00:00It's the first time they've both spoken in such a formal manner in Parliament, so that's
00:06significant in itself. Both made comments at the start of Question Time condemning the
00:12alleged terror attack. Anthony Albanese said the attack was driven by racism and hatred
00:18and was targeted at First Nations people. He said that the fact the bomb did not detonate
00:23does not make this attack any less real. Opposition leader Susan Lee also condemned
00:29the attack for being driven by racism. It's caused anxiety and concern, she said. She
00:35said that Australia is defined by its tolerance and respect and that we should never turn to
00:40violence to settle our political differences. Here's what the two of them had to say in their
00:45speeches at Question Time.
00:48This alleged act of terrorism was deliberately aimed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
00:54Australians. Mr Speaker, this was alleged terrorism driven by racism and hatred. Hate that should
01:03have been banished to the dark reaches of history, yet still lives in the dark corners of the internet.
01:11The device did not detonate, but that does not change the fact that this attack was real,
01:18and the intended consequences would have indeed been horrific. Deaths, injuries, trauma beyond
01:26imagining. I know that First Nations people around Australia are grappling with that.
01:33This alleged event has provoked anxiety, shock and concern in our Indigenous communities as
01:39it has across our nation. Australia is defined by tolerance and respect and we can never accept
01:46a situation where we turn to violence to settle our political differences. These are fragile times
01:53for our society and it is incumbent upon all of us in this place to nurture peaceful civil debate and guard
02:00our great democracy against hate and violence.
02:04And Bella, what did other MPs have to say?
02:07Well, staying with Labor for the moment, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke spoke also at Question Time,
02:14where he provided a bit more information about the authorities and the intelligence investigation
02:19that was going on behind the scenes following this alleged attack. He said that the counter-terrorism
02:26team was engaged 40 minutes after the incident was reported and that it's taken it a while to call it
02:32an alleged terror attack because these investigations do take a bit more time. They need to not only establish
02:37what happened at the event but also what the motive was. He says the motive was white supremacy and that it
02:44has no place in modern Australia. The Greens though have come out and criticised the amount of time that
02:50it took to make this terrorism determination. Senator David Shoebridge said that many Indigenous Australians
02:56and non-Indigenous Australians as well saw this incident for what they say was immediately obvious
03:04as racially motivated. He said that if any other community had been allegedly terrorised it would
03:10have been called that much sooner. And Lydia Thorpe as well, Independent Senator, has also come out
03:17calling on the Prime Minister to do more than just condemn the attack and to take action as well. She says
03:25that she'd like him to act on the Australian Human Rights Commission's National Anti-Racism Framework,
03:32which has been sitting with the government for some time but has not yet been implemented.
03:37She also disputed some of the Prime Minister's claims during that speech that we showed earlier
03:43that racism exists in the dark corners of the internet. She says it's not only online, it's in the
03:49streets, it's in bombs being allegedly thrown into crowds, it's something real that Indigenous Australians
03:56experience every day and that it's dismissive to say that it only exists online. But she's wanting to
04:03see action and not just words.
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