In the wake of the federal election, the Victorian Treaty Commissioner Jill Gallagher said on Wednesday the election results will not interfere on the state’s treaty process.
Speaking in front of a crowd of about 50 at a National Reconciliation Week event at Sydney's Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Ms Gallagher said “the outcome of the election doesn’t really impact" on the process.
Last month, the state of Victoria drew closer to a treaty by creating ‘The First Peoples Assembly of Victoria’.
“[They are] going to be the voice for Aboriginal people in Victoria… that’s going to be the mechanism to negotiate with government,” she said earlier in an interview with NITV's Karla Grant.
“This will be an opportunity, for the first time, to explore treaty.”
Polls will be open for Aboriginal Victorians early July to vote for their 33 representatives.
Ms Gallagher said she wants the Victorian treaty process to be a model for the rest of the country to follow.
“It demonstrates to the rest of Australia that treaty is not a dirty word… I believe eventually we will get bi-partisan support for treaties and by bi-partisan support for the Uluru Statement,” she said.
