Deputy Premier Ben Carroll and other ministers forced to walk out of celebration of Treaty negotiations

Jacinta Allan has met with Indigenous leaders to mark the end of the Yoorrook Justice Commission. It comes as her deputy, Ben Carroll, was forced to walk out on thousands to celebrate the historic milestone for a vote in parliament.

Deputy Premier Ben Carroll (right) at the celebration of Treaty negotiations outside parliament.

Premier Jacinta Allan has met with Indigenous leaders to mark the end of the Yoorrook Justice Commission after more than four years.

Ms Allan — the first premier to give evidence to an Indigenous truth-telling inquiry in Australia — was presented with multiple message sticks during a reception at Parliament House.

“You’ve reviewed thousands of pages of evidence and accounts and recorded testimonies, testimonies that stretch from colonisation through to today and through the course of that work, that important but at times difficult work, the commission has brought hard truths into the light,” she said.

“Truths that are not easy to hear however they must be reckoned with, because justice, genuine justice, begins with telling the truth.

“And of course, truth telling isn’t just about confronting injustice. It’s also about recognising strength amid most painful chapters of our nation and our state’s history, the work of the Commission has highlighted something equally important, the resilience of First Peoples.”

Jacinta Allan was the first premier to give evidence to an Indigenous truth-telling inquiry. Picture: David Crosling

Former premiers Steve Bracks and Jeff Kennett were among several hundred people to attend the reception including deputy premier Ben Carroll.

It came after Mr Carroll and other senior ministers were forced to turn their backs on thousands of Victorians gathered at parliament to celebrate the historic milestone.

The deputy premier, Treaty and First Peoples minister Natalie Hutchins, emergency services minister Vicki Ward, and other government MPs were forced to walk out on a speech by Travis Lovett, the commissioner of the country’s first Indigenous-led truth-telling process, the Yoorrook Justice Commission.

Mr Lovett was speaking after completing a 500km walk from Portland to Parliament to mark the end of the Yoorrook Justice Commission after four years.

But the key government ministers were called to a vote in parliament midway through the speech.

Mr Carroll looked visibly annoyed as he returned to parliament as members of the 3000-strong crowd filmed the forced walkout.

Mr Lovett — who took 25 days to walk the 502km trek — told supporters: “from trauma we walk toward truth. We walk not only through terrain, but through time.”

“We traced the jagged line of Victoria’s history, its ruptures, its reckonings, its silence.

“And in doing so we made space for a future that refuses to forget.

“Elders joined us, some walking for their ancestors, some walking for the ones yet to be born.”

In a statement issued on Wednesday morning the Allan government said ongoing Treaty negotiations were about “making a better and fairer state for all Victorians”.

“Negotiations have progressed on how an ongoing role for the First Peoples’ Assembly will ensure First Peoples can make decisions on matters that impact their futures and play an ongoing role in truth-telling, including capturing stories from across Victoria and retaining an archive of this information,” it said.

“Treaty is a pathway to acknowledging the past and making real, practical change to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal Victorians.”

The government said since Treaty negotiations began, more than 700 local government, community and multicultural leaders had been engaged in Treaty Forums across Victoria.

Originally published as Deputy Premier Ben Carroll and other ministers forced to walk out of celebration of Treaty negotiations