Australia’s first treaty with Aboriginal people signed into law

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Victorian government has signed the country's first treaty with Indigenous Australians after almost a decade of consultation and negotiation

Transcript

00:00What happened today was the treaty was actually signed by representatives of the Victorian

00:07government and leaders from the First People's Assembly, which is, excuse me, a representative

00:11group of Aboriginal people in Victoria. And the law that underpins this agreement was

00:17also signed by the governor at an invented government house today, which means it became

00:21law. Now, why this is significant, this is obviously, as you mentioned, been a long process

00:26in Victoria. It's been an even longer process for this country. For generations, Aboriginal people

00:32have been pushing for treaties and Australia has long been unique for our position as a Commonwealth

00:38country, unlike Canada, unlike New Zealand, which doesn't have a treaty, which for many Aboriginal

00:44people has been a reminder of the way that rights have been denied to Indigenous people throughout

00:49the colonisation and history of this country. So today's moment was the final sort of signing of

00:55that into law and was met with applause and this sort of sentiment of it being a big step

01:02to equality. And I'll just, I'll read you a line from the treaty itself, which I think

01:06sort of sums that up. The treaty text writes, it's a rare thing for a government to admit

01:12it was wrong, rarer still to commit in plain words and enduring actions to making it right.

01:17Yet that is what this moment asks. That is what this moment makes possible. And it's a moment

01:22we claim together. So it's an announcement that this is in law that has been welcomed by

01:28the Aboriginal community in this meeting here earlier today, which had speeches from both

01:34the Premier, Jacinta Allen, and one of the co-chairs of the First Peoples Assembly, Nagara

01:39Murray. So here's what they had to say.

01:42And today is a recognition that ancient systems of law and the modern institutions of our democracy

01:50can stand side by side.

01:52Today marks a turning point in our nation's history, a moment where old wounds can begin

01:58to heal and new relationships can be built on truth, justice and mutual respect.

02:05Being the first of its kind in Australia, a lot of some confusion as well about how this

02:10will work. So in very first and foremost terms, the treaty is a commitment to doing things differently

02:16to try and improve outcomes for Aboriginal people. In terms of practical outcomes, the

02:21main sort of legislative changes of this agreement will come into effect next year. And one of

02:27the bigger ones is the establishment of this new Aboriginal-led authority in Victoria, which

02:31will be called Galong Wall. It will be controlled by an elected Aboriginal group, which is known

02:37as the First Peoples Assembly, which we have had here in Victoria for a while. They're the group

02:41that is responsible, had been responsible for the design of the treaty process and also

02:46in the last year or so, the negotiations over the treaty. It will also establish new truth

02:52telling and accountability initiatives. So the hope is that having this body won't have

02:58veto plowers, it can't put forward legislation, but it will be essentially another mechanism by

03:04which Aboriginal people can make decisions over issues that affect them, can make representations

03:09to the parliament and hopefully improve practical outcomes for their people. That's the aspiration.

03:16But I will just note as well, it is landing in a little bit of a fraught political context in

03:20Victoria. The treaty process has been pushed through by the Labor government here over an extended

03:26period of time, but treaty is opposed by the Liberals who say that they will scrap it if they get into

03:32government and there's a state election here next year. It's also being signed when yesterday,

03:37the Labor government here announced significant reforms to youth justice, modelled somewhat of the

03:43Queensland legislation, which means young offenders could get adult sentences. And that sort of garnered

03:49a mixed reaction from Aboriginal advocates here who are celebrating the passing of treaty, but who are

03:55concerned that, you know, these sorts of, I guess, political machinations might put at risk the actual

04:01change that it can bring. But there's a long road ahead. So we'll see how it works in years to come and

04:07especially next year when some of those major changes take effect.

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