Treaty backflip 'kick in guts' for Indigenous leader

Qld opposition leader David Crisafulli has dismayed Indigenous groups, by reversing on a treaty. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)

Deflated by the referendum result, a Queensland Indigenous leader has described the state opposition's treaty backflip just days later as a "kick in the guts".

The body behind the path to treaty has also taken aim at Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli, saying his decision to pull his support "displays a weakness in leadership".

However Mr Crisafulli on Friday reaffirmed his new stance, saying he would not make the same mistake as "pig headed" Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

A letter on behalf of Queensland's 17 Indigenous councils and shires has been sent to the opposition leader asking him to reconsider his decision.

Mr Crisafulli on Thursday withdrew his backing for a path to treaty following the failed Indigenous voice referendum. 

Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor Robbie Sands said the timing of the opposition's backflip "couldn't have been worse".

"It felt like a kick in the guts while we were down only a few days after the referendum result," he told AAP.

It prompted Mr Sands and Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher to organise the letter that has been sent to Mr Crisafulli on behalf of the 17 councils and shires.

The letter tells the opposition leader that they feel like they have been "kicked while we're down" and his backflip "has almost driven the nail into the coffin of Aboriginal people getting out of poverty".

"We are urging David Crisafulli to not withdraw from the (treaty) process," Mr Sands said.

The body behind the path to treaty released a scathing statement late on Friday.

"The LNP decision is a deep disappointment, a complete reversal of its previous position and a profound mistake - it displays a weakness in leadership and timidity of spirit," the Interim Truth and Treaty Body said.

Mr Crisafulli backflipped just months after supporting treaty legislation during an historic state parliament vote.

He maintained his new stance on Friday when asked about the letter.

"We want to listen and unite," he told reporters.

"Our position is very clear. We don't want to put another divisive debate on the table - I am not putting Queensland through that.

"The prime minister was, dare I say, very pig-headed in not listening to the warning bells that were ringing and I'm not going to repeat that."

Comments by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday that a treaty was a "long way off" and would require bipartisan support led to speculation about its future.

But Transport Minister Mark Bailey said on Friday the state government was 100 per cent committed to the treaty process, taking aim at Mr Crisafulli.

"The first time the wind changed, (he) collapsed like a pack of cards and sold out," he said.

Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall called for state political leaders to "stop walking back commitments to treaty" at a time when people were grieving over the referendum.

"Now is not the time for rash decision-making," he said in a statement.

Queensland public servants have been offered five days special paid leave if they are distressed by the referendum's outcome.

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