Senator Lidia Thorpe at her swearing-in ceremony to the Senate in October,2020.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Greens First Nations spokeswoman Lidia Thorpe,a DjabWurrung,Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman,said the proposed commission would investigate historical and contemporary examples of human rights abuses and wrongdoing. It would also provide recommendations on how to heal from these incidents.
“We need to explore,understand,and reckon with our past and the impact it continues to have on First Nations people,” Senator Thorpe said.
“Guided by the work of the Truth and Justice Commission,the next step in our journey towards a Treaty involves engaging and involving the community in developing the Treaty or Treaties via a national consultation and engagement process.”
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Labor has committed to the calls of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart and has promised to constitutionally enshrine a Voice to Parliament if elected at the next poll,due by May.
Alongside this,the party has also promised to establish a Makarrata Commission to oversee truth-telling and treaty projects as a matter of priority – but it has not committed to a firm funding figure.
While the Greens have also committed to the Uluru Statement,their official policy is for a truth-telling and treaty process to come first and for a Voice model to be decided later through a treaty process.