Bipartisan support for a treaty in Victoria fell apart when Liberal leader John Pesutto and Nationals leader Peter Walsh revealed they would,just weeks before of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
The induction of the newly elected First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria in July last year.Justin McManus
First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria co-chair Ngarra Murray said Indigenous communities in Victoria needed politicians who were willing to listen and “hand over some decision-making power”.
“This report backs the approach the assembly is taking into treaty negotiations – that we need to put Aboriginal communities in the driver’s seat,” Murray told The Age on Wednesday.
The first major review of the 2020 Closing the Gap agreement found that federal,state and territory governments had not shared decision-making with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nor trusted they knew what was best for their communities,despite promising to transform the way public servants and politicians worked with Indigenous Australians.
The report identified shared decision-making between governments and relevant Indigenous organisations as the top priority,“but governments are struggling to support this in practice”.
“Governments are not yet enacting the sharing of power that needs to occur to build trust and for decisions to be made jointly,in genuine partnership,” the commission reported.
Former state treaty commissioner Jill Gallagher said Victoria had already begun the process of addressing the report’s priority recommendation by delivering on treaty.
“I’d strongly urge all of the parties in Victoria’s parliament to take heed of this recommendation and publicly support treaty,” Gallagher said on Wednesday.
“Treaty opens the door for equitable collaboration between Aboriginal communities and policymakers,which will deliver on Closing the Gap.”
Chair of Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission,Eleanor Bourke.Joe Armao
The report also recommended “systemic and structural transformation” of government organisations and the implementation of stronger accountability mechanisms. It urged amendments to the Closing the Gap agreement to improve data sharing between state institutions and the Aboriginal community-controlled sector.
Eleanor Bourke – the chair of Victoria’s historic truth-telling inquiry,the – said its commissioners had recommended similar reforms in its own report to the state governor last year.
“This is what First Peoples have long been calling for,it is what Yoorrook recommended,and it is what the Productivity Commission is highlighting in its report,” Bourke said.
“The evidence is clear that when First Peoples are engaged with and have control over decisions that affect their lives,the result is better outcomes.”
After,the Coalition last month citing concerns including issues with the state – which aims to protect Aboriginal sites – that Nationals leader Peter Walsh said were leading to cost overruns and delays in construction projects.
Coalition leader John Pesutto backed his deputy’s announcement four days before Australia Day,saying that he did not believe treaty was the way to go.
“I think we need to work so much harder on addressing the real issues around educational health outcomes,mental health outcomes,out-of-home care,” Pesutto said at the time.
Pesutto and Walsh were contacted for comment.
Last week,Pesutto said he was committed to closing the gap for Indigenous Victorians.
“I want to focus on real outcomes for Indigenous Victorians who deserve a better pathway in life,” he said.
In the wake of the bruising referendum rejection of the Voice to Parliament late last year,key Indigenous leaders that regional advisory councils to ensure communities were heard and a renewed emphasis on meeting Closing the Gap targets were among the most pressing priorities.
Tom Calma,co-author of the final report for a co-designed Voice,described the Productivity Commission recommendations as “fundamental and critical points”.
“The review is clear messaging for governments at all jurisdictional levels to work together to address these issues,” he said. “One of the ironies is that … these were the key planks in that referendum on the Voice and the sorts of activities they would address.”
