Queensland's opposition has accused the state government of directing public servants to remove Acknowledgments of Country from their email signatures.
Shadow Minister for Reconciliation Leeanne Enoch on Thursday tabled a Queensland government directive in Parliament that stated: "Departments are no longer permitted to add additional departmental branding elements such as the First Nations acknowledgement..."
Ms Enoch — one of only two Indigenous members of the Queensland Parliament, both from Labor — told the chamber the directive "represents the latest in the barrage of attacks on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from this LNP government and their absolutely clueless minister".
She asked Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Fiona Simpson whether First Nations communities were consulted before the directive was issued.
Ms Simpson dismissed the concern, saying her consultations with First Nations groups across Queensland had not included discussions about email signatures, but rather the cost of living pressures, and accused Labor of being "so out of touch".
"Nobody brought up signature blocks; nobody brought up colour branding," Ms Simpson said.
"The issues that they were raising with us related to issues where the previous government just was not listening. There is not a gap but rather a hole, because it [Labor] did not listen to the areas of significant need."
She argued the government was "delivering an opportunity for our First Peoples to own their own home on islands such as Palm Island".
"They wanted this; they responded to the consultation we engaged in that they want a roof over their head and one they can own," Ms Simpson added.
The LNP government has faced criticism after cancelling the state's Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry and repealing the Path to Treaty Act last year — a move the inquiry's chair, Josh Creamer, labelled an "extraordinary act".
Mr Creamer said at the time there is "not any room in this government to listen to voices opposed to them, and there's certainly not any room in this government to listen to the voices of strong Indigenous leadership".
"The government certainly have no interest in listening," he added.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss also condemned the decision, calling it a "blow to respectful relationships between the state government and Indigenous Queenslanders".
"It was deeply disrespectful and harmful to our communities, to our senior elders who carry the trauma of their lived experience of colonisation and deserve to be heard, and to the many people who put in years of work to make it a reality," Commissioner Kiss said last year.
Speaking again in Parliament on Thursday, Ms Enoch accused the LNP government of attempting to "erase" Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from Queensland's public sector.
"This LNP government is hell-bent on winding back any progress made regarding reconciliation in this state," the Quandamooka woman said.
"This government is determined to undermine the impact of years of cross-cultural training and agreed protocols designed to ensure government agencies are able to effectively serve some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
"This government appears to be finding new ways every day to unpick rights that have been hard fought for by many generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this state."
