Queensland election: Mayors call on David Crisafulli to reverse his truth-telling inquiry plan

A Liberal National Party Queensland government will ignore the pleas of the state’s Indigenous mayors and shut down a landmark truth-telling and healing inquiry.

Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council mayor Bruce Simpson at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Tuesday. Picture: Liam Kidston

A Liberal National Party Queensland government will ignore the pleas of the state’s Indigenous mayors and shut down a landmark truth-telling and healing inquiry.

Cherbourg mayor Bruce Simpson and Doomadgee mayor Fred O’Keefe on Tuesday both called on LNP leader David Crisafulli to change his mind and allow the inquiry – which had its first hearing only last month – to continue.

After the defeat of the voice referendum last year, Mr Crisafulli reversed his previous support for Queensland’s Path to Treaty laws and the inquiry, which involves collecting the oral history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Queenslanders and historical documents from church-run institutions and government departments.

Mr O’Keefe said his remote Gulf of Carpentaria community was sick of not being listened to by government authorities, and they believed the inquiry would help alleviate housing overcrowding, young people dying too early, poor health services, alcohol abuse, lack of employment, and deaths in custody.

“It would make a difference at Doomadgee,” Mr O’Keefe said. “There’s no two ways about it. Health, education for our young kids, employment.”

Mr Simpson, the mayor of the southeast Queensland Aboriginal community of Cherbourg, said about 40 elders were very keen to tell their stories at a scheduled inquiry hearing next month.

“The silent suffering of our elders, the control of our communities, the opportunities that they couldn’t progress to be the leaders that we needed to be,” Mr Simpson said. “There’s so many hurts and wrongs that need to be corrected and the truth-telling will begin to make this happen. The healing can only begin when Queensland and Australia hears our truth.”

Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council mayor Fred O’Keefe, left, truth-telling inquiry chair Joshua Creamer and Mr Simpson on Tuesday. Picture: Liam Kidston

Inquiry head Joshua Creamer said this was a historic opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to take the lead in policy development to get real outcomes for their communities.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli, however, said he would not be convinced to change his mind after reversing his support for Queensland’s Path to Treaty laws and the truth-telling inquiry following the defeat of the voice to parliament referendum last year.

“I respect (the mayors’) point of view and I need them to know that I’m serious about helping in their communities,” he said.

Mr Crisafulli said he would set key performance indicators to improve education and housing outcomes in Indigenous communities but he did not want to put Queenslanders through another divisive debate after the voice referendum.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said cancelling the inquiry would push back progress on reconciliation by four to eight years. “I think it’s incredibly sad the way David Crisafulli has turned his back on our First Nations people, and I know how sad they find that,” he said.

“The fact is there will be no way of progressing any further on that journey without bipartisan support. That means that it’s very unlikely in the next term of government.”

The inquiry is designed to shape policy and be used as an education tool. It has no power to order compensation or reparations.