TRANSCRIPT:
"We've never ceded our sovereign rights. Very important, all Traditional Owners haven't ceded our sovereign rights. Lands stolen in 1839, needs some reparation, need some reconciliation. Needs to set the history right."
Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung man Uncle Andrew Gardiner commenced debate on a historic Treaty Bill with a smoking ceremony on the steps of Victorian Parliament.
"Our ancestors told stories around campfires for thousands of years. We acknowledge this site at which Parliament was built in 1856 was also our traditional ceremony ground, of our Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people."
On the second anniversary of the failed federal 2023 Voice Referendum, the Victorian state government is making history by introducing legislation to establish the first ever Treaty between a state government and First Nations people.
It's the culmination of a ten-year process.
The Treaty, if legislated, will establish a new democratically elected authority called Gellung Warl, the Gunaikurnai phrase for 'tip of the spear'.
To be made up of elected First Peoples Assembly members, the authority would have the power to negotiate terms with the state government, hold public hearings, and question government ministers.
Gunditjmara man Rueben Berg is a Co-Chair of the First People's Assembly.
He explained to Parliament the significance of Gellung Warl.
"Made from wood, straightened by hand, spear point reinforced by fire, fibre and sinew bound with resin so the point and the body do not part. This is our guide. The tip is Gellung Warl, the wood of the spear our community. The binding is treaty, the line of sight and the throw are our self-determination. We shape the point together, bind our purpose, and we take responsibility for the throw."
With a commitment to truth-telling and healing embedded in the Treaty, an agreement has already been made to ensure the true history of Victoria is included in the school curriculum.
Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa and Dja Dja Wurrung woman Ngarra Murray is also a Co-Chair of the assembly.
Ahead of debate, she reminded those in Parliament of the historic and ongoing injustices faced by First Peoples in Victoria.
"Our ancestors, as children, watched the white man come to our country. They would have seen many of their people die. Some were killed in cruel reprisals when they tried to keep their territory, some were shot down in the Blakfella hunt, no different to the kangaroo hunt, simply to clear the land. Some were given presents of poison flower. Some died from the white man's diseases, some from his alcohol. The history of dispossession in this country is long, our dispossession was effected by the colonisers through a systemic campaign of intentional violence, our people felt the impacts of colonisation and dispossession, physically, culturally, spiritually, economically and legally."
The work to establish this historic agreement officially started around a decade ago, with community consultations beginning in 2016 and the establishment of the First Peoples Assembly in 2019.
In 2021, Australia's first truth-telling commission, the Yoorook Justice Commission, sought to formally reckon with the historic and ongoing injustices faced by the First Peoples of Victoria.
Delivering its final report earlier this year, the need for a Treaty was described as key to transformative change for communities.
While acknowledging the ongoing injustices faced by First Peoples in Victoria, the Victorian Liberal Opposition has vowed to repeal the Treaty legislation within 100 days if they win the next state election.
Victorian Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Melina Bath, says the Victorian Liberal Party will instead establish a new department of government, called First Nations Victoria.
"Well, first of all, the First Nations Victoria will have one minister. It will create an advisory body. That advisory body will listen broadly, and we welcome members who may be now part of the first People's Assembly to be part of that advisory body, but it will extend further than that."
Concerned about what they say is a lack of breadth in the voices represented by the First Peoples Assembly, the opposition says one minister will be appointed and advised by a group.
Asked if the advisory group would be made up of elected members, as the First Peoples Assembly members would be, Ms Bath said it was too soon to tell.
"I want to make sure that there is broad representation on this advisory body, from community controlled organizations to corporations to cooperatives to elders to youth, Indigenous youth. I'm not going to prescribe to the nth degree, because we need to make sure that there is a breadth of understanding and contribution."
The proposed Treaty legislation follows generations of advocacy from First Nations communities and organisations.
With broad support in Parliament, outside of the state Liberal and National party, the Treaty is expected to be signed into law and debate is set to continue throughout the week.
Rueben Berg says that after repeated policy failures, this Treaty forges the path for Victoria to move forward.
"For the last 200 years, we've had successive governments saying they know best about our business, countless bodies, commissions and policies set up without the leadership of First Peoples, even with governments with good intentions, it just does not work. All of us can agree our approach must change. Today, we can agree to move forward together by discontinuing the centuries of ineffective and harmful policies. This is not a favour, asked, but a right recognised."
