Thursday, 6 February 2020

Jill Gallagher

Ms HUTCHINS (Sydenham) (09:51): I want to take the time to sincerely thank Jill Gallagher. Jill is the outgoing Victorian treaty advancement commissioner. She is an incredibly proud Gunditjmara woman who throughout her whole working life has shown an unwavering dedication to the causes of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians. Jill has the most sincere and genuine love for the people, the culture and the country to which she belongs.

In 2018 Jill was tasked with creating the First Peoples’ Assembly, a task that had never been done before here in Australia. Throughout her term as commissioner she has been the leader in Victoria that we really needed. Jill and her team have inspired many First Nations people to engage with the treaty process—to enrol, to stand as candidates and to vote. She has held herself with integrity, compassion and respect along that journey. For instance, Jill and her team went to every prison in Victoria to ensure First Nations people who are incarcerated were able to have their voice heard in the voting process. Acts such as these have defined her term and her role as the commissioner—to do all she could to ensure that everyone had the ability to be engaged in the time frame they were given.

I want to sincerely thank everyone at the commission and all of the people that worked on the vote, and I hope that you are all as proud as I was at the inaugural meeting of the First Peoples’ Assembly in December last year. I wish you and your team, Jill, well into the future. On behalf of my colleagues and Victoria, we thank you.