Latest news with #treaty
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
SA First Nations communities ‘waiting, prepared' to restart treaty process
South Australian First Nations leaders say their communities are waiting to restart treaty talks with the state government after an election promise, but the minister in charge says he is "not keen to rush" the process. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher told ABC News that the state government was still committed to restarting treaty negotiations in SA, but it was unlikely any agreements would be signed before the next election in nine months' time. "We're not keen to rush it," he said. "I don't want to put a time on it, but one thing I am quite certain: We won't see treaties concluded before the next state election. SA Labor entered government in 2022 promising to spend more than $2 million to restart the treaty process over its "first four years". The pledge formed part of a broader policy commitment to implement the three requests of the Uluru Statement from the Heart — Voice, Treaty and Truth. While SA became the first jurisdiction in the country to legislate a state-based Voice to Parliament in 2023, the government is yet to announce how or when it will establish treaty or a truth-telling process. "We've started work on what that (treaty and truth) might look like, what's happened both in Australia and overseas, and we will continue with that," Mr Maher said. "I have had some discussions with the South Australian state First Nations Voice and we will continue those discussions. "The elected Voice won't be the body we'll negotiate with, but (we're) certainly keen to get a perspective about, in the current environment, how we continue with both truth and treaty and sequencing those." It has not been a smooth journey towards treaty in SA. Discussions officially started in 2016, when the state government set aside $4.4 million over five years towards the treaty process, as well as the appointment of an independent commissioner to consult communities. Two years later, the state government and Narungga Nation Aboriginal Corporation signed the Buthera Agreement, which committed both parties to negotiate on a treaty. But the former Liberal government halted treaty discussions just months later, with then premier Steven Marshall describing the agreements as "more divisive than helpful". One of the South Australian signatories to the Uluru Statement, Melissa Clarke, disagreed, and said treaties could benefit everyone. "It is about, as Aboriginal people, being Aboriginal people on our own land, in our rightful place with our unique, precious strengths and views and values," the Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Wirangu woman said. "We share, we give, we don't take away. "Treaty is about restoring balance in this country for everybody." Ms Clarke said she believed the time was right to restart treaty talks with communities, describing the government's "lack of progress" on negotiations as "disappointing". "What we need is for governments to listen and act, to provide a safe and welcoming space for us to be able to have those conversations. "We are sitting here waiting, prepared to commence these negotiations." SA Native Title Services CEO Keith Thomas said he believed the government had taken a "cautious" approach to treaty after South Australians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutionally-enshrined Voice to Parliament at the 2023 referendum. He said while many members of the Aboriginal community were "surprised" by the referendum result, he believed the community was now "ready" to restart treaty discussions, citing stronger native title, heritage and water rights as potential outcomes. "I think there has to be recognition from the state government about the growth in native title bodies in South Australia," he said. "We have legislation from the 1960s around the Aboriginal Lands Trust, which is keeping land safe for Aboriginal people. "That legislation has done its job, they (the government) should be giving those lands back to Traditional Owners now, and that could be part of a treaty process." Mr Thomas said South Australia could take inspiration from Victoria's nation-leading treaty model. The eastern state has, under legislation, allowed Aboriginal Victorians to negotiate statewide or local treaties with the government, with Dja Dja Wurrung traditional owners already notifying the state's independent treaty authority of their intention to do so. Mr Thomas said he believed a statewide treaty was the best path forward for SA. "It should be a state treaty between the Aboriginal nations and the state, looking at all the groups involved (and) not separating or having one against another," he said. But Ms Clarke said she believed individual nations should also have the option of negotiating their own treaties. "Each nation has different customs, beliefs, worldviews, languages," she said. "Each nation has their own unique needs for their own families and communities." Mr Maher said the government was considering the Victorian model, as well as treaties in Canada and New Zealand.
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Dja Dja Wurrung traditional owners start treaty with state government
In a state first, a central Victorian Aboriginal company has begun its "first step" towards a local treaty. Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (DJAARA) has notified the Treaty Authority, the independent Victorian body overseeing negotiations, that it will start the process of negotiating its own treaty with the Victorian government. Key focuses for negotiations include having an increased say in legislation, becoming an authority in land management and creating more economic opportunities from existing DJAARA enterprises. Detail of those plans is not yet clear as DJAARA said it would first need to consult its people. DJAARA chief executive Rodney Carter said a local treaty would improve the lives of First Nations' people in the region by shifting the "power and authority" of decision making. "What treaty does is, I think, it becomes that first step in trying to redress this form of exclusion of a people," he said. DJAARA's ancestral land covers Greater Bendigo, Castlemaine and Daylesford. Much of the region forms part of Premier Jacinta Allan's electorate of Bendigo East. Ms Allan has supported the treaty process. Mr Carter said the organisation owned a large commercial yabby farm near Echuca, offered guided cultural and language tours for schools and community groups and managed native and invasive animals through land management. Mr Carter hoped a treaty would put DJAARA in a "more authoritative and influential position" to continue its work. Under state government legislation, Aboriginal Victorians can negotiate statewide or local treaties. A treaty process is underway at a statewide level. Last November, the Victorian government began formal negotiations with the First Peoples' Assembly to better protect Aboriginal culture and language, and give Indigenous communities a bigger say in policies that impacted them. Key demands identified by the First Peoples' Assembly for a statewide treaty were more Aboriginal culture and language in Victorian life and more self-determination around how government funding was spent on First Nations' affairs. They included the idea of a public holiday to celebrate First Nations' heritage. In January 2024, the Victorian Opposition withdrew its support for a state-based treaty, saying traditional owner groups had a monopoly over state government decision-making. Mr Carter said a local treaty would give their organisation an "almost sovereign" right to their local ancestral land. "A group, within its capability, can define what it feels needs to be done in redress." The Victorian Treaty Authority said the Dja Dja Wurrung group was the first to formally progress treaty plans onto a treaty negotiation database. Treaty Authority member and Gunditjmara woman, Thelma Austin, said it was an important step for self-determination in Victoria. "Today we acknowledge the culmination of those efforts for Dja Dja Wurrung," she said. Victorian Minister for Treaty and First Peoples, Natalie Hutchins, welcomed the "historic" decision from the Dja Dja Wurrung people to begin local treaty negotiations. "I welcome the addition of the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation into the Treaty Negotiations database," she said. "Treaty is about making a better and fairer state for every Victorian. "If you listen to the people directly affected by policies, you get better outcomes — that's commonsense — and traditional owner groups are experts in their communities, languages, cultures and caring for country."
