Hundreds of people have gathered at flag raising ceremonies across Tasmania to mark the start of NAIDOC week. Achieving a treaty is high on the agenda for many who attended. But the Tasmanian government walked away from that process two months ago and neither major party has broached the topic yet in the election campaign.
00:00Making the walk to the top of Puriakitina, Riston Cove, an eagle soars overhead for the start of NAIDOC week 2025.
00:10This year's theme, the next generation, elevating the voices of youth.
00:15Our culture has survived so much colonisation, displacement, loss of language and deep pain, but we're still here and that's very powerful.
00:23And the centuries-long struggle for treaty continues.
00:26Three years after former Premier Peter Gutwin promised a treaty, the Tasmanian Government announced in May it would no longer be pursuing it.
00:34We were promised a pathway to treaty. We stood in Parliament and applauded that announcement.
00:41We were then left with an out-of-the-blue decision to scrap the whole treaty process and replace it with truth-telling.
00:50The Liberal Government's truth-telling and healing process is yet to start, and the issues haven't been raised by either major party during the election campaign.
00:58Just last week, Victoria's Yurok Truth-Telling Commission handed down its first report after four years of work, finding Aboriginal people in Victoria have endured crimes against humanity and genocide.
01:10We need to be following what Victoria and other states have done, having a truth-telling and healing and treaty process that needs to start this year.
01:18Labor is open to revisiting treaty if it wins government.
01:22We understand that there needs to be truth-telling, we understand that there needs to be a pathway towards treaty, but you need to bring Tasmanians along on the journey with that.
01:31Our focus quite clearly right now needs to be closing the GAP initiatives, supporting Aboriginal people when it comes to truth-telling and healing.
01:41No matter who wins government, the impacts of past decisions will remain.
