"She was a very old lady and she remembers her mother singing this [lullaby] to her. And the thing that's so sad is to imagine that mother singing that story to her at a time when you were losing culture and the last thing that baby was was safe," he said, wiping away tears. Malcolm Turnbull was moved to tears during a recent interview with Stan Grant. Credit:The Point, NITV As recently as the 1970s, government policies outlawed or discouraged traditional culture, causing the loss of language and knowledge. The woman's recollections aided the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in their project to rebuild the Ngunnawal language, which was almost non-existent two years ago. In his address, Mr Turnbull announced $20 million funding for the preservation of Indigenous language and culture.

In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Turnbull also says reconciliation is the duty of every Australian and that Indigenous people had been treated "so unjustly" and "suffered so much over so long". "Reconciling the nation with that history and righting those wrongs and settling that injustice is an objective and obligation of every Australian but especially of every Prime Minister," he says. Mr Turnbull insists there is no "silver bullet" in Indigenous affairs and repeats his commitment to include Indigenous people in the policy making process. "Everyone has been searching for the one big, sweeping answer and the answers are as they are for everybody: education, work, economic opportunities, enabling people to get on with their own lives". He says it is critical that government worked with Aboriginal communities and leaders to develop the best solutions for a diverse population.

"We should do things with Indigenous Australians, not to them. We have to recognise that diversity and be guided by Indigenous Australians. "Empowered communities make their own choices." This was a theme of his Closing the Gap address and appears to be in lockstep with Aboriginal leaders who have united recently in calling for government to work with them. The 2016 Closing the Gap report revealed mixed progress against the seven goals in health, education and employment. Year 12 attainment and child mortality rates are on track but the life expectancy gap remains shows little improvement and Aboriginal employment has fallen since the strategy began.

In the interview, Mr Turnbull points to the Indigenous imprisonment rate - 25 per cent of the prison population despite making up only 3 per cent of the overall Australian population - as "totally unacceptable" and "a failure across the board". "There is a crisis to be addressed and the critical thing is to break the cycle of incarceration. And so that is why I am working with our Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion and other colleagues to identify more programs that will break that cycle." The Prime Minister has reiterated his belief that a referendum on constitutional recognition is "feasible" next year but says the right language needs to be found and that the Australian population is very conservative when it comes to changing the constitution. Grant is back in the journalist's chair after entering the spotlight himself recently as he considers a career in politics, having held talks with "all sides". Follow us on Twitter