Mr LEESER (Berowra) (09:07): I thank the minister for her statement and I join her in the condolences that she has offered to Kumanjayi Walker and Kumanjayi Walker's family and community. I speak today as the representative in this place of the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Kerrynne Liddle. Every death in custody is a tragedy. Every number we recite is a human life, loved and irreplaceable. It's an issue that must be met with humility and with resolve. Thirty-four years ago, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody delivered its report, and I want to acknowledge the late Elliott Johnston QC. He was the man who first shone a light into these issues as the royal commissioner on Aboriginal deaths in custody. He was a man that came from the political left. He was a controversial lawyer in his time, but he was also a great lawyer, and his work on the royal commission has stood the test of time. I have a personal connection with Elliott Johnston in that, in the years he was doing the royal commission, his son, Stewart, taught me history at school. He brought Australian history alive, and he was very proud of the groundbreaking work his father did. My friend the member for Barker also has a connection with Elliott Johnston. Elliott taught him procedure at law school. I think it's fair to say that it would be hard to find two men more different than Elliott Johnston and the member for Barker, but both believe firmly in the presumption of innocence and the dignity of the human person, and it is good that the legal profession still raises up such people. I said that Elliott's work had stood the test of time. The five volumes and 339 recommendations of his royal commission were a blueprint about diverting people from custody, improving relations between police and communities, addressing alcohol and substance abuse, and ensuring that those in the custody of the state returned to their families. These issues that they highlight are as relevant today as they were 34 years ago. As my friend in the other place Senator Duniam said five years ago: … the fundamental issue is that too many Aboriginal people are in custody too often. In 2017, an independent review of the royal commission's recommendations found that the Australian government had fully or mostly implemented 91 per cent of the recommendations for which it had responsibility. The response from the then coalition government had the same fundamental features of responses from Labor governments before and since—an acknowledgement that further progress will come from work in partnership with the states and territories, who administer our custodial systems, and with communities directly. It's an approach that is principled, practical and focused on outcomes, and it's one that I think is shared by every decent and fair-minded person in this place. It's an approach that doesn't shy away from the scrutiny of what has and hasn't been implemented. This is why, in 2017, Nigel Scullion commissioned the independent review of the royal commission's recommendations in the first place, and it's why we don't shy away from the scrutiny of what's in place today. The facts are stark. The Australian Institute of Criminology report from 2023-24 recorded that, in one year, there were 104 deaths in custody, 76 in prison custody, 27 in police custody or custody related operations, and one in youth detention. In total, there were 24 Indigenous deaths and 80 non-Indigenous deaths in custody. The fact we have these figures at all is itself a reflection of the impact of the royal commission's report. The National Deaths in Custody Program that was established by the Australian Institute of Criminology in 1992 is a response to recommendation 41 of the royal commission, and the figures I've just cited are drawn from its work. That work continues, and the AIC now hosts a real-time dashboard of deaths in custody. The dashboard shows that there have been 60 deaths in custody since 1 January this year, of which 17 were Indigenous and 43 non-Indigenous. These deaths warrant a clear-eyed response. The evidence makes clear that some of those deaths are from causes such as disease of the circulatory and respiratory systems, like ischaemic heart disease, or cancer. Tragically, others are deaths by suicide. Clearly, each requires a different type of response. This is why coronial investigations into each death in custody must receive appropriate support, and, where police are involved, professional standards bodies must be able to exercise appropriate oversight. As is the case under Northern Territory legislation, there should also be the potential for further independent inquiry, such as an inquiry set up through an ombudsman or the state corruption body. The overarching point is that we must all be able to have confidence in the response from our institutions. These mechanisms are a key part in ensuring not only the integrity of custodial systems but also public confidence in them. But process alone cannot comfort a grieving family, nor can process substitute for prevention. So what does practical action look like? First, it involves the prompt investigation of deaths in custody and the implementation of recommendations where appropriate. Second, it involves work to eliminate environmental risks, like hanging points, and work to ensure our custodial processes, like observation regimes and notification procedures, are safe and fit for purpose. Third, it involves using treatment and diversionary programs that have been proven to work. But, above all, we should resist fatalism. The best way to honour the work of the royal commission and those whose lives have been taken from us is through persistent work and evidence led policy—policy to identify and eliminate risks, policy to work with communities and policy to address long-term drivers of custodial incarceration. This is long, difficult and complex work, but it's also work that's necessary and appropriate to keep the royal commission's blueprint alive.