Historic takeover: The inaugural meeting of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria was held at the Legislative Council's chamber of state parliament, a place where many laws have been passed limiting the rights of First Nations people.
Photo by
Nico Keenan
When the 31 members of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria gathered on the steps of parliament house in Melbourne on the morning of Tuesday, December 10, in 2019 there was a nervous air about the gathering.
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It was a nervousness mixed with trepidation and excitement, as the members and their families were gathering for the assembly’s first ever meeting on the site where so many laws had been passed limiting their rights.
This meeting was different though. This meeting signified the beginning of a journey that aimed to reinforce their rights as the first inhabitants of the land and right the wrongs of the past.
I was there working as a communications officer for the assembly and witnessed the historic and symbolic takeover of parliament by the descendants of the people who had originally been removed from that land and other lands around the state.
The first: The first co-chairs of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, Nira illim bulluk man of the Taungurung Nation Marcus Stewart and Bangerang and Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Geraldine Atkinson.
The 31 members of the assembly, all traditional owners in Victoria, were tasked with taking the lead on the Treaty process.
It was the start of a new era of relations between the Victorian Government and Traditional Owners and Bangerang and Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Geraldine Atkinson was elected to play a key role as one of the assembly’s co-chairs alongside Marcus Stewart, a Nira illim bulluk man of the Taungurung Nation.
Aunty Geraldine says the promise of that day is being realised.
“All members wanted the same thing. We wanted to put in place the processes for Treaty negotiations, working towards getting treaties in Victoria,” Aunty Geraldine said.
“Everyone had that one goal so we were able to come together and work together for that to put the processes in place so we could progress Treaty. Everyone’s done a huge amount of work.”
Its work was done against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the assembly to take its community consultations online, rather than the preferred in-person contact.
“That was really hard during the pandemic to get that message out to community, but we managed it,” Aunty Geraldine said.
“That really did make it difficult, just made our work a whole lot harder to get out and ensure that we were communicating with our community, making sure that what we were putting in place was what they had said was needed. It was making sure it was supported by community.
“Not only that, negotiating with government too. We had to do that online.”
The assembly is nearing the end of the tasks it was set for its first term, having reached agreement on the Treaty Negotiation Framework, which will act as a set of rules that treaty negotiations will be guided by, a Treaty Authority that will oversee negotiations and a Self-Determination Fund, which will fund Traditional Owners in Treaty negotiations with the government to ensure a “fair playing field”.
Victoria’s Treaty process now has bipartisan support with the Coalition backing the process and Aunty Geraldine also praised the state government for going further than any Australian government before it.
“I can’t believe that we’ve been able to achieve what we have with government,” she said.
“If government hadn’t backed us, supported us and listened to us, then we wouldn’t have been able to complete those tasks.”
The assembly also lobbied for and won support from the government for the establishment of a truth commission, the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which has already heard harrowing testimony from First Nations Elders, including the late Uncle Jack Charles, of their experiences of institutionalised racism and injustice.
Major milestone: Members of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria and government representatives during a ceremony to mark the agreement of a Treaty Negotiation Framework that will guide Treaty negotiations.
With its prescribed first term tasks mostly done, the assembly is now looking towards an election for members next year.
The members elected will take the assembly forward as the body that negotiates a statewide Treaty with the state government.
“We’ll be working towards that. That’s looking at reform in a whole range of areas that impact Aboriginal peoples’ lives that the government has control of,” Aunty Geraldine said.
At the same time, Traditional Owner groups could be negotiating localised treaties with the government.
“We could have the first treaties being negotiated for Traditional Owners early next year,” Aunty Gerladine said.
