Quotes Attributable to Nerita Waight, CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service:

“Our children deserve to be safe and have the support they need to live a good life, connected to culture, community, and Country.”

“It is incredibly distressing to see Peter Dutton and the Federal Coalition seek to enter a Bill that would take our children away from their families and communities.”

“Since their toxic and racist campaign against the referendum for a Voice to Parliament, Coalition parties across the country have adopted policies that spread fear and would make communities less safe if they were ever implemented.”

“The Federal Parliament has no role in implementing the kind of laws that Peter Dutton is proposing. A Liberal Party leader that wants a big and controlling government that intervenes where it has no role is a very different leader from the ones who established the party.”

“These proposals would undoubtedly impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children far more than non-Indigenous children. I hope that there are still Coalition MPs willing to cross the floor to make a point that this kind of politics is embarrassing and shameful.”