Victoria embraces truth telling and treaty with state voice to parliament

SBS Australia

02-07-2025

"We stand here with our feet firmly on the lands of the Kaurna people. I pay my respect to their elders past present and emerging, but the way we pay our respects first and foremost is not with our words but in our deeds. And there are no more powerful deeds than South Australia becoming the first place in our nation to pass a law enshrining an Indigenous voice to our Parliament." That was Peter Malinauskas, the premier of South Australia, when the state passed groundbreaking legislation for a state-based Voice to Parliament. Now, Victoria is set to follow South Australia's example. Jacinta Allan is Victoria's Premier. "As a state, we are up for this. We are up for this very simple common sense change of involving and listening to First People in the decisions that affect them." First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria Co-Chair Rueben Berg says the creation of the body has been on the table since January, part of treaty talks between the group and the state government. "To be able to build on the work of so many of our people across countless generations. To be able to say that we start the negotiations of the Treaty." How will the voice to Parliament work? The First Assembly - made up of 33 elected members - will provide advice on laws and policies that affect Indigenous communities in Victoria, from health and education to crime and development.
The Premier says their voice to parliament will aim to enable First Nations people to have a better say.
"The treaty process and outcome is grounded in that pretty simple common sense approach, that when you listen to people who are affected by policies and programs, when you involve them in the processes, you get better outcomes." The Premier says the state's Voice to parliament won't be written into its constitution because it does not require constitutional change, unlike the failed Federal proposal. Rueben Berg says negotiations will continue on the treaty, because of the importance of truth-telling and keeping government accountable. "Those conversations in a respectful way, and we'll be able to deliver a Treaty which will deliver powerful outcomes for our communities, powerful outcomes for all Victoria. Making sure that we get better outcomes for our communities. So that our future generations can thrive." The confirmation of a Victorian voice comes as the parliament has tabled its final two reports from the state's Yoorrook Commission, bringing an end to the work of the justice commission after four years of hearings and evidence from more than 200 witnesses. The reports made 100 recommendations across five volumes, and provided an official public record of Victoria's history since colonisation. But the official record features a disclaimer that three of the five commissioners - adjunct professor Sue-Anne Hunter, distinguished professor Maggie Walter and former Federal Court judge Anthony North - did not approve of the inclusion of the key findings in the final report. Still, Commission chair Eleanor Bourke said she had lived through many of the policies described in the pages, and hopes for real and lasting change for Victoria's First Nations communities. The highly respected Wergaia Wamba Wamba Elder, told the National Press Club in May she had been humbled by the Indigenous people who gave evidence - and encouraged by the decision to implement the Commission four years ago. "I knew it would be the hardest and most important work of my professional life, and so it has proved to be... In 2021 Victoria made history by establishing the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the first formal truth telling process in this country. Not a gesture, not a box tick, but a bold commitment to listen to the voices of the oldest living cultures on Earth."