Country Liberal Party ‘rejects’ an NT Treaty after Voice defeat

The opposition has ‘rejected’ a Treaty being established with Aboriginal Territorians, after years of work and millions of dollars have been spent on the process.

The CLP has “rejected” the government’s commitment to a Treaty, just days after the Voice proposal fell flat in the Territory.

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro released a statement on Wednesday that said Territorians needed “less talk and more action”.

“It is astonishing that Natasha Fyles, immediately after the resounding defeat of the Voice, said her focus was to deliver Treaty,” she said.

“(We) will not be distracted from delivering practical policies that improve lives.

“The CLP does not support Treaty … (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. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

CLP party president Shane Stone also revealed a working group had been formed to “critically analyse” the long-running Treaty process.

The independent Treaty Commission was established in March 2019 with $4.2m funding, three years after Labor declared its support for the move.

A three-year consultation process with Aboriginal Territorians then delivered an interim report in June 2020, before a final report was delivered to the government in 2022.

The government released its response on December 29, while many people were on Christmas break.

It closed the commission to task a new government unit with the next steps, including further consultations.

Indigenous leaders including Mulka MLA Yingiya Guyula raised concerns about slow progress, a lack of clarity and fears a treaty would be created by “one side”.

Treaty and Local Decision Making Minister Selena Uibo would not be drawn to a timeline on Thursday, saying it was a “a complex process that has taken time and will continue to take time”.

Treaty and Local Decision Making Minister Selena Uibo. Picture: Floss Adams.

“We are in discussions with land councils about how best to involve Aboriginal Territorians in the prioritisation and implementation of the Treaty Commission’s final report,” she said.

Ms Uibo labelled the CLP’s policy to bring back smaller local governments as “nothing but an election ploy”.

“We already have 17 councils across the Territory. If the CLP had its way there would be 53 councils. That’s 53 management teams, 53 work forces. It just isn’t viable,” she said.

The federal Voice referendum was the first of three requests in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which also called for a Treaty and truth-telling Makarrata Commission.

Some political leaders have taken the Voice’s failure as a signal Australians are against all of the Statement’s requests, including those at state levels.

The LNP opposition in Queensland withdrew its support for a state treaty on Wednesday, which Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk then cast further doubt over saying it would require bipartisan support.