With Aboriginal treaty negotiations about to begin in Victoria, there has been a warning that some Indigenous groups are “bloodthirsty” due to resentment over the failed Voice referendum.
Talks between the state government and dozens of Aboriginal organizations will begin on November 21, and those involved expect them to be a long haul given the simmering anger over the Voice.
The groups are expected to negotiate on issues such as greater control over state policies affecting indigenous people and the handing over of some lands, but the Coalition has criticized these as “secret treaty negotiations”.
But talks could be tense as some organizations felt “robbed” by the failed referendum and will push for “much more”, he said. Sun-Herald reported.
The Victorian parliament, under then-premier Daniel Andrews, passed legislation with bipartisan support in 2022 to establish a Treaty Authority with $65 million in seed funding.
But the failure of the Voice to Parliament referendum just over a year ago caused opposition support for a treaty in Victoria to cool.
The Coalition has raised concerns about the impact of Aboriginal cultural heritage laws on new developments in the state.
The government, now led by Prime Minister Jacinta Allen, does not rule out handing over forcibly acquired private property to indigenous groups and could also declare a new holiday to celebrate Aboriginal culture.
With Aboriginal treaty negotiations about to begin in Victoria, there has been a warning that some Indigenous groups are “bloodthirsty” due to the failed Voice referendum.
Under the Victorian Treaty Negotiation Framework, the State does not need to seek public approval to sign any treaty.
Although the state government will pursue a state treaty, there will likely also be separate treaties for individual groups, which could contain reparations and land use agreements.
Opposition Aboriginal Affairs spokesman Peter Walsh said “Victorians should be alarmed that the Allan Labor government is entering into secret treaty negotiations”.
“Without openness and transparency, Victorians will never know what rights or access to land and water will be negotiated without their knowledge or agreement,” he told the Herald-Sun.
But Natalie Hutchins, Minister of Treaties and First Peoples, vehemently disagreed.
“If you listen to the people directly affected by the policies, you get better results; that’s common sense,” he said.
“The treaty is about creating a better, fairer state for all Victorians.”
Federal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who was one of the leading Aboriginal voices opposing the referendum, is concerned about how negotiations are progressing in Victoria.
“The truth is that if the Victorian and federal governments thought Australians were truly in favor of truth and treaties, there would be no reason for them to address these issues in the surreptitious way they do,” he said.
The developments in Victoria come after New South Wales Premier Chris Minns was criticized for pressing ahead with treaty consultations with indigenous Australians.
Warren Mundine, an Indigenous leader who opposed the Voice, urged Minns to “stop wasting money”, saying a treaty would not solve problems within the Aboriginal community.
Talks between the state government and dozens of Aboriginal organizations will begin on November 21. A demonstration is pictured in Melbourne on September 17, 2023.
“It’s not going to… help anyone, it’s just a total waste of time,” he said. “Stop these stupid, stupid conversations.”
Mundine, who started out as a Labor politician before running for a seat as a Liberal, said New South Wales should “start looking at the crime rate”.
“Let’s start getting educated, let’s start getting jobs and start addressing the government issues that need to be addressed,” he told Sky News.
“If you take their record so far, you see that in the Voice campaign they did a ‘listening’ tour and they didn’t listen because they got whipped on that vote,” he said.
‘My advice to Chris (Minns) is, come on buddy, stop wasting money. We know what the problems are within Aboriginal communities.
‘We know how to fix things and make them better. Putting on these talk festivals is just a waste of time, and even if it goes ahead, it has to be a vote for the people of New South Wales.”