Tuesday, 9 September 2025

Ministers statements: treaty

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:08): Every family is made stronger when they have control over their lives, their futures and the things that matter most, and Aboriginal families are no different. For too long the decisions that have shaped Aboriginal lives have been made without them, not with them. That is why treaty matters; that is why treaty makes sense. It gives Aboriginal people the opportunity to have a real say over the things that affect them and their lives. It is that simple. It is practical. It is common sense. It is simple, but it is powerful.

Today, for the first time in our nation’s history, the Statewide Treaty Bill 2025 will be introduced into this house of Parliament. What this bill will do is set the ground rules for real, practical change – change that will endure. But I also want to be clear that treaty will not take anything away from anyone. It is about building up, not tearing down. It is about a partnership with the longest continuous culture on earth – a partnership that will improve services, a partnership that will improve outcomes, a partnership that will improve lives. It will ensure that decisions about programs and policies that affect Aboriginal Victorians are shaped by Aboriginal Victorians. That is the simple fact, because this is how we achieve better outcomes for families, for communities and indeed for our entire state.

Generations of advocacy of Indigenous Victorians – indeed Indigenous Australians – have brought us here, and today we honour that work. As we bring this bill to the Parliament for debate, as we hope for its successful passage through the Parliament, Victoria stands ready to sign the first treaty in our nation’s history – signed, yes, in the name of every Victorian, signed in the spirit of justice and fairness and signed to make our state stronger, to make our state fairer, to make our state better for every single one of us.