Indigenous treaties in Australia
Indigenous treaties in Australia are proposed
Moves to state and territory treaties were boosted by the
Background
The objects of treaties between governments and Indigenous peoples may include:
- provision of practical rights and compensation
- initiation of a formal process of reconciliation between the group and government relating to past grievances
- providing a framework for some type of self-determination for individual peoples or groups
Research by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development shows that self-determination is an essential component in redressing entrenched disadvantage.[3]
Many Aboriginal Australians have said that a treaty or treaties would bring them real as well as symbolic recognition, and national debate has occurred for many years on the topic, alongside related matters such as
British colonial representatives negotiated treaties with Indigenous peoples in New Zealand and in Canada during early phases of settlement.[5] The Treaty of Waitangi was concluded in 1840 at time when the future Colony of New Zealand was then part of the Colony of New South Wales. British treaty-making in North America began as early as sixteenth century and continued until Canada gained self-government in 1867, after which time the Canadian federal government entered into the Numbered Treaties (1871 to 1921). Colonial treaties also featured in African history: a chief of Bonny (in present-day Nigeria) in 1860 explained that he refused a British treaty due to the tendency to "induce the Chiefs to sign a treaty whose meaning they did not understand, and then seize upon the country".[6]
History
Indigenous treaties have been discussed since the early years of the Australian colonies. In 1832 the Governor of
The only pre-21st century attempt to negotiate a treaty with Indigenous Australians was what came to be known as
An Indigenous treaty was first promised by Prime Minister
21st century
In 2017, Prime Minister
With no progress made towards an Indigenous treaty at federal level (despite decades of debate),
In July 2019, Ken Wyatt, recently appointed to the new role of Minister for Indigenous Australians, gave an address to the National Press Club, in which he spoke of the theme of NAIDOC Week 2019: "Voice. Treaty. Truth.". He spoke of the development of a local, regional and national voice, and said "with respect to Treaty, it's important that states and territory jurisdictions take the lead. When you consider the constitution, they are better placed to undertake that work".[18][19][20]
With the
As of 2022[update], there are no treaties between the federal or any state government in Australia in force.[23]
State and territory treaty processes
The
Issues covered by an Indigenous treaty with a state government are likely to include health and education.[5]
New South Wales
The New South Wales Labor party committed to funding and beginning treaty discussion as an election promise prior to winning government in March 2023.[24] David Harris has been appointed as minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty.[25] However, Harry Hobbs has stated that he believes the government has become much more vaguer and uncommitted when talking about treaty, having become apprehensive following the failure of the Voice referendum.[2]
Victoria
The Victorian government was the first at state level to pass a legal framework for Indigenous treaty negotiations, in 2018.
On 3 July 2018, the government passed the first Australian treaty law, the Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Act 2018,[28] effective 1 August 2018.[29] The ultimate goal of a partnership between the Victorian government and Aboriginal communities "is to achieve reconciliation and justice for Aboriginal communities", and the Act enshrines such a partnership in law.[3]
The 2019 Victorian First Peoples' Assembly election was held to choose the representatives for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria.[30][31][32] only 7% of the eligible voters turned out to vote.[33]
Queensland
In 2019 the
On 13 August 2020, Premier Palaszczuk announced that the government would be supporting the recommendation to move forward on a Path to Treaty with First Nations Queenslanders. She said that the Treaty Advancement Committee would provide independent advice on the implementation of the panel's recommendations.[37]
In 2023 the Queensland Parliament passed the Path to Treaty Act 2023 (Qld), which established the First Nations Treaty Institute, an independent statutory body to assist First Nations prepare for the upcoming treaty process. The act also created the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry, to record and report on the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Queenslanders.[38]
On 19 October 2023, a few days after the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum the opposition Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) leader David Crisafulli announced that they would be withdrawing its support for treaty, reversing their previous support for the proposal.[39][40][41]
Western Australia
As of January 2024, Western Australia is the only jurisdiction without a formal treaty process ongoing.wever
The comprehensive
By 2018, WA had announced plans to establish an Aboriginal representative body in the state.[14]
South Australia
In 2016 the
Following the Weatherill government's defeat in the 2018 state election, incoming premier Steven Marshall paused the treaty negotiation process that had been begun by his predecessor, Jay Weatherill, stating he wanted to focus on "practical outcomes".[49][50]
In 2022 the Labor government returned to office, with Premier Peter Malinauskas, committing to restart the treaty process.[51] Journalist Mike Seccombe stated in January 2024 that the Malinauskas government appears committed to continuing the treaty process and is not in immediate danger of losing office, so further treaty progress "seems likely".[2]
