Photo: Gomeroi Journalist and Activist Boe Spearim
The call for Treaty and land rights has been a human rights challenge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since invasion. In the early 70’s the Larrakia People issued the Kenbi Land Claim under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act of 1976 with one of the four family groups who applied finally having their claim settled thirty-seven years later by the former Turnbull in 2016.
Gomeroi journalist and activist Boe Spearim says the call for transformative justice, truth telling, and reparations isn’t new and treaty agreements would give First Nations people the opportunity to survive and thrive.
The Treaty before Voice campaign has been actively opposing constitutional recognition prior to the dialogues held in Yulara in 2017.
We need truth, we need ACCOUNTABILITY, we need reparations or some form of process where we feel our words are being heard
Boe believes that an elected advisory body by the Prime Minister in parliament would see any recommendations watered down or represented in a way that the government wants Indigenous peoples to be represented and the ‘Treaty before Voice’ movement see that the Voice to Parliament platform is taking away of what is happening on the ground in communities. Boe says “One thing that I always say in my podcasts is that history always informs us of our relationships.”