Push to hold referendum on Victoria’s Treaty agreement
The Allan government’s Treaty has been criticised as more extreme than the proposed federal Voice to Parliament and has sparked a push for a referendum to give Victorians a say.
The Allan government faces calls to put its radical Treaty deal to Victorians in a referendum, amid claims it goes even further than the federal Voice to Parliament rejected two years ago.
The Treaty agreement, unveiled yesterday, will establish an elected council of Indigenous Victorians called Gellung Warl with a direct line to ministers, department secretaries and the Victoria Police Chief Commissioner.
The new body will have a dedicated office in parliament, while the Treaty will also see schoolchildren taught about the “enduring harm” of colonisation and parks and waterways renamed.
But while the state government released the 34-page Treaty agreement, questions remain on whether it will act on controversial recommendations for increased land rights, compensation and tax relief for Indigenous Victorians.
Warren Mundine, who spearheaded the No campaign against the Voice, said Victorians deserved to have a say on what was “probably the worst nightmare our parliamentary system has been hit with”.
Fellow No campaign chief Jacinta Price, a federal Liberal senator, warned Victoria’s plan “goes even further than the failed national Voice proposal”.
But Premier Jacinta Allan said the new body – which will initially cost $300m – was a historic milestone that would benefit “every Victorian”.
It will wield unprecedented powers to consult on laws and programs which affect Indigenous Victorians, while also overseeing an infrastructure fund, monitoring progress on the Closing the Gap targets, and deciding who can identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
The Coalition vowed to oppose legislation to ratify the Treaty but it is expected to sail through parliament with support from the Greens and other crossbench MPs.
The Treaty agreement was released on Tuesday after months of secretive negotiations between the government and the First Peoples’ Assembly, an elected council with 33 members that will now transform into Gellung Warl.
Mr Mundine warned it would be a “third chamber” of the state’s parliament.
“This is such a dramatic change to the Victorian Westminster system that all Victorians should get a vote on whether this treaty is approved. In fact I’m calling, it should be a referendum,” he told the Herald Sun.
“They say this will only affect matters that relate to Aboriginals but tell me something that doesn’t affect Aboriginals? Housing, taxes, rates, education, infrastructure – everything.”
Senator Price said that while the federal Voice was “at least put to the people for a vote and limited to an advisory role, this is being imposed on Victorians without consultation or consent and with broader scope for influence”.
But Ms Allan said it would not “take anything away from anyone”.
“We’re doing this because it gets better outcomes,” she said.
“We know the current practices and systems that have been in place for a very long time simply aren’t working.”
Greens leader Ellen Sandell threw her support behind the legislation, saying it likely “had the numbers” to pass.
But Opposition Leader Brad Battin accused the government of trying to force through a version of the Voice without consulting the community.
“We already know that there’s been a vote put to the Victorian people and the vote was no for the Voice to Parliament and this will be effectively reinstating that. Our position won’t be changing,” he said.
Federal opposition Indigenous Australians spokesman Kerrynne Liddle said the bill could affect other states, while agreeing Victorians should be allowed to vote on it.
“The Coalition waits to learn how the Victorian Treaty will intersect with other state treaties and how the Treaty will operate for language groups that cross state borders. The Allan Labor government must also explain how the Treaty will interact with existing native title legislation,” she said.
Gellung Warl will be able to advise on policies and programs but will not have veto powers, with the government free to decide whether to adopt its recommendations.
Under the Treaty, Indigenous “truth-telling” will be embedded in the curriculum for students from prep to year 10, using evidence from the now-disbanded Yoorrook Justice Commission which investigated the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal Victorians and uncovered systemic racism and horrific massacres.
Gellung Warl will also be empowered to facilitate further treaties between Victorian Indigenous groups and the state government, paving the way for potentially dozens of new agreements which sources familiar with the changes believe could include reparations.
In a joint statement, First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria co-chairs Ngarra Murray and Rueben Berg labelled the agreement a huge step forward.
Labor Finance Minister Danny Pearson said calls from anti-Voice campaigners and federal Liberal senators for a referendum were not in good faith.
“Let’s be clear on this, the Labor government, with the support of the opposition, took this to the election, the last two elections.
“The opposition here in Victoria did not oppose Treaty. We’ve taken this position to the people and we’ve been working assiduously on it, and Treaty enriches all of us, it enriches our lives.
“What we’re seeing here is nothing more than dogwhistling: politics of the lowest kind, of the lowest kind, and I think as a nation we’re better than that.”
Shadow treasurer James Newbury, however, said that Victorian’s had already voted no to the Voice, comparing it to the Treaty.
“The Treaty was put to a referendum and Victoria said no and Australia said no,” Mr Newbury said.
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