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Constitutional Recognition fades as momentum builds for a Treaty
- 6 April 2016

Momentum for a Treaty is building following many influential Indigenous Australians rejecting Constitutional Recognition. Indigenous affairs editor Natalie Cromb reports.

THE MOMENTUM for the Treaty campaign is building following the Sovereign peoples of Victoria unanimously rejecting Constitutional Recognition in February and a "Men speak out for Treaty" event in Redfern last month.

The Andrews Government sought to discuss Constitutional Recognition with Indigenous invitees to the forum held in February, however, the agenda took a swift turn when there was a unanimous rejection of Constitutional Recognition.

The Treaty event in Redfern was organised byStop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS) and was hosted by renowned journalist Jeff McMullen, He played host to a robust panel, including Wiri man and Australia’s first Indigenous Senior Counsel Tony McAvoyNarungga elder and advocate Tauto SansburyAwabakal man and chair of NTEU A&TSI Policy Committee Terry MasonGurang Gurang man and chairman of Stronger Smarter Institute Dr Chris Sarra, and Djambarrpuyngu man and Yolngu Nations Assembly Spokesperson Yingiya Guyula.

Tony McAvoy was decisive and clear as first speaker and he avowed he is an advocate for a Treaty, when he said:

It is achievable within the next few years that we will have set the framework for the treaties to be entered into by First Nations.”

McAvoy has, in fact, drafted a charter for an Assembly of First Nations people in which he envisions that it will create a truly representative body that will debate and pass resolutions in much the same way as the United Nations General Assembly. Indeed, it would be appropriate for this body to be the negotiating body on behalf of First Nations people in forming a Treaty with the Government.

Tony McAvoy drew from his legal strengths in clarifying what model a Treaty would need to take, as he narrowed it down to four main heads of agreement.

An acknowledgement that:

  • Australia was not settled and that First Nations people are sovereign peoples;
  • there must be land reform
  • there must be reparations, compensation and equitable benefit sharing; and
  • there is the need for structural reform.

The packed audience was in agreement with Tony McAvoy’s approach to Treaty.

He closed by saying:

The dilemma which confronts us is how we create the environment where the economic and cultural imperatives that saw us through millennia can be maintained in the western world in which we now live.”

Tauto Sansbury conceded he is not an expert in the legal and political machinations of achieving a Treaty, but said he is determinedly against Constitutional Recognition. Sansbury referenced the South Australian experience with Recognition and how very little it had achieved beyond the “feel good” symbolism in which government could pat themselves on the back. He referenced the continued poor performance of social indicators and said that this change is not achievable without action in the place of symbolism.

Terry Mason was present amongst the 500 Victorian sovereign peoples who unanimously rejected Constitutional Recognition.

He said:

They used the term 'Sovereign people', not 'Victorian Aboriginal people', in the meeting, because they are not owned by the Victorian government."

This anecdote was met with resounding affirmation from the crowd.

Mason recalled a real feeling of change in the air as the peoples resisted the Government’s intent to split into focus groups and, instead, chose to remain united and speak “black fulla way” about what was and is affecting them — not the agenda set by the Government.

He was conclusive in saying the process doesn’t need to be rushed

“... because it may not be for us or our children — but it might be for our grandchildren. It doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as it is done right and includes genuine grass roots consultation.”

Mason spoke of the importance of including people who cannot travel to capital cities and forums like this one, and that without genuine consultation with all communities we are selling ourselves short.

Yingiya Guyula was a powerful speaker, who enunciated the importance of preserving culture and lore. He entranced the audience with his ceremonial song and then allowed the audience to see lore in action in a brief video that demonstrated the real disconnect between lore and law. It is for this that he is running a Treaty platform in his campaign for the next Northern Territory election.

He recalled the immediate and real changes following the Norther Territory Intervention:

Our lore was immediately pushed aside and ignored. We are experiencing the highest rate of suicide, our people are locked up at a rate six times higher than a black man in South Africa during Apartheid.”

He was explicit in his closing, when he said:

It is self-determination and self-government, or poverty, exile and death. We need Treaty.”

Dr Chris Sarra was the final speaker and had, perhaps, the simplest yet powerful statement in favour of Treaty, when he said:

"It would finally be an acknowledgement of our humanity in an honourable way.”

The panel was followed by resolute discussion in favour of Treaty, but the vast majority of the audience who contributed to discussion made a clear statement in favour of grass roots consultation. One audience member suggested involvement at a Lands Council level was a good starting point.

I have made my views clear in that I am in favour of Treaty/ies; however, I am not flippant in thinking that procuring a treaty is going to be easy, because it is the least palatable option for governments. This is because it holds them to a set of obligations they ordinarily would not live up to.

To arbitrarily decide the fate of our people without consultation and agreement will always be met with resistance.

And for those who champion the Recognise campaign and its intent to change the Constitution to recognise Indigenous people, I say that you need to consider the South Australian example given by Tauto Sansbury.

We have the benefit of hindsight and know that Constitutional Recognition will not change themortality or incarceration rates of our people. It will not stop the removal of children or turn thewater back on in remote communities.

