Along with my colleagues, and stalwart warriors like Mr Ted Wilkes and Mr Sandy Davies, we have stood and continue to stand on the frontline; fighting for justice, equality, and a future for our people.

What we see is not justice. What we see is cruelty, inequity, and deliberate harm. We see our people pleading for housing, safety, basic dignity. We see families burying their children, Elders sleeping rough, and trauma saturating every generation.

This is no accident. It is a calculated continuation of genocide; carried out through government policy, police violence, systemic neglect, and silence. The WA Government is not failing by mistake. It is failing by design. And we are done waiting.

The power imbalance between the state and First Nations people is grave and entrenched. Governments hold all decision-making power while Aboriginal communities are sidelined, silenced, and excluded from shaping their own futures. This is not just unfair; it is dangerous. It fuels despair, distrust, and ongoing trauma.

Australia is the 12th richest economy in the world. It sits on vast wealth, rich natural resources, generating billions annually. Yet this wealth does not reach our people. First Nations communities face poverty, overcrowded housing, unemployment, and inadequate health services; a shameful gap exposing ongoing colonial violence beneath national prosperity.

Western Australia is home to over 30,000 registered Aboriginal cultural heritage sites; sacred places that tell the story of our peoples' connection to this land for over 60,000 years. Yet this land, rich with history and culture, is threatened by development and neglect, with inadequate protection and consultation.

We are a proud people. A beautiful people. A beautiful culture. Strong people. We fight for our children and those yet to be born. We carry the voices of our ancestors and Elders; those who stood up when it wasn't safe, who fought to give us a future. We honour them by speaking truth, demanding justice.

Premier Roger Cook, your Labor Government must act. The time for delay, tokenism, and excuses is over.

WA's incarceration rate for Aboriginal people is the highest in the nation; Aboriginal adults make up about 40 per cent of the prison population despite being only four per cent of the state's population.

Our children are even more vulnerable: First Nations kids are removed from their families at a rate more than 11 times that of non-Indigenous children. This is a crisis of systemic racism and state violence.

We have sat through coronial inquiries hoping for justice. What we get is nothing. No accountability. No consequences. Just more families retraumatised, recommendations ignored, and lives lost. Aboriginal suicide rates in WA are tragically high — about double that of non-Indigenous people — reflecting ongoing trauma and despair. Mental health continues to soar out of control.

These inquiries are not justice; they protect the state. They fail to hold police and prisons accountable. They bury the truth, delay action, and protect systems that continue to harm and kill our people. We are tired of watching our people die and then watching the system pretend to care.

We see police abuse every day. Racial profiling. Harassment. Violence. Children dragged through courts. Families torn apart. Elders mistreated. Our people are policed, not protected. Criminalised, not supported. Every time police step out of line, the state covers for them. Internal reviews, closed investigations, weak oversight. The state protects police, not people. Premier Cook must end this culture of impunity. We are not safe. We will not be silenced.

WA's foundations are soaked in Aboriginal blood; massacres, stolen land, child removals, slavery, and missions. Colonisation didn't stop; it just changed shape. Today, it lives on through child protection, prisons, homelessness, suicide, and employment deprivation.

We demand a WA truth-telling commission; independent, community-led, and free from political interference. Victoria has done it. But here in WA, nothing.

Premier Cook — what are you waiting for? Truth-telling is not a gesture. It is a moral obligation. Without truth, there is no healing. Without healing, no justice.

The WA Government appoints Aboriginal people to advisory boards, tightly controlled and handpicked. They are not accountable to community. They do not speak truth to power. They exist to give cover to government inaction.

We need a legislated, independent Voice to WA Parliament, co-designed by First Nations people and accountable to grassroots communities — not the Premier's office. This Voice must be powerful. It must influence policy, shape law, and speak with authority. We will not settle for less. South Australia has one.

WA has no treaty process. That is a disgrace. Treaty is about returning what was stolen. It is about sovereignty, reparations, land, and power. It is about rewriting the relationship between the state and the First Peoples of this land. It is justice in action. Treaty is not a favour. It is our right. Premier Cook must commit to a treaty process now; not next term, not when convenient. Now.

The Federal Labor Government must also step up. Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, must intervene and deliver meaningful, urgent action for First Nations people in WA. We have been ignored for too long.

We demand national leadership that doesn't listen to one region or one voice. We demand solutions built from the ground up; from all of our communities across this vast state. Our people are dying while governments host consultations and pretend it's progress.

Sometimes we cannot change the world. But we can change someone's world.

We demand a WA truth-telling commission led by Aboriginal people. A real Voice to WA Parliament, not another advisory board. A treaty process, based in sovereignty, land justice, and shared power. An end to police brutality and coronial silence. National leadership that listens and acts; not just performs.

This is for our children. For those unborn. For those we've buried. For the old people who carried us this far. We will not accept delay. We will not be silenced.

Truth. Voice. Treaty. Now.

Premier Roger Cook — the responsibility is yours.

Minister Malarndirri — you must intervene.

Federal Labor — be honourable.

Act now or be remembered as the governments who stood by and let the genocide continue.

Megan Krakouer is a Noongar justice advocate.