The federal government has warned Queensland’s new premier to “hold his horses” and not give up on the state’s truth and healing inquiry.

“I would certainly say to the new Premier of Queensland to keep your horses here,” Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy told the ABC’s Indigenous Affairs team, while urging the Queensland Government to sit down and discuss with survey members.

“Don’t rush… Let this process play out, it’s the decent and right thing to do.”

Minister McCarthy said the federal government would monitor whether states and territories were making progress with investigations revealing the truth.

“I have publicly stated that the Voice, the Treaty, the Truth of the Uluru Declaration from the heart, is widely supported in principle by our government,” she said.

“But we lost the referendum and we accept the result.”

The future of reconciliation in Queensland after the new LNP government called off the inquiry to reveal the truth was high on the agenda at the annual Reconciliation Australia conference in Brisbane on Wednesday.

“It would appear that Voice, Treatise, Truth is dead in Queensland,” said Kalkadoon lawyer Joshua Creamer, chair of the Queensland Truth and Healing Inquiry, who added that he still had not direct news from the Prime Minister.

“Disrupting the work of the inquiry in this way continues 165 years of government failure to listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

The Queensland Government formally wrote to Mr Creamer on Monday evening asking him to suspend all planned hearings and sessions until the Path to Treaty Act 2023 is repealed.

“As you know, the government has signaled its intention to end the investigation before the election and instead focus on home ownership, improving health services and education to support Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships,” Fiona Simpson, the new Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, said in the letter.

Mr Creamer said he planned to meet with the government on Thursday afternoon to “review the decision”.

The investigation could still take place under different legislation, Mr Creamer said.

“The investigation could be organized under the Commission of Inquiry Act,” he said.

“This is actually the general process and practice guidelines that we have developed now for working with Indigenous participants to testify.”

Homeownership on the table

In defending the decision to end the truth investigation, the Prime Minister highlighted home ownership.

“I’ve spoken a lot to Alf Lacy, the mayor of Palm (Island) and he wants to be the first taxi driver to stand out in his community for someone to own a house there,” Mr Crisafulli said .

“It would be much more meaningful…to see a young person growing up in Palm aspire to own a home.”

Telling the truth is an important step forward for Indigenous communities and should always be on the agenda, Mr Lacey told the ABC’s Indigenous affairs team, but there are “many competing priorities” .

“Economic prosperity is certainly something I shout about loud and clear,” Mr. Lacey said.

Mr Creamer added: “Surely a government of this size can have more than one policy in the area of ​​Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

Since it opened in September, the Queensland Truth and Healing Inquiry has heard from seven witnesses – mostly Stolen Generations survivors, six chief executives and a police commissioner who spoke about the importance of understanding the past to illuminate the way forward.

The decision was a “blow” according to Sue-Anne Hunter, commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, a formal truth-telling process currently underway in Victoria.

“Our hearts are breaking during this truly difficult time,” Ms Hunter said at the conference.

“We know many of you will feel devastated.”

Ms Hunter highlighted Victoria’s ongoing process of telling the truth.

“From our experience in Victoria, (it’s) very different, we have Voice and Treaty all ready to go,” she said.

“I think it’s not scary, the world hasn’t collapsed and the truth is more important than it has ever been since the referendum failed.”