Following the Albanese Government’s announcement at the Garma Festival, Greens First Nations spokesperson, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and DjabWurrung Senator Lidia Thorpe, has announced that she will seek discussions with the government about their proposal for a Voice, with the aim of seeing other areas critical to First Nations justice also progressed.
Senator Lidia Thorpe said:
“I’ll be seeking discussions with the Albanese Government about their proposal for a Voice to Parliament and putting urgent, critical matters for First Nations people on the table. These are things that will save people’s lives, before any referendum.
“I want the government to support our Bill to back the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, implement the remaining recommendations from the Stolen Generations and Deaths in Custody Royal Commissions, and back the Greens’ plans for concrete steps towards a Treaty.
“We don’t have to wait until next year to have our rights legislated. Labor can support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, which is being debated in Parliament on Monday, to help guarantee that our rights will be protected.
“Labor has an opportunity to show us that they’re committed to action, not just symbolism, by implementing all of the recommendations in full from the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the 1997 Bringing them Home Report. This is urgent, and overdue.
“The Greens also want to see the Government make meaningful progress towards Treaty, the potentially more difficult but ultimately more transformative part of the Uluṟu statement.
“The Greens will be bringing these critical reforms to the table in discussions with Labor about justice for First Nations people.
“First Nations sovereignty has never been ceded. The Greens will always honour that.”
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BACKGROUND:
- Greens 2022 Election commitment is to ensure progress towards Treaty, as well as action to save lives now. Read more here