The commencement of NAIDOC Week celebrations across Tasmania have reignited debate about a state-based Treaty with Aboriginal people.
Tasmania had been on a pathway to Truth-telling and Treaty since former premier Peter Gutwein committed to talks on both with Tasmanian Aboriginal people in 2021, however the government backtracked on the commitment to Treaty after announcing a Truth-telling and Healing Commission in May.
The announcement of the Commission was welcomed by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Advisory Group and the Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Corporations Alliance (TRACA), with mixed responses from elsewhere.
Coinciding with the commencement of NAIDOC Week, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre campaign coordinator, Nala Mansell, said the Truth-Telling and Healing Commission was not something wanted or asked for by Aboriginal people in Tasmania.
"The whole time that the Liberals have been in government, we've reminded them that we want a Treaty here in Tasmania," she told The Mercury.
"We've seen no land return. We've seen no action from the Liberal government, and we've seen no promises or even acknowledgments by Labor.
"Words are meaningless without any action, and we encourage Labor to step up and make a commitment to the Aboriginal community during this election."
Ms Mansell said consensus to reject the proposal was based on strong opposition at a recent Aboriginal community meeting, with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre formally rejecting the Truth-telling and Healing Commission last month.
"Most people agree that Truth-telling is important especially in Lutruwita, Tasmania where the state has fully swept Aboriginal history and the treatment of our people under the rug," Ms Mansell said, reported by the ABC.
"But everyone in the room that day agreed that we reject the Liberal government's offer of truth-telling without any type of action.
"[It] acknowledged that the truth-telling commission will give no land back to Aboriginal people. It will return nothing of what has been stolen from us."
Last month Labor spokesperson Josh Willie told National Indigenous Times the Labor Party supports Truth-telling and Healing, while Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government remained focused on closing the gap initiatives.
"Our focus … is bringing Tasmanian Aboriginal people together, investing and supporting them, leading the truth telling and healing journey," Mr Rockliff told The Mercury.
"And when that is completed, and then any formalised agreements from that point on will be a matter for the governments of the day and indeed Aboriginal people as well."
On the other hand the Greens say Treaty, land and heritage protection are "urgent priorities" for Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
Leader and spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs, Dr Rosalie Woodruff, said the Greens would push the next government to commit to a Treaty process with Aboriginal people.
"Tasmanian Aboriginal people have survived invasion, the violence of dispossession and attempted genocide. However, the ongoing impacts of colonisation continue today," Dr Woodruff said.
"Tasmania's Aboriginal people have called for a Treaty for centuries, to recognise sovereignty and restore decision-making authority, and for the return of lands.
"Aboriginal Elders have condemned the Liberal's Truth-telling and Healing process as meaningless without it including a clear and urgent pathway to Treaty."
Dr Woodruff said the Tasmanian Greens stand in solidarity with Tasmanian Aboriginal people "in their demands for action and justice".
"We will continue to fight alongside them in this next Parliament to finally achieve the Treaty their sovereign nation deserves, by right," she said.
Tasmanians will head to the polls on Saturday 19 July for the fourth time in seven years in what's shaping to be a pivotal election for the future of reconciliation with the state's Aboriginal people.
