The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria is set to hold the final meeting of its historic first term, the last before Treaties will be negotiated with the Victorian Government.
The assembly is the elected body that represents Victorian Traditional Owners, and since its first meeting in December 2019 it has been negotiating the rules and infrastructure that will enable Treaties to be negotiated.
The last full meeting of the assembly’s first term will be held in Melbourne (Naarm) on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country and via Zoom on Thursday and Friday, March 16 and 17.
Day two of the meeting program will include a live broadcast at 2.30pm, featuring speeches from assembly members.
Assembly co-chair and Nira illim bulluk man of the Taungurung Nation Marcus Stewart said top of the agenda for the meeting was finalising plans for a second assembly general election to be held from May 13 to June 3.
“We’ve agreed on the framework and process for Treaty-making in Victoria, next we need to hold elections so all Aboriginal people in and from Victoria have a chance to choose the people who will actually be negotiating the statewide Treaty,” Mr Stewart said.
A statewide Treaty will be negotiated to address statewide issues while the various Traditional Owner groups across the state will be empowered to negotiate Treaties that reflect priorities and aspirations in their areas.
Assembly members will finalise a statement at the meeting to declare the assembly’s intention to negotiate the statewide Treaty.
“Very early in the process we agreed that we needed many Treaties in Victoria so Traditional Owners could focus on their areas, but we also knew we’d need a statewide Treaty that can tackle the big overarching statewide issues,” Mr Stewart said.
“Health, education, justice, these need to be addressed at a systemic level and the assembly will be best placed to do that.”
The assembly’s second term, which will begin after its elections in May, will focus on actual Treaty negotiations.
Assembly co-chair and Bangerang and Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Geraldine Atkinson said the moment that had been talked about for generations had finally arrived.
“This is it. Treaty is going to happen in Victoria,” Aunty Geraldine said.
The assembly is calling on all First Peoples over the age of 16 who are from, or in Victoria, to enrol ahead of the statewide election in May.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re living on your Country or in another area, we want the whole (First Nations) community to know their vote matters and we want them helping to choose the next steps on the shared journey to Treaty,” Aunty Geraldine said.
Traditional Owners of land in Victoria wanting to stand as a candidate in the assembly election can nominate from April 3 to 24.
The assembly said Traditional Owner groups with reserved seats on the assembly would start the process of selecting their representatives soon.