today. This Senate joins Kumanjayi Little Baby's family, First Nations leaders and community leaders in calling for calm and for respect, for the whole community to come together for sorry business.

Children are our most sacred gifts. They are the living breath of our ancestors and our future. The loss of Kumanjayi Little Baby isn't just a tragedy; it is a deep, spiritual ache that resonates through every one of us. We must hold space for this grief together, acknowledging the preciousness of a life lost and a heartache that remains. This cannot be another moment we grieve and forget. To her family and community, this chamber holds you, and your loss is witnessed here. To Kumanjayi Little Baby, this nation mourns you. Rest in the Dreaming, little one; you are carried in the hearts of many.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise on behalf of the coalition to speak on behalf of this motion but more particularly to support the amendment that has been moved by Kumanjayi Little Baby's aunt Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. The reason that Jacinta has moved the amendment is that, as she expressed to all of us about her niece's life, the words that we pass in this chamber must be worthy of the life that we are today honouring. To be worthy of Kumanjayi Little Baby's life, we must be honest. We owe it not just to Kumanjayi Little Baby, who was just five years old; we owe the truth to her family, but, more than that, we owe the truth to all Australians.

There's a song that says: 'We believe the children are our future. Teach them well. Let them lead the way.' As we stand today here in this chamber, we have failed yet again. We have failed another Indigenous child. Jacinta, that was one of the most powerful speeches, I think, ever given in this chamber. Why? Because today you are the face, you are the reality, of what so many Indigenous parents, what so many Indigenous families, go through—the burying of a child. Worse than that, it's the burying of a child when we all know there was red flag after red flag.

As we've heard, Kumanjayi Little Baby was just five years old. She had her life ahead of her. She loved the colour pink. Just like all other children, she loved Bluey and she loved Cocomelon. She had brothers. She loved playing Minecraft with her older brother. This is her reality. This is the reality of a system that has failed, time and time again, despite the billions and billions of dollars that flow out of this place every single year. As Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said, we don't ever ask: what is actually the outcome of those billions of dollars that flow out of this place every single year? This is her reality. A little five-year-old was put to bed in a house in the Old Timers camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs. It was on Anzac Day this year. She was taken by a monster and she was killed in the most horrific manner. She had a name. She had a family. We have heard the raw emotion from her aunt today in the Senate about the impact that her death has had not just on the family but on the community. A five-year-old, despite the red flags, despite the billions and billions of dollars, the rivers of gold that flow out of this place every single year, has had a future taken from her.

That is why we have moved the amendment to the motion. It's because what we do not want in passing this motion today is to allow her death to become just another statistic. We stand here, we give words of condolence and we pat ourselves on the back that we've said the right thing and that the good news is another billion dollars will flow out the door. We don't want her death to become words that fade before they become action. As Jacinta has so eloquently put it, we must today go further than condolence. We must go further than sympathy, and we must—all of us. It doesn't matter what political party we are from. We all have collective responsibility here for a system that, under government after government after government, has failed our most vulnerable. We must start demanding accountability. Jacinta, on behalf of all of us, I can't begin to imagine what your family is going through, but we need to demand accountability on your behalf.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Thursday, across the nation, by candlelight and wearing pink, people stood in strength and love with the family of Kumanjayi Little Baby, who we honour again today. Her mother said she loved cuddling puppies, watching Bluey, listening to Bruno Mars and playing Minecraft with her big brother—the simple joys of childhood so many families would recognise. Her mother asked for her to be remembered as a beautiful little girl in pink deeply loved by her family.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen the best of this country as thousands of us come together, setting differences aside to stand with this family in shared humanity and healing. As we work through the need for change, we must hold onto that. The family asked for their child not to be made a political football. Not everyone has respected those wishes. We have seen damaging commentary and calls for reforms that would further harm our people. I will address those debates directly at another time—believe me—because this is a time of deep grief and sorry business for our people. We must respect the family as any of us would expect for our own families.

Sunday was Mother's Day. As Aboriginal mothers, we hold in common a deep and unique love for our children, an understanding that they are sacred, because our children carry our old people and our future. They carry the promise that, despite everything done to our people, we will continue on. But, as black mothers, we also share a common fear: a fear that our children will be taken, targeted or imprisoned by the state or lost to violence. This fear is passed from grandmother to mother to daughter because so many before us have lost children. So, when a mother loses a child, together, we feel it deeply and we grieve together. We know this moment, the loss of this beautiful child, will be a turning point, but many of us fear it will mean more harm against our families. We must not let that happen.

