WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains the image of a person who is deceased.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has broken down in tears in parliament, calling on the government to respond to the challenges facing vulnerable Indigenous children.
During a Senate condolence motion on Tuesday, she spoke about the tragic death of her five-year-old niece, Kumanjayi Little Baby, in Alice Springs.
"I don't want to be here right now, to have to stand in this chamber, to deliver a condolence speech for a little girl in my family," she said.
Watch the video above.
READ MORE: NT government orders independent child protection review
"She was loved. She should still be here."
The Northern Territory senator said her five-year-old niece's death had devastated her family, but the circumstances surrounding the tragedy were familiar to many people in Central Australia.
"And the hardest truth is that for many in my hometown, none of this came as a surprise. But the truth is that people do not want to speak this out loud," Senator Price told the chamber.
In her address, she said governments and institutions avoid difficult conversations about violence, neglect and alcohol abuse in town camps and remote communities.
"For too long in this country, there has been silence around what is happening in too many town camps and remote communities – a silence driven by fear, a fear of causing offence, a fear of being labelled racist," she said.
"Vulnerable children are growing up in that silence, and it is killing our babies."
READ MORE: Mourners gather to honour the life of Kumanjayi Little Baby
Senator Price also levelled criticism at what she described as a "hands-off culture" inside parts of the child protection system, claiming ideology and political sensitivities had been prioritised ahead of child welfare.
"My niece was a little Australian girl, yet there is an ideology in this country that has deliberately encouraged people to treat children like her differently because of her racial heritage," she said.
"It's that same ideology that has created a hands-off culture within parts of a child protection system."
Her speech came as the Northern Territory government announced an independent review into the territory's child protection system in response to the five-year-old's alleged murder.
Robyn Cahill said the review would examine the system "from top to bottom", including legislation, staffing, resources and workplace culture.
"Every Territory child deserves to be safe, that is not negotiable," Cahill said.
"We need to get to the bottom of what's broken and what needs to change."
The review's full terms of reference are due to be released next week.
The government has also confirmed three child protection workers have been stood down while investigators examine the events leading up to the discovery of Kumanjayi Little Baby's body.
For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).
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