QUEENSLAND will take a major step towards a Treaty with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when new legislation is introduced to State Parliament.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says a five-member Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry and a First Nations Treaty Institute will be set up under the proposed laws.

“Treaties have been established over centuries and provide people of those nations, like New Zealand, a shared sense of identity and pride that we should have too,” Ms Palaszczuk told business and community leaders at an event in Brisbane. 

“But all efforts to establish one in this country have died in a desert of ignorance and indifference where they have stayed for more than 200 years.” 

The terms of reference are yet to be set for the inquiry, which will have some elements of a royal commission, but Treaty Advancement Committee co- chair Mick Gooda stressed the customised model would be culturally appropriate and non- adversarial. 

“We want this to be owned by the community,” Mr Gooda said. 

The inquiry will likely focus on historic…