An architect of Victoria’s controversial First Nations Treaty has publicly declared the bill will bring ‘unfinished business’ to the fore.
First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria co-chair Ngarra Murray explained the meaning of the treaty is ‘about forging new, respectful relationships between Australia’s First Peoples’ and the state, with the shared goal of creating a better future’.
‘Treaty creates a new middle space where the unfinished business the Crown and first peoples relations can be addressed, and where communities can shape agreements that honour first peoples’ culture, inherent rights and shared futures,’ Ms Murray said.
‘We have survived policies designed to erase us, institutions built to exclude us, and a nation that for too long looked away from our truth.’
Ms Murray, who gave the 25th Dr Charles Perkins Oration at The University of Sydney this week, told the assembly that ‘Aboriginal people are the experts when it comes to our Countries, cultures and communities’.
‘Australia doesn’t lack a treaty by accident, or because Australia predates the concept, and it certainly wasn’t because of a lack of willingness from First Peoples,’ she said.
‘It was by decision by the people who came here who chose not to do treaty, and our people paid the price. Treaty is about correcting that injustice. Pulling ourselves up as nation to be in line with the international standard and following best practice.
‘This treaty heralds an era where everyone prospers… It is a future where our Country is known not just for its natural beauty, but for the way it nurtures culture, celebrates diversity, and ensures that safety, dignity and opportunity is shared by all.’
First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria co-chair Ngarra Murray explained the meaning of the treaty is ‘about forging new, respectful relationships’
Ms Murray hands a sacred object to Premier Jacinta Allan
Ms Murray said ‘Aboriginal people are the experts when it comes to our Countries, cultures and communities’
Ms Murray’s address comes just weeks after a recent poll revealed that a majority of Victorians are against the state’s controversial plan.
Victorian MPs began debating the bill earlier this month, but with Labor holding a majority in the Lower House and securing support from smaller left-wing parties in the Upper House, its passage appears all but guaranteed.
Once enacted, the legislation will hand several powers to an Indigenous representative body known as Gellung Warl, despite Victorians rejecting a similar proposal during the 2023 Voice referendum.
The treaty process has already cost an estimated $776 million since work began in 2016, with Gellung Warl set to receive $70 million annually in taxpayer funding. That figure will be reviewed regularly and is expected to rise over time.
A poll conducted by independent researcher Fox & Hedgehog for the conservative think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs, found that only 37 per cent of respondents support the treaty. Another 42 per cent said they oppose it, while 21 per cent remain undecided.
When respondents were asked to choose between supporting or opposing the treaty, 52 per cent said they were against it, compared to 48 per cent in favour.
IPA research fellow Margaret Chambers said the results showed that voters were not backing the treaty.
According to the IPA poll, the demographic groups that support and oppose a treaty mirror the same trends seen in the 2023 Voice referendum, which was rejected by Australians.
The controversial treaty bill was introduced by the Jacinta Allan’s Labor Party last month
Welcome to Country ceremonies could increase after the Treaty is passed
‘Victorians simply do not want their community to be divided where some have extra votes and special privileges because of their race. Victorians have spoken, and they reject the attempt by the state government to create a race-based chamber of parliament,’ Ms Chambers said.
The controversial treaty bill was introduced by Jacinta Allan’s Labor government last month, with details now published on a government website.
Key aspects of the treaty include a requirement for all Victorian prep to year 10 students to learn ‘truth-telling’ as part of their school curriculum.
According to the treaty, this truth-telling will teach students that the ‘colony of Victoria was established without the consent, negotiation or recognition of the traditional owners of these lands and waters’.
Access to skiing and snowboarding in alpine areas, as well as hunting and fishing, could also be restricted at the request of Aboriginal groups, with the proposals debated earlier this month.
Under the reforms, Gellung Warl is to ‘participate in the ceremonial life of the state’, which could result in more Welcome to Country ceremonies.
Gellung Warl will also have authority over the use of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and other ‘physical markers of treaty’.
The body will be empowered to make ‘substantive rules relating to how First Peoples’ organisations in Victoria provide certificates evidencing that a person is accepted as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person by the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community’.
Gellung Warl will also serve as a ‘naming authority’ for geographic locations including mountains, state parks and rivers, to ‘increase opportunities for the use of traditional or language place names’.
