Queensland to hold truth-telling and healing inquiry on path to treaty

Indigenous people will be able to give evidence about injustices committed against them in Queensland as part of the state’s plans to sign a treaty with the state’s First Nations population.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will announce on Tuesday an Indigenous truth-telling and healing inquiry will be set up in response to the Treaty Advancement Committee’s final report.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.Credit: Matt Dennien

Palaszczuk says laws will also be passed to set up a First Nations Institute within 18 months to draft a legal framework for treaty negotiations.

“What we do next on the Path to Treaty will define our humanity, our sense of fairness and the legacy we leave our children,” Palaszczuk said in a statement.

“Treaty is about finding a place where we can face up to our shared history and be truthful about all of it - good and bad - and build a future together where we value, trust and respect each other.”

A Path to Treaty Office will be set up within government to prepare for treaty talks once a legal framework has been drafted.

The government is open to signing either a single treaty, or individual treaties with different Indigenous groups.

An Independent Interim Body with Indigenous and non-Indigenous representatives will be appointed to oversee the treaty process until the First Nations Institute is established.

The body will lead local truth-telling initiatives to “promote a shared understanding” of history in institutions such as public libraries, museums, archives and art galleries.

Palaszczuk will sign a statement of commitment with First Nations leaders at parliament on Tuesday.

Queensland could become the fourth jurisdiction to sign a treaty with Indigenous peoples. Victoria and the ACT have already done so, while the Northern Territory is in an advanced stage of its own treaty process.

South Australia’s Labor government had been working towards a treaty, but the process was stopped in 2018 upon the election of a new Liberal leadership.

NSW, Western Australia and Tasmania are not working towards a treaty agreement.

The federal Albanese government intends to hold a referendum on a constitutionally enshrined First Nations voice to parliament in its first term.

The Greens are pushing for a truth-telling commission to support Labor’s plans, but the government says its priority is to introduce the voice.

- AAP