We do need a national conversation that addresses the systemic failings that contributed to this tragedy and so many others like it, but this must be led by our people. We must not return to the assimilationist approaches of the past based on false assumptions about us. We must reject the idea that safety means severing children from their culture, kin and country. Our children's identity must be central. Blood line, culture, language and country—knowing where you come from is the absolute foundation of a strong person. This nation must not rob our children of that birthright.

The real issue is that our communities face deep poverty and a lack of basic services, and incarceration and child removals are doing enormous harm to our families. We need systems that afford our communities the authority and resources to drive our own solutions, because our families are tapestries of love, obligation and care that have carried our people through so much violence done to us, through so much pain, and yet we are still here. For thousands of years our people have understood that a village raises a child: mothers, aunties, uncles, grandparents, cousins and elders together. Our babies are held by kinship, language and country. This foundation must be upheld. Our cultures are our strength and our mothers and grandmothers hold the solutions. And so we honour Kumanjayi Little Baby, the pretty girl in pink, deeply loved by her family. In our grief we must choose healing over harm and ensure every child in this nation is held and loved, safe in kin and safe on country.

Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today with a very heavy heart to offer my deepest condolences on the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby. I begin by acknowledging her mother, her brother, Ramsiah, her family, her kin, her elders and all those across Alice Springs, Central Australia and beyond who are carrying this unbearable grief.

Kumanjayi Little Baby was five years old. At five years old, most children are learning to tie their shoes. They are learning songs and they are asking questions about the world. They are running, they are laughing, they are playing and they are beginning to show the little personality that they are becoming. When you are five years old, the safest place in the world should be wherever your mum tucks you in bed. Kumanjayi Little Baby should still be with her family. There are moments when words feel too small for the sorrow that they are asked to hold, and this is one of those moments. A little girl has been taken from her family. A mother is burying her baby. A community that searched, hoped and prayed has been left with the most devastating grief. For her family, this grief is an empty space where a child should be. It is a future that has been taken. It is the deep pain of every parent, grandparent, aunty, uncle, cousin and loved one who knows that a young life should be protected, nurtured and allowed to grow. To Kumanjayi Little Baby's mother, this parliament cannot carry that pain for you, but today we stand beside you. We say clearly that your little girl mattered, and your baby, who loved watching Bluey, playing Minecraft with her brother, and going to kindy, and who loved the colour pink, mattered. Her life mattered, her name matters and her family matters.

Kumanjayi Little Baby's mother has thanked the police, first responders, Aboriginal liaison officers, volunteers and organisations who searched that day and night for her baby girl. That outpouring of support should be remembered. In the middle of horror, it showed that love existed in Alice Springs, and the strength of community who did not wait to be asked before they stepped forward. Hundreds gave their time, their care and their hope, because a child was missing and every single child deserves to be found. They searched because, in moments like this, community means showing up. But now the search has ended in grief, and that grief must be treated with respect. This is not a time for division. It is not a time for people to use the family's trauma for political point-scoring. It is not a time for anyone to inflict pain on a community already carrying too much. There will be time for those difficult conversations, there will be time when we ask what must change, but first there is a family that is burying a child. First, there is a mother who needs love around her. First, there is a community in trauma that needs calm, care and culturally safe support.

This grief does not stop at the boundaries of Alice Springs. First Nations people are grieving deeply, but they are not grieving alone. Across the Territory and Western Australia, President, you and I and the member for Perth, Patrick Gorman, stood together alongside my three nieces, who are also Gurindji, at vigils across this country in a pink wave for Kumanjayi Little Baby and her family. We lit candles, and shared poetry and silence to honour a little girl whom most of us have never met but whose death still haunts us. In that grief we must be mindful of one another and the toll that it takes. Respect for Kumanjayi Little Baby means respect for her family. It means allowing them the space to mourn and not adding to that burden. Today, I want this chamber to sit with the simple truth at the centre of all of this—a little girl has died. Kumanjayi Little Baby was five years old and she will be forever five. She should still be learning, laughing, playing and growing. She should still be held in the arms of the people who loved her and loved her deeply.

Today, we hold her name in this chamber. We hold her family in our hearts. May Kumanjayi Little Baby be remembered with love, may her family be surrounded with strength, may we look at the night sky as her mother asked and think of the brightest star, and may we honour her life with the responsibility that this grief asks of all of us.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Choice in Childcare and Early Learning) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise and join with my colleagues today with a very heavy heart following the tragic death of Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs. As we know, this girl was just five years of age. Our deepest condolences go to her family, to those who loved her, to her community, and to all those carrying this unbearable grief of losing a child in such horrific circumstances. I particularly stand alongside my colleague Senator Nampijinpa Price—Kumanjayi Little Baby's aunt—who delivered the most powerful speech just earlier. Of course, the grief that she is feeling, I stand alongside her in full support.

