Indigenous Australian treaty expected in referendum talks

Indigenous constitutional recognition meetings around the nation are expected to canvass a possible treaty.

Council spokesman Geoff Scott said he expected “plenty of discussion about treaty” at the ­forums.

Twelve indigenous constitutional recognition meetings around the nation over the next four months are expected to canvass “a whole range of issues, including a treaty”, the Referendum Council charged with overseeing the process expects.

But a formal treaty proposal is thought unlikely, with an internal document directing organisers to seek a form of words that is both “likely to be supported by indigenous people and likely to succeed at a referendum”.

Each dialogue will comprise 100 indigenous participants on an invite-only basis, with a mix of 60 per cent First Nations representatives, 20 per cent community ­organisations and 20 per cent ­individuals.

“Gender and demographic balance is also to be factored into the identification of the attendees, as well as a reasonable representation of the Stolen Generations,” the document says.

The meetings will all run over three days, and each will nominate five delegates to attend a three-day national indigenous constitutional convention at Uluru at the end of April.

The process kicks off next weekend in Hobart, where there has already been disquiet from several groups and leaders who say they have withdrawn their support from the council over ­selection of participants.

It resumes in February, with meetings in Perth, Broome, Dubbo and Brisbane, followed by Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Darwin in March, and Alice Springs and Thursday ­Island in April.

Each meeting is expected to sign off “on preferences for recognition without requiring a definitive decision to be made”, with the Uluru national convention aiming to “seek to reach consensus on a referendum proposal”.

Arrangements are being made for nominees to lead the meetings, with the Central Land Council announcing this week it had agreed with local Aboriginal people to hold one of the 12 forums, at Ross River, east of Alice Springs.

After the Uluru meeting, the Referendum Council is required to devise a formal proposal for a referendum question which it will submit to the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader by the end of June.

Council spokesman Geoff Scott said he expected “plenty of discussion about treaty” at the ­forums.

“People will want to know how this affects it, but at the end of the day a treaty is just an agreement and you don’t need to have that in the Constitution,” he said.

“But you can’t stop people talking about something — if you try to do that, then that’s all they’ll talk about.

“The main thing is that people think the whole process has been drifting, but in fact there’s been a hell of a lot (of organisation) going on between the scenes.’’

The briefing paper notes that while the meetings are purely about seeking indigenous input, “to ensure that all Australians have an opportunity to have a say there will be an online consultation on a digital platform, and a public submissions process”.

The online portal is being ­developed from within the ­Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, with the entire process being funded by a $14.6 million allocation in this year’s federal budget.