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Traditional owner group seeks to negotiate local treaty with Victorian government in state first
The Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (DJAARA) has become the first traditional owner group to seek to negotiate a local treaty with the Victorian government. The corporation, which represents the Dja Dja Wurrung people, has become the first traditional owner group to be formally entered into a register run by the Treaty Authority – the independent umpire that will oversee negotiations. It is the first step to prepare for a traditional owner treaty negotiation. The authority will work with the traditional owner group before the state is invited to negotiate, and the corporation will form a delegation to represent the group during treaty talks. DJAARA's move comes as Victoria continues to work towards establishing what would be Australia's first statewide treaty with First Nations people. DJAARA chief executive, Rodney Carter, said the group wanted more independence and authority to manage land on its country in central Victoria, which takes in Bendigo. 'It's really exciting,' he said of the group's progress towards a local treaty with the state. Carter, a Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta man, said traditional owner groups often faced planning regime barriers regarding land management. 'If we're self-regulated and we've got these exceptional standards and we adhere to those, that would be really empowering and about self-determination that we make decisions for ourselves. 'We can be held to account in what we do.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Carter said the traditional owner group could also bring 'constructive solutions' to other areas. He said other priorities for treaty negotiations included discussing how 'ongoing integration of western science and traditional knowledge' could be used in an education setting. Jidah Clark, a Djab Wurrung man and Treaty Authority chair, said a 'diversity of views, lessons and experiences' from communities across the state had laid strong foundations for treaty-making. 'Treaties will recast the relationship between First Peoples and the state, bringing us closer together. This is an important marker on the path towards unity,' he said. Victoria's minister for treaty and First Peoples, Natalie Hutchins, said traditional owner groups were 'experts in their communities, languages, cultures and caring for Country.' 'Treaty is about making a better and fairer state for every Victorian,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The First Peoples' Assembly – Victoria's democratically elected Indigenous body – last November began nation-first treaty talks with the Allan government. A statewide treaty – the first of its kind in Australia – will tackle problems affecting First Nations Victorians. In January the assembly and government announced the assembly's role evolving to become an ongoing First Peoples' representative body, was being considered as part of statewide treaty negotiations. When the statewide treaty negotiations began last year, the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said outcomes would need to be passed in the state parliament. Traditional owner treaties allow Indigenous groups to enter into separate agreements about issues and priorities for their communities and region. Rueben Berg, a Gunditjmara man and assembly co-chair, said local treaties would enable traditional owner groups to use their local expertise to deliver solutions for their community. Victoria's opposition withdrew support for the treaty process in January 2024, citing concerns about culture heritage laws, after the defeat of the federal voice to parliament.
CTV News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Chiefs tell King Charles to remember his treaty obligations as he visits Ottawa
David Pratt delivers remarks after conceding to National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations-elect Cindy Woodhouse during the third day of the special chiefs assembly in Ottawa on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby OTTAWA — Dozens of First Nations leaders from across the country gathered in front of Parliament Hill today with a message for the King as he arrives in the city — respect your treaty partners. The leaders say they also want the federal Liberals to take action on reforming the child welfare system, protecting traditional lands and building infrastructure desperately needed in Indigenous communities. King Charles and Queen Camilla touched down in Ottawa today to begin their first visit to Canada since the King's coronation two years ago. Parliament also opened and MPs voted to elect the new Speaker of the House of Commons. Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Vice Chief David Pratt says King Charles, and in turn Canada, should uphold and respect the treaty relationship they began with his ancestors. He says the relationship between First Nations and the Crown was not intended to be one-sided and that the Crown should not be dictating to them on how to live their lives. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025. Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
CTV News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Chiefs tell King Charles to remember his treaty obligations as he visits Ottawa
David Pratt delivers remarks after conceding to National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations-elect Cindy Woodhouse during the third day of the special chiefs assembly in Ottawa on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby OTTAWA — Dozens of First Nations leaders from across the country gathered in front of Parliament Hill today with a message for the King as he arrives in the city — respect your treaty partners. The leaders say they also want the federal Liberals to take action on reforming the child welfare system, protecting traditional lands and building infrastructure desperately needed in Indigenous communities. King Charles and Queen Camilla touched down in Ottawa today to begin their first visit to Canada since the King's coronation two years ago. Parliament also opened and MPs voted to elect the new Speaker of the House of Commons. Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Vice Chief David Pratt says King Charles, and in turn Canada, should uphold and respect the treaty relationship they began with his ancestors. He says the relationship between First Nations and the Crown was not intended to be one-sided and that the Crown should not be dictating to them on how to live their lives. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025. Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