Tasmania
On
In June 2020, Mansell and Greg Brown, Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation board member, had their first meeting with Premier Peter Gutwein, and raised the matter of a treaty.[54] Mansell had been heartened by the support shown for Aboriginal issues across Australia in the Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the death of US man George Floyd, and spoke at the Launceston rally of the need for a Treaty Commission.[55]
In 2021, Premier Peter Gutwein announced the beginning of a treaty and truth telling process, beginning with consultations with the State's Aboriginal population.[56] An Aboriginal Advisory Group held its first meeting in February 2023.[57] However, certain Indigenous groups have described their distrust of the government and have alleged that the government 'only willing to listen to six people as part of their government-selected group'.[57] The issue of deciding who should be counted as Aboriginal for the purpose of treaty negotiation is yet to be decided, with many Aboriginal people expressing anger and frustration with what they believe are a greater number of people falsely claiming Aboriginal status and what they believe is government encouragement of this practice.[58]
Northern Territory
In 2018 the
The process will be overseen by an independent treaty commissioner, who in the first stage will undertake consultations for one year with the Indigenous communities to gauge their interest in a treaty. In the second stage, a public discussion paper will be released, translated into major Aboriginal languages for consultation and feedback. A final report will then be tabled in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly within 18 months of stage one's completion.[60]
On 4 March 2019,
In 2023, the Commission was abolished, with the Territory government arguing that further time and consultation was needed before moving forward on treaty.[62] The government denied that it was no longer acting on treaty issues, with directly government treaty symposia held in April 2024.[63][64]
See also
- Aboriginal land rights in Australia
- History of Indigenous Australians
- Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia
- Native title in Australia
- Treaty rights
References
- ^ Hobbs, Harry; Norman, Heidi; Walsh, Matthew (3 April 2023). "What actually is a treaty? What could it mean for Indigenous people?". The Conversation. Australia.
- ^ a b c d e Seccombe, Mike (27 January 2024). "The push for treaty stalls". The Saturday Paper.
- ^ a b "Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Bill 2018". Parliament of Victoria. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Australia moves towards Aboriginal treaties". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ a b "What will Indigenous treaties mean?". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
Australia is the only Commonwealth country that does not have a treaty with its Indigenous peoples and interestingly, the states are leading the charge, the ABC's editor of Indigenous affairs says.
- ^
ISBN 9780582643314. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Hobbs, Harry; Williams, George (1 March 2018). "The Noongar Settlement: Australia's First Treaty". Sydney Law Review. 40 (1). Retrieved 20 July 2020 – via Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII).
- ^ "Order-in-Council Establishing Government 23 February 1836 (UK)". Museum of Australian Democracy. Documenting a democracy. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ Draft of the Order-in-Council Establishing Government 23 February 1836 (UK), National Archives of Australia
- ISBN 978-1-74114-569-4
- ^ "Governor Bourke's Proclamation 1835 (UK)". Documenting Democracy. Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ "The Batman Treaty". SBS On Demand. Special Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ "Batman's treaty". Ergo. State Library of Victoria. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ a b c "Why doesn't Australia have an indigenous treaty?". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Indigenous Australian 'hearts broken'". BBC News. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ "Uluru Statement from the Heart". referendumcouncil.org.au. Referendum Council. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ Pearson, Luke (10 August 2017). "What is a Makarrata? It's more than a synonym for treaty". ABC News (Radio National). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ a b c Wyatt, Ken. "National Press Club Address - 'Walking in Partnership to Effect Change'". Ministers Media Centre. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ Conifer, Dan (9 July 2019). "Indigenous constitutional recognition to be put to referendum in next three years, Minister promises". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ Wyatt, Ken (10 July 2019). "Ken Wyatt speech: Indigenous Australians Minister's historic pledge for recognition". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ Atkinson, Geraldine; Stewart, Marcus (4 June 2020). "OPINION: Blak Lives Matter - Which is why we need Treaty". NITV. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ Jakubowicz, Andrew; Payne, Anne Maree; Thomas, Archie; Norman, Heidi (11 November 2020). "The Black Lives Matter movement has provoked a cultural reckoning about how Black stories are told". The Conversation. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ Allam, Lorena (20 August 2022). "What is an Indigenous treaty and how would it work in Australia?". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ "NSW Labor commits to treaty consultations with Indigenous community if elected in March". ABC News. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ Cross, Jarred (7 April 2023). "New NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty lays out plans". National Indigenous Times. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023.
