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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-05-01 Daily Xml
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First Nations Voice, Treaty, Truth

The Hon. L.A. HENDERSON (15:16): My question is for the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs regarding election commitments. Does the minister anticipate that the government's election commitment of Voice, Treaty and Truth will be fulfilled by the next state election?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:16): I have talked about this a number of times in this place. We had an election commitment—and I think it was our very first election commitment, way back in July 2019—to implement a state-based version in response to the Uluru Statement that includes the elements of Voice, Truth and Treaty.

As I have said before, many people have written about it and thought about it since the Uluru Statement was handed down in May 2017, but the logical first step in terms of sequencing in that process would be Voice. That is what we have done in this state. We now have the legislation, we have had those first elections and are in the process of the organisation of those first Local, and then State, Voices being set up.

As I have also said in this chamber before, we are keen to get some of the views of the newly formed Voice on the next stages of the three tenets of the Uluru Statement. We will certainly be making progress towards the other stages of Truth and Treaty during this term of parliament, but I don't think anyone thinks it will be completely over, done and dusted within the next year and a half.

Victoria is, I think, five or six years into a treaty process and is now at the stage of formal negotiations. Queensland is a couple of years into starting a treaty process. Other jurisdictions around the world, like North America for example—many of the provinces of Canada are treaty jurisdictions where treaties were signed in the mid to late 1800s, for instance the province of Manitoba. Every part of that province is covered by, I think, five or six different treaties. In Canada, the province of British Columbia largely does not have treaties signed. They are, I think, into their second decade at least now in a number of areas of treaty negotiations and discussions.

We are under no illusion, and I don't think anybody who has worked in this policy area and thought about it thinks it will be a very quick process, but we are keen to get on with continuing with the other elements of the Uluru Statement once the Voice is set up.

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