Allegations of a 'Project Invisibility' Strategy Against Indigenous Voices in Queensland

Joshua Creamer, a prominent Indigenous barrister and former head of the state's truth-telling and healing inquiry, has accused the Queensland LNP government of implementing an organized strategy to eliminate, remove, and reduce the role of Indigenous people within government. Creamer was sacked from his position on the first general sitting day of parliament under the new government.

'Project Invisibility'

"There's an organised strategy and that is to ultimately eliminate, remove, reduce the Indigenous affairs, Indigenous initiatives, Indigenous voices."
— Joshua Creamer

Creamer described the strategy as 'project invisibility', a term he says was heard from a person inside government.

Natalie Lewis, a Gamilaraay woman and former commissioner of the Queensland Family and Child Commission, was not reappointed after six years. She said: "when decisions were made in the absence of the voices of Aboriginal people, it sends a very clear message about what level of priority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have in the state." She noted an 'abandonment of spaces' where Indigenous representation had been customary.

Examples Cited

The allegations are supported by a series of actions taken by the new government:

• Removal of Aboriginal Queenslanders from state government boards, including contemporary artist Bianca Beetson and musician David Williams from state cultural organization boards, and barrister Avelina Tarrago from the Legal Aid Board.
• Appointment of Darren Robinson, a former detective criticized for his role in investigating the 2004 Aboriginal death in custody on Palm Island.
• Defunding of Aboriginal programs such as Murri Watch.
• Attempt (later reversed) to implement a blanket policy to contest all new native title claims.
• Overturning of the decision to name the state's newest theatre after Indigenous poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal.
• Legislation exempting Olympics venues from cultural heritage law.
• Alleged cull of protected dingos on K'gari without consultation with Indigenous owners.
• Request to strip a number of state electorates of First Nations names.
• Changes to the role of chief First Nations health officer and continued representation questioned in Education and Health departments.

Government Response

Attorney General Deb Frecklington stated that Lewis's "term was up and she was not reappointed" and that the work was continuing under the commissioner.

A government spokesperson said the approach is "redirecting funds into practical locally led projects which deliver tangible outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander discrete communities through our Closing the Gap Priorities Fund," citing investments in water supply, housing, and education.

Opposition Comment

Labor shadow minister Leeanne Enoch countered:

"You don't need an internal secret code name like 'project invisibility' when the outcomes are so very obvious... this government is deliberately making First Nation voices less visible and sending Queensland backward."