Liberal plan to scrap Treaty risks 'sending us back', Aboriginal leader warns

Victorian Indigenous leaders have accused Opposition Leader Jess Wilson of using Treaty as a "political football", warning decades of progress could be lost if the historic agreement is scrapped.

Last year, the Victorian government became the first state or territory in Australia's history to sign a modern treaty agreement with its First Peoples, which was hailed nationally and internationally as an historic step for all Australians.

Ms Wilson has vowed to scrap the state's Treaty along with its elected First Peoples' body, Gellung Warl, if the Coalition wins the November 28 election.

Last month she reaffirmed that promise, telling ABC Radio Melbourne she had had "constructive conversations with those involved in the Treaty process".

"We don't see a bureaucracy as a way to deliver outcomes for Indigenous Victorians," she said.

"We want to make sure we are investing directly into the programs and we are doing some work right now around what that looks like in health care, education and our justice system."

The Coalition has proposed what it calls a "community-led" strategy that would replace the independent Gellung Warl with a government department overseen by a minister.

Ms Wilson said the department, which would be called First Nations Victoria, would be responsible for meeting and reporting on Closing the Gap targets.

One Nation has also vowed to abolish the body and scrap Treaty.

Former Treaty Advancement Commissioner Aunty Jill Gallagher was one of the early architects behind Victoria's treaty design.

The Gunditjmara woman said the Coalition's strategy amounted to a return to the advisory committees that had failed First Nations people for decades.

"We haven't closed that gap because we don't have a body, a voice, that can actually talk to governments, that can actually set up processes to hold not only mainstream organisations accountable, but Aboriginal community controlled organisations," she said.

"The Treaty is about not accepting the status quo, because those advisory committees haven't worked."

Aunty Jill said Indigenous Victorians were only just beginning to get a "glimpse" of the positive outcomes Gellung Warl could achieve.

"If it was ripped away and we go back to those advisory committees … we're going to go backwards," she said.

"It's really hard to put in words and articulate, but for me it'd be like sending us back 200 years ago, in my opinion, as to where we are today as Aboriginal people, as the first peoples of this country.

"It would be heartbreaking and devastating.

"It took us 200 years to get to a Treaty. Victoria is the first state in this country to ever achieve Treaty. And it will set us back."

Historic agreements, like the Treaty of Waitangi, are not generally viewed as something that can be repealed.

Victoria's unique modern agreement is underpinned by legislation which can be repealed.

However, some, including the chair of the Treaty Authority, have suggested the actual Treaty agreement, which received cultural assent under Aboriginal law, cannot be "severed unilaterally" by one party.

"It may not be honoured by a particular party … but the Treaty would still exist," Treaty Authority chair Jidah Clarke said in an interview with The Age last month.

Power at stake

The fight for Treaty has ramped up across Melbourne.

In Opposition Leader Jess Wilson's seat of Kew, campaigners from First Nations advocacy group Common Threads have been doorknocking hundreds of homes to raise awareness about the Coalition's plans.

Gunditjmara and Yorta Yorta campaigner Tarneen Onus Browne said they had joined the fight for their elders, including their Nan whose only access to culturally safe aged care was away from Country, where she had lived her whole life.

"I just find it really sad that she lived on my own Country for a really long time and she wanted to die there but she's not going to get the chance to because the aged care facilities there aren't culturally safe," Onus Browne said.

"I want to be able to die on my country if I want to, and should also have that right."

Onus Browne said a self-determined Treaty was in the interests of all Victorians.

"I think that's really important for non-Aboriginal people to know — that if you want a better way forward, then it does affect you," they said.

"There's nothing materially being taken away from people with Treaty. It's about putting First Nations people in the driver's seat and for First Nations people to make decisions about our own lives."

At a statewide level, Treaty serves as the underpinning for Gellung Warl to have a seat at the table of Parliament — to advise, inform and engage with the government and the parliament on policies that impact the lives of First Peoples.

It is controlled by the First Peoples' Assembly and also has powers to hold the state to account.

First Peoples' Assembly

Elected by Victorian Aboriginal communities to advocate to government.

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Nyerna Yoorrook Telkuna

Tasked with helping Victorians learn about the past and the impact of colonisation.

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Nginma Ngainga Wara

Monitors and evaluates the state's progress in closing the gap.

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In August, these new powers were put to the test when Gellung Warl formally called on the government to axe a controversial bill to remove prisoners' guaranteed hour of open air each day, which passed with Coalition support.

Gellung Warl co-chair Djaran Murray-Jackson warned the bill would disproportionately impact Indigenous Victorians, calling it "inconsistent with the spirit and intent of Statewide Treaty".

Under the Treaty Act, the Corrections Minister Ros Spence was given 60 days to respond in writing.

The ABC understands the Minister's response acknowledged the concerns, and committed to continuing to monitor the impact of the reforms.

Treaty is 'non-negotiable'

Wurundjeri man and cultural educator Thane Garvey's people are one of eight Traditional Owner groups negotiating their own local treaty with the state.

He said the prospect of losing Treaty would be "absolutely detrimental" for those who had long-fought for it.

"I can't imagine how heartbreaking it's going to be for some of the elders that are in their 70s, 60s, 50s and older to see this disappear," he said.

"I don't understand how we're meant to come together and unify any further when we're going to take away all the hard work that our elders have put forward."

"This is something that's non-negotiable from our perspective."

For years, Mr Garvey has held Welcome to Countries and smoking ceremonies on the steps of parliament — including for the signing of Treaty last year.

He said Ms Wilson had taken part in these ceremonies in the past, calling her current position "extremely hypocritical".

"Jess Wilson was openly voting yes for the referendum. She has definitely walked through the smoke in my smoking ceremonies at Parliament steps," he said.

"I think that's pretty clear to me that she actually supports a lot of what it is that we're talking about. But … she has decided to use this as a bit of a political football."

He said the debate was particularly painful for Indigenous Victorians who had been "politicised as a race so many times for generations".

"This doesn't hold integrity. This doesn't show real passion around caring for people," he said.

"This really shows, I think, that Jess Wilson is willing to move her agenda around, depending on what it is that people are talking about at the time."

Aunty Jill warned Ms Wilson that if she followed through on the pledge, it would be an unprecedented step backwards.

"If you are successful at the upcoming elections and you do tear up the Treaty, you'll be the first government in the world to ever do that," Aunty Jill said.

"That's not leadership. That's picking on the minority".

Onus Browne said their message for the opposition leader was that it was not too reconsider her stance.

"There's a way out. You can take a back step from this," they said.

"[Repealing] would be really disappointing for First Nations people and lots of people in your constituents and people across Victoria that really believe in this."