The Queensland government says a bill to legalise the establishment of a three-year Indigenous truth-telling inquiry will come before parliament this year, as the state unveiled steps it will take towards signing a treaty with First Nations peoples.
The road to reconciliation was outlined by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as she released her government's response to a report about progressing the state's Path to Treaty, which was completed in October last year.
The government released the Treaty Advancement Committee's final report after accepting all 22 of its recommendations either in full or in principle.
Ms Palaszczuk said this next step towards treaty was "an incredible moment", with truth-telling about Queensland's history an important part of the process.
"What we do next on the Path to Treaty will define our humanity, our sense of fairness, and the legacy we leave our children," she said.
"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."
Hopes Path to Treaty will help overcome 'huge injustices'
The treaty will be a signed, negotiated agreement between First Nations peoples and the Queensland government, which could take the form of a single treaty for the whole state or individual treaties with specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups.
Prominent Aboriginal historian, author and Treaty Advancement Committee co-chair Jackie Huggins has previously criticised the Palaszczuk government for delays in releasing the committee's final report.
Dr Huggins said widespread community support and engagement would be critical in the treaty process.
"We want all Queenslanders to walk side-by-side with us on the Path to Treaty, so that we can overcome those huge injustices that still, unfortunately, persist in our society," she said.
"Treaty — it's a signed, negotiated agreement that accepts our true history.
"It opens the doors to our shared future, and it's an agreement between two or more parties."
The next steps the government will take include legislating an independent First Nations Treaty Institute to work on the agreement and launching a truth-telling and healing inquiry to air injustices experienced by Indigenous people.
Truth-telling initiatives set for public spaces
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Craig Crawford said he expected a bill would be introduced to Parliament by the end of the year, to establish the truth-telling inquiry and treaty institute.
"The truth telling inquiry will need to be built from scratch, we'll have to assign its powers, what it looks like, the numbers of people on it," he said.
"This is about proper, true, final reconciliation of our history that's more than 300 years old, it's 66,000 years old but we only learn about the last little bit."
Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner and Treaty Advancement Committee co-chair Mick Gooda said truth-telling would be a painful but necessary step towards treaty.
"We know that truth-telling is central to the healing we must all go through. Without the truth we will never heal properly," he said.
"This healing is what we all will need, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous people alike.
"Telling the truth will be traumatic and difficult for those involved, especially as the current impacts flow from recent history in terms of removal of children, dispossession and the ongoing impacts of colonisation."
Mr Crawford said a Path to Treaty Office would also be established within the state government to ensure government "is ready to come to the negotiating table".
"We need to make significant changes to how we work with First Nations for this to happen."
Ms Palaszczuk will today also sign a statement of commitment with First Nations leaders at a ceremony at Queensland Parliament.
The Queensland government began a conversation about a path towards a treaty between the state and First Nations people in 2019 — following similar moves in Victoria and the Northern Territory.
