Senator WATT (Queensland—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management) (14:40): Thank you, Senator Thorpe, for your question. I agree—and I would like to think that everyone in this chamber would agree—with Senator Dodson that, 32 years after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the rates of incarcerated First Nations adults and youth are unacceptable and the rates of deaths in custody among First Nations adults and youth are unacceptable. There are many members of our government, and those across the chamber, who have said before—and will I'm sure keep saying—that First Nations incarceration rates and deaths in custody are a national shame. Coming into government, it was clear to us, unfortunately, that for the past nine years First Nations justice was just not a priority for the former government. That's why last year the Attorney-General worked closely with his colleague Ms Burney to form a First Nations justice task force with officials from the Attorney-General's Department and the National Indigenous Australians Agency. The PRESIDENT: Senator Thorpe, a point of order? Senator Thorpe: Yes, on relevance. The PRESIDENT: The minister is being relevant to your question. Minister, please continue. Senator Thorpe: A point of order on relevance: the question was: when are you going to implement the recommendations in full? The PRESIDENT: Senator Thorpe, I did, on your first point, say that the minister was being relevant, and I am going to say on your second point that the minister is being relevant. Senator Birmingham? Senator Birmingham: On the point of order and the handling of points of order, this is a seemingly new practice—to rule before a senator has even had a chance to put their case. On Senator Thorpe's first point of order, she had no more than got the word 'relevance' out of her mouth than you ruled against her, without hearing the basis upon which she was claiming relevance. I would, President, invite you to reflect upon that, in terms of your handling the points of order. I understand it where they are repetitious or take approaches that are disorderly in the chamber. But in this case, I think a first point of order from a senator on a question deserves the opportunity for that senator to have the chance to make their point. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Birmingham. Senator Wong, I'm going to respond, and then I'll come to you. Senator Birmingham, as I have pointed out many times on points of order, I have senators stand and make statements and repeat questions and go to great lengths, which is unnecessary. In Senator Thorpe's case—and my apologies if she hadn't finished her point—I understood that she had finished, so I ruled. I'm going to go to Senator Wong. Senator Wong: Perhaps I could make a couple of points in relation to your ruling. The first is that it was in fact Senator Ryan who first started to truncate the submissions on points of order, because his view what that a number of us—and I may have been one of those!—made too many contributions on our feet on points of order. I was cut off on a number of occasions by Senator Ryan, as the President, being of the view that he had already come to a view about the substance of the point of order. I have to say, Senator, I thought you were saying the word and then sitting down. We have no objection, if the President wishes to call you, to you making your submission if you wish to do that. The PRESIDENT: Senator Thorpe, on your first point of order: if you hadn't finished, I invite you to make a short statement about your point of order. Senator Thorpe: Thank you for the indulgence, President. My point of order was on relevance. The question was relating to if the government is going to implement the 339 recommendations that will save black lives today. The PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Thorpe. You went to statements that Senator Dodson had made, and in general, about the royal commission and other matters. I do believe the minister was being relevant. I'm going to invite him to continue. Senator WATT: As I was saying: last year, in recognition that there is still more work to do in implementing the recommendations of the royal commission, the Attorney-General established a First Nations justice task force with the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ms Burney, and that contains officials from both of their agencies. That task force is leading the design, coordination, and implementation of this government's historic $99 million First Nations Justice package. That includes unprecedented Commonwealth investment in justice re-investment; unprecedented Commonwealth investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services to provide culturally appropriate legal assistance in coronial inquiries; and a commitment to real-time reporting of deaths in custody. The government is also working closely with states and territories on a proposal to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility. We acknowledge there's more work to be done in this space. It needs to happen, and we're getting on with doing it. The PRESIDENT: Senator Thorpe, first supplementary.