Constitutional change is symbolic; it does not change anything for the Indigenous community.

Because, frankly, I don’t think anyone can say it better, I will close with this statement from Rosalie Kunoth-Monks who was a panellist alongside me in last years’ Treaty forum:

“This is a life and death situation. A Treaty is vital to the future of our people.”

Please show your support to Indigenous people by listening, supporting and taking action.

Natalie Cromb is a Gamileraay woman. You can follow Natalie on Twitter @NatalieCromb.

Source: https://independentaustralia.net/australia/australia-display/constitutional-recognition-fades-as-momentum-builds-for-a-treaty,8848

 

Treaty Yeah! Momentum Grows For National Agreements - 13 March 2016

There’s a growing push among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for Treaty. Liam McLoughlin reports.

“Everything the government is doing is disempowering us, it’s taking our thinking away, to make up our own minds and decide for our own the lifestyle that we want to live… Treaty is the only way that we can negotiate and accept one another… we must sit down together and negotiate and recognise both laws. You recognise my law and I recognise your law and we work together towards the future of my children.”

These are the words of Yingiya Mark Guyula, a Yolngu Nations Assembly spokesperson who lives in Arnhem Land under the Northern Territory Intervention. Yingiya has made Treaty the central plank in hiscampaign for the seat of Nhulunbuy at the upcoming Northern Territory election and is currently on a nationwide Treaty awareness and fundraising tour.

He will join four other prominent Aboriginal men to speak out for Treaty at a forum in Redfern this Monday. Interviewing all participants prior to the event was a remarkable opportunity to do what white Australia so often fails to do: listen to Aboriginal people.

The endemic failure to listen to and respect Australia’s First Peoples has much to do with the current crisis of Indigenous suicide. This week we learnt a 10-year-old Aboriginal girl took her own life in far north Western Australia. The news comes after the suicide of an 11-year-old Geraldton boy, Peter Liddle, in 2014, and the suicide of 19 Indigenous people in remote areas since December 2015. Indigenous children are close to nine times more likely to commit suicide than non-Indigenous children.

In response to the latest tragedy, Indigenous writers Stan Grant and Nakkiah Lui have called on Australians to examine the history and political context for this crisis. Grant writes, “We are connected directly to the darkness of our past. We are born out of the legacy of dispossession and suffering and injustice. The crippling malaise that sits at the heart of black communities and lives in this country is seeded in that still unresolved grievance that underpins the Australian settlement: Terra Nullius.”

Aboriginal writer, activist, comedian and playwright, Nakkiah Lui.Aboriginal writer, activist, comedian and playwright, Nakkiah Lui.

Lui writes from personal experience. “That Aboriginal teen I talk about, the one who saw no space for her in this world, thought about killing herself, every day, multiple times a day. I heard “Abo” jokes every day at school. Every day I was made to feel ashamed of who I was. No matter how hard my parents tried to make me proud and strong, you cannot turn a blind eye to systematic oppression – especially when you’re a child.”

She adds, “Something needs to change. Drastically and fast.”

Aboriginal people have been clear about what needs to change for over two centuries. It’s never been more urgent to listen to First Nations Peoples and heed their calls for Treaty.

 

The Right Thing To Do

As argued in a recent New Matilda column, there has long been a resounding call from Aboriginal communities for Treaty or treaties, and for good reason.

According to Terry Mason, Awakabal man and Chair of the National Tertiary Education Union’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy Committee: “There is a total failure to recognise the damage that’s been done to Aboriginal peoples and communities and the means to redress that.”

Treaties, by recognising Aboriginal Sovereignty, could do much to redress the damage.

“Sovereignty is the core of the problems in this country and always has been, and treaties may be a way of negotiating the relationship that now exists between Aboriginal people as sovereign and the rest of the population of this country,” Mason says.

Treaties would mean for many Aboriginal people “a substantial strengthening of their relationship with land, the ability to utilise the resources that belong to them and to be able then to address in a true sense of self determination, their own future, their own health needs, their own education needs, and the way their communities are governed”.

For Australia’s only Indigenous Senior Counsel, Wiri man, Tony McAvoy, treaties can address the wrongs of the past and offer promise for the future.

“I see the failure to deal with the historical injustices in this country as the main impediment to a joint future, a future in which Aboriginal people including my own children don’t have to continually struggle for some rectification of the record and… they can look towards the future in a more respectful relationship [with non-Indigenous Australians],” he says.

McAvoy also says “there is a real national need for some reckoning and some closure. The whole notion that Australia was “settled” relies upon centuries old legal principles to the effect that we, Aboriginal people, are somehow a lesser form of human than the British. That Australia continues to rely upon those principles is damning and the immorality of it is something that most Australians will be able to appreciate.”

Narungga Elder and Aboriginal advocate Tauto Sansbury is succinct when asked why he’s passionate about Treaty. “I think it’s the right thing to do. I think it’s about time and it’s well overdue.”

