New South Wales could implement a voice to parliament similar to the South Australian model regardless of the outcome of the federal referendum in October.
The premier, Chris Minns, told Guardian Australia he was open to a state voice to parliament or one of the other models being implemented as part of truth-telling and treaty processes under way in other Australian jurisdictions.
“I don’t want to put preconceived ideas on it,” he said.
“When you’ve got an active, engaged group, like First Nations Australians, you can’t treat them as a homogeneous group. That first year [of consultation] is really important.”
He noted Victoria, Queensland and South Australia were progressing with different models, all of which could be “good”.
“But I am conscious that this has got to be led by Indigenous First Nations people and I don’t put the cart before the horse,” he said.
Labor came to power in March promising $5m for a year-long consultation on a treaty process, which Minns said would kick off at some point after the federal voice referendum.
The process would aim to determine appetite for a treaty, plan what it would look like and what it would seek to achieve.
“Other states have made progress,” he said.
“No one’s come back to me and said that opening up a process has damaged them. Mostly, it’s been seen as a positive thing.”
NSW has the largest population of First Nations people in the country but is the only state not to have begun a treaty process or engaged in comprehensive land settlement deals.
Under the previous government, the then Aboriginal affairs minister Ben Franklin declared a treaty with First Nations people was “not on the agenda”.
Victoria and South Australia were the first to announce they would push ahead with treaty and truth-telling. Since then, all state and territory governments have made treaty and land title commitments, including the Tasmanian Liberal government under the then premier Peter Gutwein in 2021.
In March, South Australia became the first state to allow an Indigenous voice to parliament, with the premier, Peter Malinauskas, declaring it the most powerful show of respect towards Australia’s First Nations people.
Asked if he was open to progressing any of the models in NSW, Minns said: “That’s right.”
Minns has been clear in his intentions on the federal voice and what comes next for NSW, vowing to use his time and expend political capital on both issues.
On Friday, he handed out yes flyers at Kogarah railway station with the federal Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney.
Minns said he had been “surprised” when he realised NSW did not have a process in place for working toward a treaty with its First Nations people, noting the challenges in implementing one.
“We’ve got over 130 different nations in NSW and would require comprehensive work with all of them,” he said.
“But we can’t be the only state that doesn’t have a process.”
Minns has promised funding for that first year of consultation but said he would not “ringfence” it and was open to elongating the process if it needed to happen.
There would not be any more money in the budget for the process beyond what had already been announced, but Minns said if the state was making “great progress and we’re on a good path” more would come.
The Minns government will hand down its first budget on Tuesday.
