The New South Wales Aboriginal affairs minister, Ben Franklin, has declared a treaty with First Nations people is “not on the agenda” for the Coalition, amid warnings the state was trailing the rest of the country.
Labor has committed to beginning treaty discussions if it wins the NSW election, pledging $5m for a year-long consultation with community to start after the federal voice referendum, regardless of the result.
The process would aim to determine community appetite for a treaty, plan what the process would look like and what it would seek to achieve.
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.
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.
Franklin says while the state government is supportive of a federal voice, the Coalition is not proposing similar action at a state level in the next term of parliament.
“Implementing a state-based voice or a treaty is not on the agenda,” he said. “The NSW government supports in principle the Australian government’s work to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the constitution.”
Instead, he said the government was working with communities to deliver $716m towards better outcomes for Aboriginal people.
But the Reconciliation NSW co-chair and Worimi man Joshua Gilbert said NSW needed to consider its national standing and “inconsistent” stance compared with other jurisdictions.
“We do need to start thinking about what this looks like in terms of our state compared to all the others across Australia,” he said. “There is quite a lot that we can learn from other states. This isn’t a new concept – there are a lot of examples that we should be looking at overseas as well.”
Gilbert said a treaty in NSW would acknowledge the systems and knowledge of the Aboriginal groups across the state and elevate their voices, working alongside a potential future federal body.
“Irrespective of who gets in as the next state government, this really is an opportunity for us to have discussions around what’s important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in NSW,” he said. “We need to make sure that we continue to elevate the voices of mob.”
Nathan Moran, the chief executive of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, said such a conversation was long overdue.
“The reality for Aboriginal or First Nations people is that no one is respectful [or] even had permission to remain on our land, let alone trade our minerals, trade our land or trade our waterways,” he said.
“To think that well past the 230-year mark that people are still delaying … that’s not respectful.”
He welcomed Labor’s plan and said it was time for the state’s First Nations population to “survive – hopefully thrive – just like anyone else”.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council is calling for bipartisan support for a treaty or treaties, and for the process to be led by Aboriginal people and representative community-controlled structures.
“It represents a chance to heal the past and build on the constructive relationship between NSW Aboriginal Land Council Network, government and Aboriginal peoples and communities more broadly,” a spokesperson said.
“A treaty is a practical way for NSW to deepen Aboriginal participation in the economy and broader community. It will ensure the voices of Aboriginal people are heard loud and clear.”
‘A marriage, not a divorce’
Harry Hobbs, an associate professor of law at the University of Technology Sydney, said Australia was the only Commonwealth nation without a treaty with its First Nations people.
“We don’t have the language to talk about what a treaty is and what it isn’t and we don’t have the institutions and processes necessary to set up fair negotiations,” Hobbs said.
“A treaty is a marriage, not a divorce. It’s about bringing communities together and building strong relationships based on self-determination.”
This year the Greens announced they would push for dedicated seats in parliament for Indigenous people and for a treaty process to occur.
A Greens upper house candidate, the Wiradjuri and Badu Island woman Lynda-June Coe, said the government was “completely apathetic” to moving forward the Uluru statement from the heart and handing back power to First Nations communities at a state level.
The process should be led by a treaty commission and then guided by the principles in the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples, she said.
“A treaty will take longer than one term of government, so there needs to be a body that will ensure the process carries on regardless of electoral politics,” she said, adding: “Colonial ideas of small representation in consultation or short time frames so things need to be rushed through won’t be good enough if the process is going to be genuine.”
