A call to action by ANTAR.
For decades, First Nations Peoples have called for treaties and truth-telling as vehicles toward greater justice, decision making and self-determination for their communities.
It has been more than eight months since the Voice referendum – a proposal which 6.2 million Australians, including the vast majority of First Nations communities, supported – and the Government has yet to deliver on their commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
This sitting week in Federal Parliament, the Greens will introduce a Bill to establish a Truth and Justice Commission, a national process to lay a foundation of truth about our shared history as a nation, and to begin to deliver the long-overdue justice that First Nations Peoples in this country deserve.
ANTAR are calling on our supporters – and all of those who stand behind justice, rights and respect for First Nations Peoples – to take action and sign our petition, urging the Government to support the establishment of a Truth and Justice Commission as promised.
Now more than ever, strong leadership at a national level is both necessary and urgent in order to move beyond performative politics and to make a reality of the vision articulated in the Uluru Statement. After 200+ years of dispossession and colonial violence, First Nations Peoples deserve justice.
Alyawarre Elder Pat Anderson AO, Uluru Dialogue Co Chair and Voice to Parliament advocate, has called for the Government to act:
“It has been nine months since the referendum and there needs to be forward momentum…
“Our people are hurting from the silence, and there needs to be leadership…
“Nothing has changed since October 14. Change is needed. Change is urgent.”
It is beyond time to interrupt the ‘Great Australian Silence’, and to boldly share the unsettling truths about the settler colonial violence that not only founded the nation but which continues today through unprecedented rates of child removal, over-incarceration, gaps in health outcomes, cultural heritage destruction and racism. The transformative process toward truth has been on the shoulders of First Nations Peoples for too long, and it is our turn to share in the responsibility and listen. Our collective future depends on it.
In solidarity,
The ANTAR Team
ps – Please show your support by signing our petition and then sharing it with your networks. We must demonstrate that Australians expect the Government stands by its commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart – voice, treaty and truth – and to justice for First Nations Peoples.