1 week Ago By Callum Godde
A stoush is brewing over who will get final sign off on Australia's first treaty with Aboriginal people on the eve of the start of negotiations. Login or signup to continue reading Talks between the Victorian government and First Peoples' Assembly will start after a formal commencement ceremony late next week. The Treaty Authority will oversee the negotiations, acting as an independent umpire.
There will be no statewide treaty with Indigenous Victorians unless approved by parliament, but the opposition is demanding the public have the final say. Premier Jacinta Allan said treaty was an opportunity to provide a better, fairer society for all Victorians but conceded talks would be difficult. "I remain really positive about these negotiations," she told reporters on Thursday.
"We are considering the challenges and the consequences of the unbroken line of injustice that was a caused by that initial colonial dispossession." Ms Allan refused to put a time frame on how long talks could last, saying a final agreement would not be binding and need to be ticked off by parliament. The state opposition withdrew its support for treaty in January following the failed national voice to federal parliament referendum, citing concerns about cultural heritage laws.
The premier should put any agreement to the people, not just parliament, Opposition Leader John Pesutto said. "This is something that concerns all the people and questions of this magnitude should not be decided ..
. just by bringing it forward in the parliament," he said. "The premier knows that her government will have a majority of the lower house and may well be able to secure the 21 votes in the upper house.
"But is that enough? Is that fair to say to Victorians 'well, we are going to change and overhaul the way we have lived our lives in this state for generations upon generations'." He flagged the matter should be put to the people at the 2026 state election or "some other means", when asked if he would support a plebiscite. After years of discussions with Indigenous communities to find common ground, assembly co-chair Rueben Berg said its approach was based on the principle decisions about Aboriginal communities should be made by Aboriginal people.
"We know that people thrive when they can make choices about what works best for them and their families based on their own needs and experiences," the Gunditjmata man said. Victoria recorded the highest 'yes' vote of any state at 45.85 per cent in the federal voice referendum.
In late October, the newly elected Queensland Liberal-National government ended the state's truth-telling inquiry. The inquiry was set out in Queensland's Path to Treaty Act, which passed parliament with bipartisan support in 2023. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said he planned to repeal the act and suggested truth-telling would not unite the state.
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