Victoria tried to ‘blot away bloody stains’, says Jacinta Allan
Jacinta Allan says the Yoorrook Justice Commission will set the historical record straight and that “the truth” will come out on the murders, massacres, the dispossession of culture and country in the state.
Premier Jacinta Allan says Victoria’s history has deliberately tried to “blot away the bloody stains of colonisation” as she reinforced her commitment to a treaty.
In a historic appearance before the state’s truth-telling body, Ms Allan flagged the idea of embedding more First Nations history and injustices in the school curriculum.
Drawing on her experience, she spoke about the limited education on Indigenous experiences that generations of Australians had received and said the record of Victoria’s history was “incomplete”. “That limitation (on education) was not an accident, an oversight, or absent-mindedness. It was part of a deliberate and systematic attempt to erase First Nations people from our state’s history,” she told the Yoorrook Justice Commission on Monday.
“To somehow cross out tens of thousands of years of connection to country, to blot away the bloody stains of colonisation.
“The record this commission will hand down will mean at long last, the truth of our state’s history will be told: the murders, the massacres, the dispossession of culture and country.”
Counsel assisting the commission, Tony McAvoy SC, put to the Premier that “there was nothing stopping” Victoria from funding a buyback scheme to enable traditional owner to purchase water entitlements “beyond political will”.
He said lands were taken by “British squatter or free settlers” and wealth had been generated from parcels of land once belonging to First Peoples. “Unless there is substantial investment in a redress or buyback scheme, First Peoples will never be able to afford to participate in the market nor afford to live on the best lands on their country,” he said to Ms Allan.
“I certainly accept that ongoing economic disadvantage has its origins in the dispossession of land at the point of colonisation,” she responded.
The Premier did not provide detailed responses when quizzed on whether the government had set aside money in preparation for “treaty settlements” to allow the purchase of land.
She used much of her time before the commission to pledge her commitment to a state treaty, as she recognised the hurt caused by the result of the failed Indigenous voice referendum.
In her first remarks as Premier in September, Ms Allan named treaty among her key priorities. “Government can’t duck out of its responsibilities to treaty,” she said. “I want to be clear it’s not just the legislative requirements … it’s because it’s the right thing to do.”
She said she was ashamed to learn about the extent of the massacres endured by Indigenous Australians at the hands of colonisers.
“Growing up and living as I have in central Victoria … I did not know about the massacres that occurred so close to home,” she said.
“It brings me a sense of shame and distress personally that I did not know that.”
Her witness statement provided to the commission also said she was prepared to make a formal apology after the Yoorrook Justice Commission wrapped up and handed down its final report next year.
Ms Allan said she hoped when treaty became part of the state’s history that future generations would see that better outcomes came out of listening.
Tune into @yoorrookjc to watch the Victorian Premier’s appearance as part of the Truth-telling process https://t.co/w6e0ZNTRJypic.twitter.com/HGpLPbD3uY
— First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria (@firstpeoplesvic) April 29, 2024
She also acknowledged the commissioners’ frustration with the response her government provided to its 445-page Yoorrook for Justice report published in September last year.
The response revealed that of the 46 recommendations put forward by Yoorrook, the state government had endorsed just four recommendations in full and supported 24 in principle, rejected three and would consider the other 15.
“We hope our children and grandchildren that treaty was achieved … (and) that we together linked arms and pushed back against forces who don’t want treaty to be achieved in the state,” she said.
“We have to be resolute to see this journey through.”
Yoorrook Justice Commission chair Professor Eleanor Bourke urged the Premier to “live up to your words” through action.
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