The Minister for Indigenous Australians Urges to Prioritize Federal Truth-telling Now

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Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy says it is time to consider the steps needed to begin a truth-telling process led by the federal government.

While the government had previously committed to a Makarrata Commission to oversee truth-telling and treaty-making processes, progress stalled after the defeat of the Indigenous Voice referendum in 2023.

At last year’s Garma Festival the Prime Minister stopped short of recommitting to the commission, and funding set aside for Makarrata in previous budgets was reallocated towards Closing the Gap measures.

The government has since said it would be watching progress on truth-telling by the state and territory governments.

But speaking to ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday, Senator McCarthy said the work of Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission was being considered by the federal government.

“Now is the time, I hope, as we go forward, that we can look at what we can do at a federal level in regards to taking the steps that are required around truth-telling,” she said.

“We do talk about this when we come to Garma, but now is the time to see action and I do want to read the Yoorrook Commission report and see what we can do at a federal level.”

The Yoorrook Justice Commission – Australia’s first truth-telling inquiry – finished its work at the end of June, handing down two final reports that act as a formal record of the state’s history since colonisation and as a road map for change.

It found genocide and crimes against humanity had been committed against Aboriginal people in Victoria, and made 100 sweeping recommendations for state government reform, including redress.

The reports prompted calls from Independent Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe for the federal government to lead a federal truth-telling process.

Senator McCarthy said her government would be looking closely at the recommendations.

“It has been a courageous journey in Victoria, one that I’ve certainly been watching and listening to with the Commissioners, but also with First Nations people in Victoria,” she said.

“This is something that I think the Australian Parliament will be watching very closely, we sit in a couple of weeks time.”

This is a significant moment in history for our country.

Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy

Truth-telling was one of the three major components of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, with the other two being Voice and Treaty.

While Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission has completed its mandate, statewide treaty negotiations between the First Peoples Assembly and the state government are looking at how the Assembly can carry on a truth-telling function permanently.

Queensland’s Labor government also began a truth-telling inquiry last year, but the process was scraped by the Liberal National Party after winning the state election.