A long-time ‘path to treaty advocate’ has shaped evidence at today’s Truth-Telling and Healing Inquiry in Brisbane. Jackie Huggins shared the story of how her mother was forcibly removed as a child and taken to a government reserve against her will.
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00:00Jackie Huggins is one of the movers and shakers of the nation's reconciliation movement.
00:08She gave evidence at Queensland's historic Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry after she
00:14and others successfully lobbied the state government for a path to treaty act.
00:20The nation deserves it.
00:22We all do.
00:23The inquiry is examining the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
00:29people.
00:30Dr Huggins shared how her mother was stolen.
00:34My mother was rounded up and put on the back of a cattle truck in the 1920s.
00:41What could they do?
00:42They couldn't do anything, they were powerless.
00:45Like many others, her mother was sent away to work as a domestic servant for white farming
00:51families where she was paid very little.
00:54There were some kind people in that, but mostly they were very cruel.
01:00She died before receiving any back pay for the stolen wages.
01:04A public hearing with government officials will be held in Brisbane next week, but beyond
01:09that there are no firm plans.
01:11The inquiry, which is supposed to run for three years, could be scrapped if the LNP
01:17wins next month's election.
01:19I think this is very instrumental in Australia's history, that this truth needs to be told
01:25and in actual fact the truth will set you free.
01:28We've been waiting for, pushing for, hoping for processes like this.
01:37The inquiry will be held across the state during the truth-telling process.