‘Absolute priority’: Peter Dutton to establish royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities within ‘100 days’ if elected

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has offered a major pledge to voters, promising to establish a royal commission into a key rural issue within his first “100 days” if elected.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has committed to establishing a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities within the “first 100 days” if he was to be elected.

Mr Dutton has been calling for the royal commission alongside Liberal spokespeople Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

He earlier said “the use of pornographic material, the use of devices, the power imbalance that exists in some of the communities” was something that needed to be “delved into”.

Speaking at a press conference in Alice Springs on Wednesday, Mr Dutton said the royal commission would be established within the first 100 days if he was elected as prime minister in the upcoming federal election.

“Our children deserve the sanctity of their childhood, and they deserve the protection of their government,” Mr Dutton said.

“It would be a priority for us to establish the Royal Commission, and certainly would be a task within the first 100 days.”

Peter Dutton has pledged to establish a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities within 100 days if elected. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

He called it an “absolute priority” of the Liberal government.

“I think we’ve got the runs on the board in terms of our absolute desire to stamp out the assault and degradation of children in our society, and we shouldn’t treat children in Alice Springs any different to any other part of the country,” he said.

However the proposed royal commission has been widely criticised, while several Indigenous agencies, including the Coalition of Peaks on Closing The Gap and the National Aboriginal community Controlled Health Organisation, have rejected the calls, according to the ABC.

The bodies previously issued a statement claiming there wasn’t “one shred of real evidence being presented” amid calls for the royal commission.

“If any politician, or anyone at all, has any evidence about the sexual abuse of children then they must report it to the authorities,” the statement said.

“These calls for a royal commission into the sexual abuse of Aboriginal children have been made without one shred of real evidence being presented.

“They play into the basest negative perceptions of some people about Aboriginal people and communities.”