Qld to continue on treaty path after referendum defeat

Laine Clark | October 16, 2023

While Australians may not be ready for an Indigenous voice to parliament, Queensland will keep moving towards an Indigenous treaty.

The Indigenous voice referendum was defeated on Saturday, with all states voting the proposal down, including almost 70 per cent of Queensland.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk acknowledged the result, saying “the Australian people have spoken”.

“And their voice tells me they’re not ready. Not yet,” she said in a statement.

“I respect that. They never get it wrong.”

However, her government will remain on its path to a treaty between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups and the state of Queensland.

“Of course we respect the decision that Australians made in the referendum,” state minister Meaghan Scanlon told reporters on Monday.

“We’ve been clear though as a state government that we will progress a path to treaty to try and close the gap.

“We have a minister who is heading up that process and we will continue to engage with First Nations people and communities to try and close the gap on things like delivering better housing…better health outcomes.”

In a rejigged ministry unveiled in May, Leeanne Enoch – the first Indigenous woman elected to Queensland’s parliament – will work towards a treaty in a new portfolio of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships.

Historic laws to help shape future treaty negotiations were passed in May, with Queensland’s colonial past to be examined by a Truth-telling inquiry likely to be undertaken over a three-year period.

Asked if the referedum result would change how the Queensland government would approach the path to treaty, Ms Scanlon said: “I think they are vastly different things.

“I think Australians understand the difference between treaty and…voice.”

Ms Palaszczuk said she was confident that all Australians agreed that there was a need to improve the wellbeing of First Nations people.

“We are a generous nation. And we extend our hearts and our hand to all,” she said.

“This wasn’t the right way. I acknowledge the strong feedback. 

“But that won’t stop our efforts to bring justice, reconciliation and material improvement to the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”