Victorian Liberals to scrap statewide Treaty if elected

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Victoria's Liberal opposition will repeal the state's Treaty agreement with Aboriginal people if elected in Victoria. Victoria's proposed Treaty with First Peoples, which would become the first of its kind in Australia, is still expected to pass the Parliament with the support of Labor and the Greens.

Transcript

00:00On the steps of Parliament, a smoking ceremony marking one step closer to history making

00:08reforms.

00:09Come with purpose.

00:11MPs standing side by side with Indigenous representatives to support Victoria's nation

00:17leading treaty agreement.

00:19Victorians do not turn away.

00:22We step forward.

00:24Parliament will debate the proposed laws this week that would make the elected First People's

00:29Assembly permanent under a new body called Gulungwal and granted new powers to make decisions

00:35on some matters that affect the state's 66,000 Indigenous people.

00:40No longer will policies be made about us without us.

00:45But outside the chamber, bipartisan support has dissolved.

00:49Not only do we oppose treaty that's passed in the lower house today, we will repeal that

00:55within the first 100 days.

00:57The State Opposition has vowed to replace the advisory body with one of its own, to sit

01:02within a new government department.

01:03There's a big difference in running an advisory group to having an elected group come into

01:08the parliament and operate as effectively a level or another level of government.

01:12Their first priority, if they should have the privilege of holding government, is not

01:17to build the future, it's to tear it down.

01:20Some say a business as usual approach has failed First Peoples for decades, and the proposed

01:26treaty followed a consultation period that began nearly 10 years ago.

01:30This is not a favour asked, but a right recognised.

01:36Treaty was a key recommendation in the Productivity Commission's review into closing the gap last

01:41year.

01:42And with the Greens likely to support Labor, Victoria could become the first state in the country

01:46to have one by the end of the year.

01:48First Nations people have always been the experts when it comes to their own communities and

01:53this is simply about respecting and embracing that.

01:56Uncharted waters for some, while others aren't on board.

01:59APPLAUSE

02:00MUSIC

02:02MUSIC

02:03MUSIC

02:04MUSIC

02:06MUSIC

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended