View the motion here

View senator Thorpe’s speech transcript below.

Quotes attributable to Lidia Thorpe, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent Victorian Senator:

"We are in the middle of a crisis. First Peoples continue to die in custody at horrifying rates.

"There have been at least 17 deaths this year alone and still no government has fully implemented the Royal Commission’s recommendations after more than three decades.

"The Closing the Gap figures released overnight are shameful. Incarceration and suicide rates of our people continue to rise. The productivity commission has said there’s direct correlation between these dire figures and the tough on crime laws we’re seeing around the country.

"We must turn this around, or we’ll lose another generation to the system.

"I commend those who supported this important motion today. Now is the time for change and action. No more talk. No more delays. We need urgent, coordinated reform across every level of government to stop these deaths.

"The families of those who’ve died at the hands of the system need justice, not excuses. They need truth, accountability, and support to navigate a legal system that continues to fail us.

"Ending deaths in custody — which are this country’s great shame — must be a priority for this Labor government. They have the power to act now.

"I look forward to working collaboratively across Parliament to implement the solutions we know are needed. 

"The support we’ve seen today for this motion is encouraging, but now the parliament must back up this commitment with real action.

"First Peoples have waited 34 years since the Royal Commission for action. Now is the time. Together, we can get this done."

TRANSCRIPT: Senator Thorpe’s speech to the Senate following introduction of the motion.

I move the motion as circulated.

I have put forward this motion with the intention of bringing this chamber together on something very important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This isn’t about politics or point scoring. It’s about compassion. It’s about our shared duty as Parliamentarians to ensure that justice and dignity are extended to all people on this continent.

On 27 May this year, during Reconciliation Week, 24-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White died under police restraint in a Coles supermarket. He was a young man with a disability. He was deeply loved. His death was preventable.

This motion extends the Senate’s deepest sympathies to his family, to the Yuendumu community, to the families of the 17 First Peoples who have died in custody this year, and to the families of all those who have died since the 1991 Royal Commission.

These are not just statistics. They are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, cousins, siblings, grandchildren — lost to a system that continues to harm our people.

Ned Hargraves, a senior Warlpiri Elder and the grandfather of Kumanjayi White, spoke for many when he said: “We are devastated by this death. My jaja was vulnerable and needed support, not to be criminalised because of his disability.” Ned has called for answers, respect, and justice — not just for his family, but for all families still waiting for change, and those who live in fear their loved ones are next.

This motion calls on the government to ensure the family is supported over the coming months — with assistance for sorry business, the coronial inquest, and legal support. That is the very least we can do.

But it also asks this parliament to do something bigger: to work together to end the crisis of deaths in custody and the overincarceration of First Peoples. This is not a partisan issue or one for states and territories alone. It is a national responsibility. A moral one.

The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991 made clear what needs to be done. Yet decades later, those recommendations remain largely unimplemented and ignored.

Meanwhile, families continue to bury their loved ones.

This motion is about committing to practical, overdue action — supported by evidence and backed by First Peoples.
It calls for federal leadership that works with states and territories to ensure every death in custody is properly investigated, that recommendations are tracked and implemented, and that families are treated with respect and dignity.

I speak not only as a Senator, but as someone whose family has lived through this pain. My cousin Josh Kerr died in custody in 2022. I grew up with his mum, Donnis. She is family to me. She told me about saying I love you for the last time while he was in shackles, about their last hug, about how the system took him from her — just like it had taken her from her own parents. A cycle of grief that has never been broken.

This is our reality.

This motion is about preventing that pain from continuing. It’s about doing what we can, here and now, to ensure that Kumanjayi’s death is not just another entry in a long and shameful list. It must be a turning point.

I urge all Senators — and those in the other place — to support this motion. Let us stand together. Choose justice, and honour Kumanjayi White’s memory, by committing to real change.