‘Yes’ campaigners shed light on Voice

CARLI WILLIS

Mr Pearson said there were lots of details that would need to be discussed if the ‘Yes’ vote was successful in the referendum‘.

“We’re going to workshop, we’re going to have lots of meetings, you guys need to have lots of meetings,” he said.

“Everybody around different parts of the country will be talking about the details.

“You will present to the government, ‘this is what we want the Torres Strait to look like’.”

Waiben-local Eldrina Warria said she’d been following the Voice campaign on TV but felt she didn’t quite get enough information from the news.

She said she had felt confused by different messaging in the media.

“Uncertainty puts fear in our hearts that’s why we’re not aware of what the movement’s all about,” she said.

“It’s amazing what our leaders are pushing for and working together.

“It’s a big thing and I’ve actually realised that now, like what they’re actually doing.

“That they will be sitting to give advice to the Parliament about our matters up here.”

Ms Warriar said she had reached out to staff at the event to see if she could become a volunteer campaigner in Zenadth Kes.

Elder and Kaurareg Aboriginal Corporation Director Enid Tom came from Horn Island to show her support at the event.

“I believe that when Mabo came along, that was their destiny, our elders destiny, to follow that path,” she said.

“It is now our time to stand up and take the way forward.”

Ms Tom said she felt at some elections Indigenous people missed out as they did not vote properly.

“I believe our job now from now to the referendum is to be educating our people [on] what it’s about and how we can benefit out of it,” she said.

“And educate people about how to vote in the election.” local government areas; the Northern Peninsula Area Council, the Torres Shire Council and the Torres Strait Island Regional Council.

Mayor Mosby said he was overwhelmed by the government’s commitment, but more would be needed.

“That’s not enough, but we’ve got to start somewhere,” he said.

“The Albanese Labor Government knows how important the marine infrastructure is in keeping these vulnerable communities accessible.”

He said Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) were working with council on a plan to address the issues in the three local government areas.

“Mobilisation costs up here would require a collective approach to start replacement of marine infrastructure,” he said.

Path to Treaty’s next steps under advice

Queensland’s Interim Truth and Treaty Body (ITTB) has handed its advice to the Queensland Government on the Path to Treaty’s next steps, just under 12 months since the signing of the Queensland Government’s Path to Treaty Commitment on 16 August last year.

ITTB advice is part of co-design processes to inform establishment of the TruthTelling and Healing Inquiry and the First Nations Treaty Institute.

Minister for Treaty Leeanne Enoch thanked the ITTB for their work.

“I thank and congratulate the ITTB for their work over the past year in ensuring that we hear from the voices of communities across Queensland,” she said.

“These perspectives are vital as we finalise the detailed arrangements for the Truthtelling and Healing Inquiry and the First Nations Treaty Institute.

“I particularly want to recognise the co-chairs, Cheryl Buchanan and Sally-Anne Atkinson for their vast body of work, not just in this advice received today but also their critical role in the co-design of the Path to Treaty legislation.

“The ITTB’s advice is another step towards preparing to engage in truth-telling and healing, laying the foundations for future treaty-making in Queensland based on the voices of Queenslanders.”

The advice will help shape the next steps as Queensland continues on its Path to Treaty.

The Path to Treaty Act 2023, passed in May 2023, established the legislative framework enabling the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry and the First Nations Treaty Institute. This landmark Act was co-designed with the ITTB.

Ms Buchanan said the advances they had made in the past year were “truly amazing”.

“[The] passing of the Path to Treaty Act 2023 - it brings me so much hope,” she said.

“It’s important to recognise the struggle and advocacy of those who came before us, and continue the legacy of our Elders and advocates.

“But it is equally as important to recognise those who are contributing now –community have played an integral role in what we’ve achieved.

“Collectively, we are ushering in long awaited change for Queensland.”

Ms Atkinson said ‘Treaty’ was about the legacy they wanted for future generations.

“At the engagement sessions we’ve been conducting, community have been clear that we need to ‘future proof’ treaties so that the next generations to come can adapt those agreements, to meet our changing times,” she said.

“We need to create positive futures – culturally, politically, economically and socially.”

The ITTB conducted extensive community consultation across Queensland to capture the voices of Queenslanders as a basis of the advice which would help the Queensland Government shape the next steps as it continued on the path to treaty, truth-telling and healing.

For more information about the Interim Truth and Treaty Body, visit: www. truthandtreatyqld.org.au

For more information, visit: www.qld.gov.au/treaty