Treaty Commissioner

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:35): Supplementary question to the minister: has the new Treaty Commissioner, in his initial discussions with the minister, expressed caution about the minister's timetable of trying to conclude the first treaty with an Aboriginal nation by the end of this year?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for his question. I have had very preliminary discussions with the new Treaty Commissioner. The new Treaty Commissioner is keen to get started on the job as quickly as possible and get going as quickly as possible. We have not got into the depth of discussion about exactly when we are looking to do things and what the timetable will be.

Certainly, the Treaty Commissioner is looking at some time, hopefully towards the middle of this year, to wrap up the work in terms of the framework and we will see how quickly he can move after that. In answer to the question, no, I haven't had advice provided by the Treaty Commissioner about the ability or otherwise of having a treaty, as I have said, as an ambition of the government, finalised by the end of this year.