Tensions ran high in Queensland’s Parliament as the LNP government stood firm on an election promise to wind up the Path to Treaty Act, which has already cost taxpayers $1.45 million (US$940,000) in four months.
The now-opposition Labor Party accused the Liberal-National Party (LNP) of bringing “shame” on Queensland.
A treaty, in the sense of Indigenous relations in Australia, refers to a political agreement between Aboriginal communities and the state, which sets out a range of obligations including recognition of Indigenous culture, bestowing land ownership, or reparations.
Current Minister for Aboriginal Partnerships Fiona Simpson said the repeal would immediately cease the activities of the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry, and development of the First Nations Treaty Institute.
Policy Progress Slow
According to the current government, the latest Queensland Closing the Gap annual report from 2023, revealed nine of 17 targets were progressing poorly across housing, education, and health.
“The Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry was never supposed to be a legalistic venture, yet in just four months, $1.45 million was spent on member remuneration, legal counsel, legal staff, and other legal costs,” she said.
“Forty-eight percent of the total expenditure from its establishment to date was spent on legal costs, which is money that should be invested in local communities, not lawyers in Brisbane.
The Department of Women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Multiculturalism will oversee the closure of the Inquiry and the Institute.
All permanent government staff who had been working within the framework of the inquiry will return to substantive roles within government.
Opposition Critical, Chants of ‘Shame’
Deputy Opposition Labor Leader Cameron Dick took to X to say things had gone “from bad to worse,” accusing the LNP of ramming its bill through the Legislative Assembly. Queensland is unique as it is the only state jurisdiction with a unicameral parliament.“Now the LNP will ram a bill through the House repealing the Path to Treaty Bill and destroying the Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry,” he said.
“So much for David Crisafulli treating Queenslanders, particularly First Nations Queenslanders, with ‘dignity and respect.’”
Labor’s shadow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander spokeswoman Leeanne Enoch raised her voice at Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie as he announced the change in Parliament.
“You should be ashamed,” she said.
“You are a shame on the people of Queensland.”
Other opposition MPs chanted “shame” when the deputy premier introduced the bill.
Enoch later told media she wondered if the government had wanted Indigenous people to “disappear.”
“It is unprecedented, given the number of items that they have pulled together and as an Aboriginal woman who was so proud when we had bipartisan support and passed this legislation to see it treated with no respect and no decency, is absolutely heart-wrenching,” Enoch said.
Meanwhile, the chair of the Truth-telling Inquiry Josh Creamer accused the government of sneaking the bill “through the back door.”
“When the premier spoke about decency and respect in terms of shutting down the inquiry, their behaviour today in particular has certainly not demonstrated that,” Creamer said.