No child should suffer what this little girl suffered, no family should endure this pain, and no Australian should look at the details emerging from this case without asking the hard questions about how our systems have failed to protect a vulnerable child. There are rightly discussions about the broader social conditions that exist in many remote communities including around the housing shortages, the poverty, the trauma, the crime, the domestic violence, the low school attendance, the gambling and the failed investments by governments who have not solved social problems with more money. Now, these are real issues and they cannot be ignored. But no matter how complex the underlying social or cultural circumstances may be, the safety and the wellbeing of children must always remain the first priority.

The child protection system exists to intervene when there is a risk of serious harm, and, when there are credible concerns about abuse or neglect, the safety of the child must always be paramount. This is why I believe that there should be a very honest and full examination of the operation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child placement principle and how it is being applied in practice. Let me be clear: this principle exists for important reasons. Connection to family, culture, language and community matters deeply for Indigenous children. The history of forced removals in this country means these issues must always be approached with humility and care, but no principle, no framework, no policy setting can ever result in a child's safety being compromised. If there is any hesitation in acting because officials fear cultural criticism, bureaucratic process, reputational risk or ideological pressure then we have a very serious problem.

The question Australians are asking is not whether cultural connection matters, because it does—of course it does; the question in this case was whether the system acted decisively enough where concerns were raised. Were the warnings missed? Were interventions delayed? Did policy settings create hesitation where urgent action was needed? These are difficult questions but they are necessary questions, because every child protection framework must ultimately be judged by a single standard: did it keep the child safe? We must resist the temptation to reduce these tragedies to slogans or simplistic political answers. The issue is far more serious than that. We can acknowledge the importance of housing and social investment while also demanding accountability from child protection systems. We can support cultural connection while also insisting that immediate safety must always come first. These are not contradictory positions; in fact, they should work together. A child who is safe and protected should also be connected to culture, to family and community wherever possible, but safety must be the very first threshold, not the second, not one consideration among many—the first.

The death of this beautiful little girl must not simply become another tragic headline that briefly shocks the nation before attention moves on. It should force us to examine whether the systems designed to protect vulnerable children are operating with clarity, confidence and unwavering focus on the welfare of the child. Because, when a child dies after repeated interactions with authorities, Australians expect more than explanations. They expect accountability and, above all, they expect change. We owe it to Kumanjayi Little Baby and to every vulnerable child growing up in these communities to learn from this tragedy and to ensure that, when warning signs are raised, systems respond with urgency, care and accountability. May little Kumanjayi Little Baby rest in peace.

Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, my thoughts and prayers are with Kumanjayi's family, her local community, residents of Alice Springs, police, those people who I know searched and searched and searched hoping for a better outcome. It's quite incredible, getting messages of where people were walking, hoping for a better outcome.

You know, I recognise and acknowledge the vigils that were held throughout the country—in Alice Springs, in other places, in places where they have probably never, ever been to a town camp. Well, I've got an interesting lens on this one, because I also, along with Senator Nampijinpa Price, grew up in Alice Springs. I've got family in town camps. I'm a regular visitor to town camps. I've got friends there. I was also the shadow minister for child protection, the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, the shadow minister for prevention of family violence and the shadow minister for social services. You know, it was just devastating, like all Australians, to watch this play out. You didn't actually have to be there, though, to know what was happening, to read between the lines of the images. But it didn't matter, because, even if you were living in the inner suburbs of Sydney, you were devastated by what you were seeing, hearing and reading.

People should be able to protect their children. There is a consequence, a tragic consequence, when somebody dies from violence. As a person who has lost a sibling to that kind of violence, that pain stays with you forever. It doesn't disappear. It has a long, ongoing, forever harm. What's harder is when people know that they're at risk and they spend their lives trying to work out how to keep people safe. There's a trauma attached to that. There's a trauma in seeking help, worrying whether just the simple act of seeking help is actually going to draw attention to you, whether that help is going to come, and wondering whether you'll have to do it all again tomorrow.

We need to intervene to make sure that people don't have to keep calling, they don't have to keep looking, they don't have to keep searching, and we need to be courageous about doing that. Nothing about doing this condolence motion today is good—none of it—and none of it will make it better for anyone unless we're courageous in here. We are legislators. We hold the policies that demand accountability. It is our job in this place not to simply put a condolence message together but to actually say, 'We're going to put the things in place that are going to make a difference, and we're going to follow the trickle-down of that right to the very end.'

