Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from being schooled on ignorance. Anyone who cares to read the TRC report and masses of scholarship that backs it up can find the evidence extensively documented in the government's own archives. While Ms Beyak has the right to her opinion, her position as a senator and as a member of the Aboriginal peoples committee demands that that opinion be informed. Her opinion of the report only counts if she's read it. If she had, she would know that it does indeed include positive accounts and examples of successes. It's just difficult to ignore the fact that they are overshadowed by the litany of coercion and abuse tied directly to the government's agenda of western expansion and settlement, however well-intentioned some individual actors were.