- ^ a b Afshariyan, Nkayla (7 June 2018). "Australia's first Aboriginal treaty negotiations passed in Victoria". triple j. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Wahlquist, Calla (21 June 2018). "Victoria passes historic law to create Indigenous treaty framework". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ a b c Korff, Jens (20 July 2020). "Aboriginal timeline: Treaty". Creative Spirits (in Polish). Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ "Advancing the Treaty Process with Aboriginal Victorians Act 2018". Victorian legislation. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ Rollason, Bridget (16 September 2019). "Victorian treaty negotiations move closer as voting opens for First Peoples' Assembly". ABC News. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Australian Associated Press (16 September 2019). "Voting opens for representatives to Victoria's First Peoples' Assembly". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ "About". First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Towell, Noel (10 November 2019). "Historic vote, but only 7 per cent turned out for Aboriginal poll". The Age. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
- ^ Siganto, Talissa (14 July 2019). "'Long time coming': Queensland commits to Indigenous treaty process". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ Smith, Douglas (10 February 2020). "QLD Government receives treaty recommendations after months of consultations". NITV. SBS. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ "Truth-telling guides next steps on Queensland's historic Path to Treaty". Mirage News. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ Palaszczuk, Annastacia; Crawford, Craig (13 August 2020). "Queensland Government's historic commitment to Treaty-making process". Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory. Retrieved 14 August 2020. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
- ^ Queensland Government (22 February 2023). "Where are we up to? | Queensland's Path to Treaty". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023.
- ^ Gillespie, Eden (18 October 2023). "Queensland LNP abandons support for treaty with First Nations people". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ Riga, Rachel (18 October 2023). "Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli says Path to Treaty 'will only create further division', retracts support for laws". ABC News. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ "LNP flips on support for treaty". The Australian. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ Poloni, Gian De (8 June 2015). "WA Premier signs $1.3 billion Noongar native title deal". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ Hobbs, Harry (19 December 2016). "Will treaties with Indigenous Australians overtake constitutional recognition?". The Conversation. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ Cawthorn, Michael (22 November 2017). "Traditional Owner Corporations". PBC. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ "Settlement Agreement". South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ Hobbs, Harry; Williams, George (2018). "The Noongar Settlement: Australia's First Treaty". Sydney Law Review.
- ^ Australian Associated Press (14 December 2016). "SA government aims to sign treaty with Indigenous Australians within 12 months". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ "Treaty in South Australia". ANTaR. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ Wahlquist, Calla (30 April 2018). "South Australia halts Indigenous treaty talks as premier says he has 'other priorities'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ Kurmelovs, Royce (12 December 2018). "SA's Aboriginal Affairs Action Plan slammed as 'collection of dot points'". NITV News. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ "What SA's new govt wants to achieve in Aboriginal affairs". NITV. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ "Call for Tasmanian Aboriginal Treaty". Tasmanian Greens MPs. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ Holmes, Adam (7 August 2019). "Tasmania treaty talks: Michael Mansell's vision for treaty, land return, GDP allocation, land access and seats in Parliament". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ Maunder, Sarah (10 June 2020). "Aboriginal leaders in Tasmania broach treaty discussions with state government". NITV. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ Bailey, Sue (8 June 2020). "Aboriginal leader Michael Mansell has been overwhelmed by support at Black Lives Matter rallies". The Advocate. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ "Timetable for the 'truth' about island's bloody past to be told". ABC News. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Eighteen months after a report urged truth-telling in Tasmania, has anything changed?". ABC News. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ "'We've been made visible': Aboriginal Tasmanians celebrate first steps to treaty". ABC News. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ Wellington, Shahni (8 June 2018). "Indigenous treaty a step closer after NT Government's historic pledge". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ a b Allam, Lorena (8 June 2018). "NT signs historic Barunga agreement to begin Indigenous treaty talks". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Gooley, Cameron (15 July 2020). "NT Treaty Commission eyes 2022 submission of final report with consultations to commence". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ^ Bardon, Jane (20 January 2023). "Northern Territory Indigenous leader Yingiya Guyula angered by government's decision to close NT Treaty Commission". ABC News (Australia).
- ^ Garrick, Matt (18 January 2024). "NT government to revive plans for treaty, six years after it was first promised by Territory Labor". ABC News (Australia).
- ^ "NT Treaty Symposia". Office of Aboriginal Affairs. Northern Territory Government. 29 April 2024.
Further reading
- "The lack of treaty: Getting to the heart of the issue". Australians Together.