Speech Transcript

5 April 2025.

Just before we start, I think it would be honourable to do a minute’s silence for our brothers and sisters, the children that have been lost.

Thank you.

It’s an honour, it’s a privilege to be here standing with you all today. I think about our First Nations brothers and sisters in 1788, the way that we were colonised.

There were three ways under international law that Australia could be acquired. There was conquest, cession and terra nullius. And the High Court with the Mabo decision overturned the concept of terra nullius.

We have just been surviving. We are not thriving as a people.

Palestine is not thriving as a people. There is so much wrong that is being done. And the politicians and the Labor government, they are very complicit in the acts of genocide that are being perpetrated against innocent people. And that is unacceptable.

And like Fatima said, they are coming to your doors, they are asking for your vote. They are coming to your doors because they think that they have a conscience. The best way to hurt these people is to hurt them where it most impacts on decision making.

I think about the little children. I think about the adults. I think about the mums and dads whose children are no longer here.

And it absolutely is atrocious, the two state solution which doesn’t happen. The way that people view people of colour, like we don’t matter, like we don’t have a voice, like we don’t have integrity. And therefore we are being denied our very fundamental things and that is human rights. The human rights violations that are being perpetrated day in, day out, death in, death out.

And that is unacceptable. And Albanese and his government, they know, they know exactly what is going on but they choose not to do anything about it.

And they choose not to do anything about it because they want to continue to hold power. There is no honour in having power when you are losing children, when you are absolutely complicit in this genocide that is happening.

Right now, and as of October. Shame on them, they are shameless people.

The First Nation’s people of this continent. The First Nations people of this country, there have been genocidal practices that have been perpetrated.

And yet Australia is the only country that does not have a Human Rights Act. The only country that does not have a Bill of Rights Act, federally. That is shameful of this government!

But they are not going to give it to you. They are not going to give it to us. We have to take it.

Together we are powerful. We can make that change. But we cannot continue to let these people hurt and oppress people. We are Brothers and Sisters of the human family.

It doesn’t matter how wealthy this country is, even though it is the 12th richest economy in the world. What matters is the decisions that they make to hurt people, to kill people and to remain complicit in this horrible thing called genocide.

I have stood across this country with other brothers and sisters in Melbourne and all over the place. And I’ve seen the tears, the hurt, the pain, the family suffering.

But I’ll tell you what, I have seen the power of the people. And that is what we must do. We must fight back against this complicit government and say we are powerful, we are the power of the people and we are going to make you pay.

Love and respect to you all.

< Applause >