The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, which will negotiate a statewide Treaty with the Andrews Government in its second term, will elect new co-chairs when it meets on Wednesday, July 26.
The Assembly is the democratically elected voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria and four of its members, who will play a key role in the Assembly’s second term, are from the North East region.
The Assembly’s North East region, which takes in Echuca, Cobram, Yarrawonga, Wodonga, Benalla, Wangaratta, Mansfield, Seymour, Shepparton, Kyabram and part of Rochester, will be represented by Yorta Yorta, Wamba Wamba, Wurundjeri and Ngiyampaa woman Belinda Briggs, Yorta Yorta man Levi Power and Bangerang and Gunditjmara woman Nicole Atkinson. All are newly elected members on the Assembly.
Matthew Burns will return for his second term on the Assembly as the reserved seat holder representing the Taungurung Land and Waters Council, which represents the Taungurung people and their land, a large part of Central Victoria north of the Great Dividing Range.
In its first term, the Assembly focused on reaching agreement with the Victorian Government on the rules by which treaties will be negotiated, while in the next term, the Assembly will focus on actual Treaty negotiations.
During its first meeting for the second term, the Assembly, consisting of plenty of new faces after recent elections, will replace its inaugural co-chairs, Marcus Stewart and Aunty Geraldine Atkinson, who both chose not to stand for re-election to the Assembly.
Bangerang and Wiradjuri woman Aunty Geraldine will open the meeting and pass on the symbolic message stick to the next group of Assembly members.
Aunty Geraldine said Victoria had shown the nation the benefits of advancing voice, treaty and truth.
“It’s time to ensure we have the ability to make the decisions about our communities, our culture and our Country,” she said.
A Nira illim bulluk man of the Taungurung Nation, Mr Stewart said the Treaty process in Victoria was showing that better outcomes are possible when Aboriginal people have the ability to determine and shape policies and programs for their people.
“That’s what Treaty is all about and it’s also something I believe the federal Voice to Parliament will help with,” he said.
In the lead-up to the first meeting of the Assembly’s second term, Aunty Geraldine encouraged newly elected members to make the most of their opportunity to serve and to “do all mob proud”, saying what they do over the next four years will “shape the future of First Peoples here for generations to come”.
The opening meeting of the second term will start with Assembly members gathering in the Parliament Gardens outside the Pastor Sir Douglas and Lady Gladys Nicholls Memorial.
A Smoking Ceremony, speeches and ceremonial performances inside the Victorian Legislative Council will follow.