NT Attorney-General Chansey Paech commits to Treaty process, 15 months after McAvoy report shelved

The Attorney-General has recommitted NT to a Treaty pathway following last year’s Voice failure. ‘We don’t need the rest of the country’s permission to do what we need to do.’

NT Attorney-General and Treaty Minister Chansey Paech at the NT Treaty Symposium at Darwin on Monday April 8.

The Territory’s Attorney-General has declared that “the time for mucking around is over” and called for a Treaty with First Nations people.

On Monday the NT Treaty Minister and the top legal officer, Chansey Paech spoke at the Darwin Treaty Symposium, following a similar two-day conference in Alice Springs.

Mr Paech told the conference that it was time to “restart” the Treaty conversation, 15 months after his own government unceremoniously abandoned a $4.2m, 180-page Treaty report.

Days before Christmas 2022 then Treaty Minister Selena Uibo shelved the final report by acting Treaty Commissioner Tony McAvoy, which set out a plan to establish a treaty as early as June 2025.

“I acknowledge that treaty has not progressed at the rate which many of us would have liked here in the Territory,” Mr Paech said.

“(But) the time for mucking around is over.”

Days before Christmas 2023 then Treaty Minister Selena Uibo shelved the report by acting Treaty Commissioner Tony McAvoy. Picture: Supplied

Mr Paech said the McAvoy Report would not be completely scrapped, but said its findings would needed to be broken down and explained to the community.

“While some of us might agree with all the recommendations of the Treaty Report, others will disagree with some or all of them, and may want changes,” Mr Paech said.

He said the government was looking for a clear pathway for community decision making and Treaty, a focus on economic participation and “tangible actions” for Closing the Gap priority reforms.

NT Attorney-General and Treaty Minister Chansey Paech and Mulka MLA Yingiya Guyula at the NT Treaty Symposium at Darwin on Monday April 8.

Mr Paech claimed the 2023 referendum stalled the Treaty process, adding that remote communities were still hurting from the Voice’s rejection.

While 60 per cent of Territorians rejected the Voice, all but one of the 22 bush electorates came back with a resounding Yes result.

“We don’t need the rest of the country’s permission to do what we need to do,” Mr Paech told the conference.

And given the diversity within the Territory’s First Nation’s people, Mr Paech said a singular treaty may not be enough.

“The Treaty project is an evolving one. We talk about a single treaty, but we know there may be regional ones too,” he said.

The CLP has backed away from the Treaty process in October, following the failed Voice referendum.

“(We) will empower Aboriginal Territorians by acting on their calls for widespread changes to local government that give back control to their communities,” Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro previously said.