Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (09:45): 26 January is not a celebration. It marks the arrival of the settlers, the colonisers, into this land, land that they claimed was terra nullius. If only the real truth was taught in schools, maybe we would be having a different conversation. Instead our children come home only learning about the First Fleet while the real history is erased – the violence, dispossession and resistance of First Nations peoples being rubbed out. This year I stood with thousands of Victorians outside this building in Naarm and with communities around the country to peacefully rally in honour of First Nations strength and courage and acknowledge their grief, survival and pain. But what we saw in Boorloo, in Perth, last month, with a homemade bomb being thrown into a crowd of elders, communities and allies, was disgusting and horrifying, an act of terrorism driven by racism, hate and evil. We know that violence against First Nations people is foundational to this country. Look at the stolen kids, deaths in custody, overincarceration. After last year’s attack on Camp Sovereignty it is clear far-right violence is escalating and Indigenous people are paying the price. Where is the outrage and action to back First Nations justice, security and safety? We talk about unity and solidarity in this place, but where is that for First Nations people? It is nothing more than just hollow words and performative allyship.