Cherbourg’s truth-telling efforts have found a powerful supporter in Federal Minister and Senator from the Northern Territory, Malarndirri McCarthy.
The Minister for Indigenous Australians in the Commonwealth Government congratulated staff of Cherbourg Radio on their town’s push toward community-led truth-telling during a chance encounter at the 2024 CONVERGE First Nations media conference in Canberra on 20 November.
Ms McCarthy told Burnett Today she commended the “courage and determination” of Cherbourg’s elders as they spoke up about the traumatic experiences of their past to channel it into healing.
“First Nations people in Queensland continue to be impacted by the traumatic experiences of the past, so the new LNP government’s suspension of the state’s formal Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry has been deeply disappointing,” Ms McCarthy said.
“However, I was moved to see elders in Cherbourg sharing their experiences of growing up in Cherbourg’s Aboriginal settlement, supported by the wider community listening to their often confronting testimonies.
“I hope it [Cherbourg’s truth-telling] gives strength to other First Nations communities to follow,” she said.
The federal politician’s words of encouragement came just days before the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry announced its plans to continue accepting submissions from Queensland’s Indigenous people, defying the state government’s directive to cease operations.
Inquiry chair Joshua Creamer said that, after the LNP took power in late October and immediately froze the organisation’s work amid plans to repeal the Path to Treaty Act, he had received no further instructions from either Premier David Crisafulli or Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Fiona Simpson.
“In the absence of any further information, and to ensure the Inquiry meets its obligations as an independent inquiry under the Path to Treaty Act, the Inquiry today informed the minister of works to be continued to ensure the members will continue to satisfy their obligations under the Act until it has been repealed,” Mr Creamer said on 22 November.
The Inquiry’s work will not include any public hearings, but Indigenous Queenslanders are once again able to make online submissions to the organisation.
The submissions will become part of the Inquiry’s records and reportedly be preserved in the Queensland state archives.
