Fronting the Yoorrook Justice Commission, First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria co-chair and Nira illim bulluk man Marcus Stewart has called for a larger time frame on the truth- telling process.
Mr Stewart was the fifth of six witnesses to be part of the first block of public hearings, or wurrek tyerrang, at Charcoal Lane in Melbourne on Thursday, May 5.
The hearings inquired into the ongoing impacts of colonisation and effects still felt in the present, to be put together in an interim report in June, and a final report unveiling its findings in July, 2024.
“How in a three-year period do you unpack 200-plus years of colonisation and its contemporary effects that it’s still having today and will have tomorrow? I struggle to understand how that is possible,” Mr Stewart said.
“The Treaty journey will continue for a number of years to come — we’re going to see statewide negotiations, we will see Traditional Owners, at the same time I’d imagine ... if not before.
“There’s going to be an evolution of negotiations that will see Treaty negotiation happen for another 10 years.”
In a 61-page witness statement submitted prior to the hearing, he said while injustices of colonisation could not be undone through Treaty, it remained the only way Victoria could move forward.
“It is about giving First Peoples a voice in governance that is determinative and not merely advisory,“ he said.
Mr Stewart said structural and systemic reform was “critically important” to both Treaty and truth-telling.
“Most, if not all, Aboriginal people in the state of Victoria, if not across the country, would be acutely aware of a history of broken promises from consecutive governments,” he said.
“Only Treaty will provide the dotted line — it will be signed by government and future governments to account for our shared future as Aboriginal people within Victoria, and that's where we see the critical ingredient and nature of a statewide Treaty.”