In a town camp, you walk into it. You know, it's like a gated community only the gate is open. White people aren't welcome. There's a single provider of services to that community. I call that a monopoly. I don't like that. The doors haven't even got handles on them, let alone a lock. The ridiculous thing about this is that some of those houses have walls but inside those walls there's no sink, no stove and no working toilet. We have to get real. Building more houses—building more walls to hide that—is not the answer. We need to make sure that children are going to school, that people are going to work and that people get the opportunity to do the things that they aspire to, like every other Australian. That's what's important. That's what facilitates change, not sitting around, going from a cradle to a coffin and being sad about that. We have to be courageous enough to intervene. Whether it is a five-year-old little girl or little boy, or a 50-year-old person who is dealing with the consequences of violence every day, we have to be brave enough in here to intervene. We have to demand greater accountability—and there is nothing political about that. That is our job.

David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to associate myself with the words of my colleague Senator Waters. For all of those senators who have spoken today about the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby—and this is a condolence motion—hearing the collective grief that unites us as individuals, feeling that grief reach across the country, thinking about Kumanjayi's family, her mum and her extended community, and spending a moment, even ever so brief, to recognise our collective humanity isn't a hollow moment. That's what the families have asked for. Senior Warlpiri Elder Robin Japanangka Granites, who's a spokesperson for the family, called for calm and asked for all of those who are grieving Kumanjayi Little Baby to honour sorry business. He said:

It is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering.

…   …   …

This man has been caught, thanks to community action, and we must now let justice take its course while we take the time to mourn Kumanjayi Little Baby and support our family.

We need to hear that and we need to give that space. The family has asked that the focus remains on their little baby and the grief and the healing of the community.

I, with some other colleagues, was in the NT as the search was happening, and I spoke to colleagues and friends in Alice Springs, Mparntwe. In that moment, when the whole community came out and looked for this little girl—when Aboriginal controlled organisations, the council and people from across the town and across the community reached out and went searching for this little girl, because it was their shared little girl—that was a moment, wasn't it, in this appalling grief and loss. Everyone was coming together with a focus on this little girl and on supporting her family. We saw it in the candlelight vigils. We've heard about this little girl, Kumanjayi Little Baby, and her love for Bluey and her love for pink. She was a little girl like so many little girls we know in our daily lives—our little nieces, our friends' kids. That's what we should be reaching for. We should be recognising the strength of the community that came out and searched for a little girl because they loved the little girl, like her mum loved her little girl and like her family loved their little girl. They've asked us not to put politics into this. They have asked to have that shared moment of grief and shared collective love.

Catherine Liddle, the CEO of SNAICC and an Arrernte and Luritja woman from Central Australia, said when reflecting on pink, Kumanjayi Little Baby's favourite colour:

It is the colour of compassion. It is the colour of kindness. It is the colour of care. But it's also the colour of hope.

Catherine spoke to ABC News. She said she woke up in the morning and saw the sun rise over Mparntwe, and she said: 'This morning the other thing I saw that really rooted me into where we need to be—and that is our hearts with Kumanjayi Little Baby—was the pink sunrise.'

I hear the discussion here about rivers of gold going to First Nations communities. I don't know about you, but that doesn't reflect my understanding of the First Nations economic position in this country—living in endemic poverty, living in housing that we couldn't possibly support for others and the poverty we heard from Senator Liddle about the town camps. That doesn't say to me 'rivers of gold'. That says to me that First Nations people are living on country that was stolen and they have had wealth stolen from them. We should reflect upon that, this trope of 'rivers of gold'—reflect upon the reality of First Nations people's endemic poverty and the circumstances in which Kumanjayi Little Baby was being raised.

I hear calls about removing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, and I want to honour and respect Senator Thorpe's words in relation to that. Who knows how to best raise First Nations kids? They've been doing it for tens of thousands of years. It's First Nations families—mums, dads, uncles, aunties and grandparents. We need to lean into that and support that. But, right now, as Robin said, it's time for sorry business.

Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave for a minute to respond.

Leave granted.

With the deepest of respect to Senator Nampijinpa Price, we won't be supporting the amendment. We've put forward this condolence motion with both the Warlpiri families—Mr Granites and family—and the Gurindji families and Roy families. We've brought this motion to the Senate in work and partnership with them.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the amendment as moved by Senator Nampijinpa Price be agreed to.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(In division) Keep the crimes going in the camps. Keep the crimes going.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Nampijinpa Price, come to order.

(In division) Senator Henderson, show some respect.

Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Digital Safety) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am respecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No. You are not in a debate with me. I've asked you to come to order.

Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Digital Safety) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have enormous respect—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Henderson!