PM grilled after rejecting push for royal commission into Indigenous abuse

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been grilled in parliament after Labor rejected a push for a royal commission into child abuse in remote Indigenous communities. Labor voted against a motion to call on the government to back a royal commission and for an audit into government spending on Indigenous programs. Mr Albanese pointed out that sexual abuse is not an issue isolated to Indigenous communities. “Tragically it occurs on a very widespread basis and we know actually that the statistics tells us that the highest prevalence is actually within families and within people that a child will know, tragically,” he said during parliamentary Question Time. “No one in this place is disputing the seriousness of this issue but what we won’t be doing is agreeing to stunts that are designed to whip up outrage somehow as if this is a partisan issue.”