The Treaty Council, a central commission supporting First Nations’ sovereign right to control their own country, has welcomed the Queensland government’s Path to Treaty Bill.
The state government is rushing the landmark bill through parliament, with the hope of setting up a Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry and First Nations Treaty Institute, within three months of the laws passing.
The Inquiry will run for at least three years and will investigate the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Treaty Institute will help prepare First Nations peoples in Queensland for treaty negotiations with the State.
Alex Wymarra of the First Nation Gudang-Yadhaykenu clan on the tip of Cape York, created a group known as the Treaty Council several years ago, comprised of First Nations business and media consultants, international corporate investors, and constitutional legal experts. Its focus is on facilitating economic Treaties between First Nations groups and business interests, not only in Australia, but throughout the Pacific and the rest of the world.
Wymarra says a Treaty should become before an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and welcomes the state governments pathway towards Treaties with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the state.
However, he said there are 500+ First Nations’ in Australia and each Firs Nation would need their own Treaty with the state.
Listen to the interview with Director of the Treaty Council, Alex Wymarra:
