This Federal Election presents a serious risk of reversing decades of hard won progress toward reconciliation – progress built through the efforts of both First Nations peoples and their allies.

Since the 2023 Referendum, the Federal Opposition Leader and his Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians have openly undermined key symbols and practices of respect. These include the formal use of the Aboriginal flag, funding for First Nations services, Acknowledgement and Welcome to Country ceremonies, and the value of identified positions. The federal Liberal National Coalition is using an ‘anti-woke’ agenda to foster division and resentment, rather than empathy and national unity.

At the same time, the federal Australian Labor Party has retreated from its 2022 commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart – shifting away from promises like a national truth-telling commission and reverting to the rhetoric of ‘practical’ reconciliation.

For First Nations communities, the Uluru Statement represents the essence of reconciliation: Voice, Truth, and Treaty – foundations for self-determination, justice reinvestment, and closing the gap.

Now more than ever, we must stand up for First Nations rights and justice in the 2025 election.

In this election campaign please:

• Engage with your local federal candidate;
• Ask where they stand on: listening to First Nations’ voices, truth-telling, treaty processes, self-determination in service delivery, justice reinvestment, and closing the gap priorities.
• Vote strategically. If reconciliation is to have a future beyond May 2025, preference candidates who publicly endorse the principles of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
• For your vote to be counted, please ensure you number every box for the House of Representative ballot paper.