Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, has refused to rule out Truth-telling and Treaty in this term of government, saying she is "very much open to listening to what people have to say".
Despite the comprehensive defeat of the Voice referendum in 2023, advocates have urged the government to enact the two other aspects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart - Treaty and Truth.
Speaking on ABC on Thursday afternoon, Senator McCarthy said that whilst the Voice was lost, there was an opportunity to learn from the different states conducting Truth-telling, including Victoria and South Australia, and said the government is committed to the principles of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Pressed on if she wanted to commit and advance the principles - especially Truth-telling - in Labor's second term, she said: "We've never shied away from the principles."
"We have a First Nations caucus to meet. We've got to be sworn into Parliament at the end of July. There's still a road to go. But can I say to your viewers, I am very much open to listening to what people have to say," she said.
Last term, the Minister said it would be "very difficult" to pursue Makarrata without bipartisan support after the Prime Minister said talking to Indigenous organisations was the best way to engage with First Nations people, as opposed to setting up a formal commission to oversee agreements and Truth-telling.
Named after a Yolŋu word for coming together after a struggle, Makarrata is the culmination of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Last year, one of the architects of the Uluru Statement, Pat Anderson, called on the government to embark on a Truth and Justice Commission.
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Asked if she believed a form of a national Truth-telling process is necessary for a reconciliation process and healing to begin to take place, Senator McCarthy said: "Truth-telling can occur within school environments and committees and communities across the country."
"What I'm saying, in terms of my role as Indigenous Affairs Minister, is that I'm ready to listen to see what possibilities there could be in going forward," she said.
Appearing on ABC RN on Friday morning, former Labor senator and a commissioner of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in Custody, Pat Dodson, said he was encouraged the Albanese government had signalled it remained open to Truth-telling and Treaty.
Known as "the father of reconciliation," the Yawuru senior Elder said we needed to "start listening to the different stories".
"I'm encouraged that the way to go forward is being proposed or that they're open to that. Obviously, it's got to be committed to and then they've got to set up a process to enacting," Mr Dodson said.
"But it's a great thing because we've got to start listening to different stories… because once we start listening to different stories, we start to find where we've got common ground with others, and then we can hopefully build better relationships."
Mr Dodson, who retired from federal politics after being diagnosed with cancer, added that "more importantly," people will start to learn that Indigenous peoples are a "sovereign people" and a "unique people".
"They have collective rights that are summarised now in the declaration of Indigenous peoples' rights, but they have a collective, unique people," he said.
"They're not some wayward citizens that you can just trickle down the minimalist benefits to.
"These are unique peoples, with a unique culture, who are here prior to the colonisation of the nation, and we've got to start respecting them as such and dealing with them."
He added: "Doesn't mean they have better rights than anyone - that's what the Declaration term tells us - but we've got to deal with Aboriginal people as sovereign peoples and not in some begrudging way...to enable them to enjoy full citizenship of this great nation."
Speaking at the end of a difficult Reconciliation Week for many Indigenous communities after the death in police custody of a disabled Aboriginal man in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Mr Dodson - a commissioner of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody - also said he was dismayed and saddened by the death.
"What went through my mind is the concept of a duty of care," he said.
"When you have authority, and particularly police and prison officers...when you have authority that can take the freedom away from another citizen or another human being, you've got to exercise that with the utmost diligence."
