An Aboriginal Elder has insisted residents will not lose their land as the Victorian government prepares to begin negotiations for a Treaty with Indigenous Australians.
Aunty Jill Gallagher, who is not directly involved in the negotiations, revealed what kinds of compensation she wanted First Nations people to receive.
‘I think reparations should be on the table,’ she told 3AW radio on Wednesday.
‘It might not be in the way of money form, it might be in the way of empowerment, it might be in the way of land, but definitely not private land,’ she said.
‘No one is going to lose their private land through this Treaty process.’
Her comment came as the Allan government refused to rule out giving compulsorily acquired private property to Indigenous groups on Tuesday.
Treaty and First Peoples Minister Natalie Hutchins was pressed on the matter as she fronted the Public Accounts and Estimate Committee hearing.
‘The focus that we have on Treaty is about building a new pathway going forward with Aboriginal people,’ she said.
Ms Gallagher said land ‘must’ be part of the reparations with the government to potentially buy land and hand it over to Indigenous organisations.
‘It would be amazing if our elected body, the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, that if land came on the market we’d have the opportunity to buy it,’ she said.
Ms Gallagher was questioned over a measure which would see Indigenous-only seats in the Upper or Lower House in Victoria’s state parliament.
‘Do you think that’s a good idea?’ 3AW host Tom Elliott asked.
‘I think being empowered to have influence over decisions that happen in our communities is vital in the Treaty process,’ Ms Gallagher replied.
‘Issues that affect Indigenous people have gone under the radar for 250 years and if we are empowered to influence those decisions, in whatever form that looks like, that would be amazing, because only then will we close that life expectancy gap.’
Ms Gallagher said the details of the Treaty will be finalised in 2025 with any agreements needing to be legislated by the state parliament.
In a speech at the Treaty Statewide Gathering in Geelong in April, Ms Gallagher called for Indigenous people to be exempt from land tax and council rates.
She also called for Aboriginal people to be exempt from fees for tertiary education and interest-free loans so they can be empowered to purchase homes.
‘As a proud Aboriginal woman, I cannot sit idly by and watch Aboriginal communities continue to experience health and wellbeing outcomes that are disproportionately poorer than their non-Indigenous counterparts,’ she said in a statement.
‘Some people forget that Aboriginal people across this continent were robbed of the opportunity to generate wealth.
‘For many, many years we were not allowed to purchase land.’
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has previously declined to comment on whether the government would accept or reject the proposals.
‘This and a whole range of other matters will be put on the table for negotiation, so I’m not going to engage in a separate negotiation through the media,’ she said.
The state government is taking steps toward a Treaty via the Yoorrook Justice Commission, in a completely separate process to the failed Indigenous Voice to Parliament national referendum in October 2023.
According to the government website, the Yoorrook Commission ‘is investigating historical and ongoing injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians since colonisation, across all areas of social, political and economic life’.
Indigenous senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who campaigned against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, has described the proposals as ‘outlandish and insulting’, saying they will create further division.
‘These separatist policies have failed and were rejected by the Australian people at the referendum,’ Ms Price said.