Tears, embraces, and applause from the gallery have greeted a historic piece of legislation passed in the Queensland parliament.
The regional sitting, held this week in Cairns, spent most of the week debating the "Path to Treaty" bill, which was carried last night with bipartisan support.
Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Craig Crawford said the bill would establish a First Nations Treaty Institute and a formal truth-telling and healing inquiry.
"That will give me as the minister the ability to hire five people, and all the staffing and everything that they need, to go and run an inquiry in Queensland as to all of the things that happened around colonisation — frontier wars, massacres, everything, all the way up until the present day," he said.
He said the treaty institute would consist of an independent council of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as staff.
"Their role will be to start to prepare First Nations leadership for treaty negotiations," he said.
Member for Cook, and the first Torres Strait Islander person elected to any parliament in Australia, Cynthia Lui said it was an emotional day.
"A lot has happened up until this point; we're talking about generations of hurt, of trauma," she said.
"We're at this point now where we can look forward to the future where we've passed a very significant bill in parliament that I'm very proud to be part of.
"It gives me hope; it gives me great hope."
Ms Lui said a successful treaty would mean First Nations people would be empowered and have self-determination.
"One where First Nations people are at the table each and every time making decisions for their own affairs," she said.
Ms Lui said a truth-telling inquiry was also an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to tell their truth.
"It's not just Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' stories; it's actually Queensland's story," she said.
"This is now the opportunity for us to all walk together and create a new narrative to a better, brighter, inclusive, more reconciled Queensland."
During debate, a broken-tipped spear, gifted by Guugu Yimithirr elder Fred Deeral was placed on the table next to the parliamentary mace.
Mr Deeral, a descendant of former Member for Cook Eric Deeral and of a Cape York Aboriginal leader, known as the Little Old Man, gifted the spear in a symbolic reference to the Little Old Man's meeting and brokering of peace with Lieutenant James Cook in 1770.
Craig Crawford told parliament: "On the banks of the Endeavour River, 330km north of here, the Little Old Man, an elder chosen from the 32 clans of the Kuku Yalanji tribal nation, walked forward with a broken-tipped spear to end a bloody skirmish 253 years ago."
"This broken-tipped spear is a potent symbol of Australia's first recorded act of reconciliation," he said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this morning said it was impossible to overstate the significance of this event.
"Generations including my own have grown up oblivious to our own history … we were told about convicts and first settlers, explorers and the Victorian gold rush. The experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was rarely if ever mentioned," she said.
"It whitewashed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from the pages of our shared story … It renders them all but invisible to this day.
"How can you close the gap with something you cannot see?"
She said the truth-telling inquiry would have all the powers of a commission of inquiry but with a non-adversarial approach aimed at uncovering truth.
Community impact
Mayor of Yarrabah, Queensland's largest discrete Aboriginal community, Ross Andrews said the move towards treaty was "courageous" and would have "real impact".
"It's an occasion that we can celebrate, but we can also look at the past and see how the past has affected First Nations people in the state," he said.
"The state of Queensland needs to acknowledge the past and the dark history of our state and there's going to be some healing. There's a lot of hurt and pain."
Masig Statement
While the bill passed with only four votes against, with all members of the Katter's Australian Party and One Nation voting to reject it, the bill has received some criticism.
Mayor of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council Phillemon Mosby said it was disappointing the bill did not include a reference to the Masig Statement, which recognised the need for autonomy in the Torres Strait.
"Whilst we commend the Queensland government on embarking on this journey to introduce a 'Path to Treaty' bill, it's equally important that this government recognises that there are two First Nations people of Queensland: the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders," he said.
The Masig Statement was signed in 2022 on the anniversary of the First Island Councillors Conference, which was held on Masig Island in 1937.
It calls for self-determination for the peoples of the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area region as well as the right for autonomy in economic, social, and cultural development.
Mr Mosby said by not including a reference to this statement, both nations were being grouped together without recognising their differences.
"We feel like it's hard for us to find our place," he said.
"Once the Masig Statement is not in there, [there are] grave concerns that our leaders and elders and people of the Torres Strait feel that the government will view Torres Strait Islander people … through a different lens or perspective."
Mr Crawford said he wanted to have "personal dialogue" with Torres Strait leaders about how to include a reference to the statement.
"I do want to find a set of words that we can use, and we'll come back and we'll insert it in the bill," he said.
