Overview
- The agreement was signed on the Gold Coast at the Local Government Association of Queensland conference and sets annual meetings between cabinet ministers and the state’s 17 First Nations councils.
- Ministers describe the accord as a practical consultation channel focused on issues such as housing, jobs, water access and essential services, with decision-making remaining with elected officials.
- Minister Fiona Simpson and Local Government Minister Ann Leahy reject comparisons to the defeated federal Voice to Parliament, saying the accord creates no unelected decision-making body.
- Labor’s Cameron Dick welcomed the direct access but argued the arrangement is akin to a Voice, while Katter’s Australian Party criticized it as contradicting the 2023 referendum result in Queensland.
- Indigenous mayors including Alf Lacey and Bruce Gibson voiced support for a ‘seat at the table’ to raise local priorities, as the accord follows the LNP’s 2024 repeal of the Path to Treaty Act and the end of the truth-telling inquiry.