Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There's no denying that Victoria leads the nation in ensuring decision-making powers are in Aboriginal hands. As Senator Thorpe would know, Victoria is boldly pursuing treaty and truth-telling, led by the Allan Labor government. I thank Senator Thorpe for bringing this motion today before this chamber. It's an important conversation to have.

The First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria was established in December 2019 as an independent and democratically-elected voice for Aboriginal Victorians. Earlier this month, I was proud to welcome the newly elected co-chair of the First Peoples' Assembly, Rueben Berg, as part of a delegation of Victorian Aboriginal leaders to Canberra. Rueben emphasises the importance of including the federal government in Victoria's treaty and truth-telling process. This was the message he sent when speaking with senior members of the Albanese government, including the Prime Minister and Minister for Indigenous Australians. The Albanese Labor government has always been clear in its commitment to listening to First Nations Australians. We have always been clear that any progress on truth-telling and treaty is to be done in consultation with community. We need to listen to First Nations communities on the best way forward. We are going to take the time to listen to First Nations people about what those next steps look like. We're going to listen to what our community wants, whether it's mob in Central Australia or in Far North Queensland or whether it's my mob in Victoria. We owe it to our community to get this done and to get it done right.

The National Indigenous Australians Agency to date has focused on understanding the truth-telling and treaty processes in states like Victoria. Last year, Victoria established an impartial, independent treaty authority to oversee treaty negotiations. This is critical to ensuring that Aboriginal law and cultural authority are observed and upheld through the treaty process. We understand that the treaty process takes time and it requires continuous consultation and engagement with First Nations people.

Further to this, Victoria's Yoorrook Justice Commission is the first of its kind in Australia. Since its creation in May 2021, the role of Yoorrook has been to bring truth to the injustice of the past across all areas of social, political and economic life. With the full powers of a royal commission, the commission has held formal hearings and investigated historical and ongoing injustices committed against Aboriginal Victorians since colonisation. Victoria's Yoorrook Justice Commission I'm sure will be amongst many other things considered by the Albanese Labor government when thinking about our relationship with First Nations people—our partnerships with First Nations people and thinking about, 'Where to next?'

We are going to take the time to listen, engage and seek advice from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, which of course includes bodies like the democratically-elected First Peoples' Assembly. I want to commend the great work of the Assembly in pursuing treaty and truth-telling in my home state.

I'm proud to represent Victoria, which leads the nation when it comes to Aboriginal affairs. In fact, it was the Victorian Labor government's commitment to treaty that piqued my interest in politics for the first time. It's why I became a Labor person.

Aboriginal affairs has always been at the heart of any Labor government's agenda. It was a Labor government under Whitlam that brought the first Commonwealth legislation to grant land rights before this parliament, and it was a Labor government under Hawke that pursued self-determination through practical, representative bodies that could directly influence government policy more significantly than had ever been done before.

It was a Labor government under Kevin Rudd that first apologised for the dispossession and forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, communities and country. Labor's guiding principle has always been about getting better results for First Nations people with First Nations people, and a core component of getting better results is listening to communities about what they need.

What this clearly demonstrates is that, if we want progress on First Nations justice and aspirations, then we need to make sure that a Labor government is in charge, because it's only a Labor government that will deliver First Nations justice for First Nations people.