Aunty Jill Gallagher calls for Aboriginal people to be exempt from paying land tax

Premier Jacinta Allan is not ruling out adopting a proposal from a prominent Aboriginal Elder to give Indigenous people land tax exemptions as part of treaty negotiations.

Jacinta Allan will not rule out supporting a push to exempt Aboriginal people from land tax – including stamp duty – as part of coming treaty negotiations.

The Premier on Tuesday ­responded to comments by a prominent Aboriginal Elder who said Indigenous people should not be required to pay land taxes or council rates.

Aunty Jill Gallagher, the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation chief executive, was speaking at the Treaty Statewide Gathering in Geelong – hosted by the First Peoples ­Assembly – on the weekend.

According to her speech, which was published online, Ms Gallagher said: “Aboriginal people must be exempt from land tax (including stamp duty) and council rates.

Aunty Jill Gallagher says Indigenous people should not be required to pay land taxes or council rates. Picture: Valeriu Campan

“Interest-free loans must be provided to empower Aboriginal people to purchase homes,” she added.

Indigenous senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a prominent campaigner for the No vote during the Voice to Parliament referendum, slammed the idea.

“These proposals are outlandish and insulting; these separatist policies have failed and were rejected by the Australian people at the referendum,” she said.

“The 10 per cent turnout at the last First Peoples’ Assembly election should have ended this divisive treaty push from the Victorian government.”

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said the proposal was ‘outlandish and insulting’. Picture: Martin Ollman

Indigenous businessman Warren Mundine, who also campaigned against the Voice, described the call as a “money grab of an unrepresentative group of people lining their own pockets”.

“Give me a break,” he said.

“The Victorian public made it quite clear that they didn’t want any separation of race. How about something that ­actually helps all Aboriginal Victorians?”

Ms Allan said she had not seen Ms Gallagher’s comments but refused to be drawn on whether the government would support the proposal for land tax exemptions.

“This and a whole range of other matters will be put on the table for negotiation so I’m not going to engage in a separate negotiation through the media,” she said.

Premier Jacinta Allan refused to be drawn on whether the government would support the proposal for land tax exemptions. Picture: Nicki Connolly

“Issues like this … they’ll be part of the negotiations at the table so I’m not in a position to rule anything in or out about what might be considered through those treaty negotiations.”

Opposition Leader John Pesutto also said he did not support such a move.

“We don’t see that there is a basis for differential tax rates based on people’s ethnicities or racial backgrounds,” he said.

“We want a tax system that upholds fairly rightly across the board.”

First Peoples Assembly co-chair Rueben Berg said the framework for Treaty negotiations sought to ensure Aboriginal communities have the ability to develop and deliver practical solutions at a local level.

“At this stage, we’re still in the process of gathering ideas and feedback from our communities. Nothing is off the table, but obviously all ideas, big and small, will be subject to negotiations with the government,” he said.

In her speech, Ms Gallagher also called for Aboriginal people to be exempt from HECS/HELP fees.

In a statement, she said many Aboriginal people were locked out of the housing market.

“Some people forget that ­Aboriginal people across this continent were robbed of the opportunity to generate wealth,” she said. “For many, many years we were not ­allowed to purchase land.

“As a proud Aboriginal woman, I cannot sit idly by and watch Aboriginal communities continue to experience health and wellbeing outcomes that are disproportionately poorer than their non-Indigenous counterparts.”