He says Treaty is part of the unfinished business created by the lie of white ‘settlement’. “We’ve never been recognised, we’ve never been negotiated with, we’ve never been spoken to,” says Sansbury. He believes it’s this failure to negotiate inside a Treaty process that has led to much injustice for Aboriginal people.

Sansbury believes we need to follow the examples of other nations. “Every other colonised country that’s been invaded by the Poms have settled a Treaty – the Canadians, the Maoris in New Zealand. Australia is lagging in doing that.”

In following the examples of these other nations, Treaty would “give a lot more comfort and a lot more security for Aboriginal people to know that there is going to be a future and a future far better than the one at this present moment.”

Renowned Aboriginal educator, Dr Chris Sarra from the Stronger Smarter Institute.Renowned Aboriginal educator, Dr Chris Sarra from the Stronger Smarter Institute.

Dr Chris Sarra, Gurang Gurang man and Founding Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute also sees Treaty as transformative.

“It would cause a change in the entire relationship between white Australia and Aboriginal Australia and it would prove to Aboriginal people that white Australia has finally grown up and acknowledged in an honourable way that as Aboriginal people we were here first, and we had and maintain a sovereign interest in our connection to country.”

For Yingiya Mark Guyula, Treaty is about the acknowledgement of a basic fact. “We know what is right for our people… government thinks what is right for us, but we know what is right for us,” he says.

Journalist and long time advocate for Aboriginal rights, Jeff McMullen, offers a stark contrast between the status quo and Treaty.

“Whereas the current constitution and almost all Australian law is through the filter of dominance, of continuing attempts to assimilate and disempower Aboriginal people, Treaty would be a mutual commitment to be fair and from that basis you have the prospect of a unified nation, one that recognises the diversity of the peoples here and a fresh start on a constitution that actually represents us in the 21stcentury,” said McMullen.

“I cannot point to an Aboriginal policy that has been truly decided by Aboriginal people. All of the ongoing government oppressive policy is decided by the rulers. And the rulers are not necessarily carrying out the will of the bulk of Australians. It is a very ideological agenda, as it has been from the start of white settlement and white government in this modern nation.

“It is not casual discrimination, it is intentional. It is aimed at subjecting Aboriginal people, continuing to dispossess them and expecting that only through assimilation will their cultures be destroyed, absorbed to such a point that they homogenised into meaninglessness.”

McMullen believes Treaty is the process needed to mend this broken relationship with Aboriginal people. He adds Treaty is a negotiated settlement which offers “a way to address the rightful recognition, the injustices, the reparation, and the fair share of the bounty of this country”.

 

The Swelling Of Resistance

Many of these forum participants sense gathering momentum behind calls for a Treaty or treaties, and a flat out rejection of the tokenistic Recognise campaign. In early February, a meeting of 500 Aboriginal people from across Victoria quickly and unanimously passed the motion “We as Sovereign People reject Constitutional Recognition”.

All present but one then assented to the motion, “We demand the state resources a treaty process, including a framework for treaties, with complete collaboration with all Sovereign Peoples and Nations, and treaties are finalised and agreed upon by December 2016”.

As a result the Victorian government has announced it will begin Treaty negotiations with First Nations People.

Terry Mason was one of the Aboriginal people who attended this meeting. Mason sees how this potent rejection of government policy and this assertion of sovereignty resonate with the will of Indigenous Australians across the country. He points to “the absolute drive that is picked up amongst Aboriginal people at a grassroots and community level and also amongst non-Aboriginal people over some of the most disgusting moves we’ve seen in this country for a very long time”.

Aboriginal resistance to the forced closure of Indigenous communities is “the driving force that has closed down the centre of Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne on several occasions and there is a growing concern particularly amongst young people, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, that this reflects poorly on them. It’s that type of fundamental understanding that this is damaging everyone in this country that gives me hope that we can now fully engage in some of these discussions and it won’t go away,” he says.

Other panellists also see this widespread rejection of Recognise, and embrace of Treaty.

The historic consultation session hosted by the Victorian Government, to seek the views of Aboriginal people on constitutional recognition and self determination. (IMAGE: NTEU ATSI Caucus).The historic consultation session hosted by the Victorian Government, to seek the views of Aboriginal people on constitutional recognition and self determination. (IMAGE: NTEU ATSI Caucus).

Tony McAvoy says while there is a small percentage of Aboriginal people who do want the kind of symbolic recognition the government is offering, “there’s a much larger percentage of people who want real, tangible acknowledgement of their position in this country”.

Dr Chris Sarra thinks for most Aboriginal people, genuine constitutional recognition should go together with Treaty.

“The view from most people is that it shouldn’t be one or the other. Recognition in the constitution is important but that should not stop us from the ultimate goal of establishing a Treaty,” says Sarra.

Tauto Sansbury is more damning of constitutional recognition as it stands.

“Recognise is something that I’m totally opposed to because we’ve been recognised in the South Australian Constitution just recently, and it’s given us nothing.

“I don’t want to be recognised in the Constitution at this present moment until other business is dealt with, and the biggest business that we are talking about now – and Aboriginal people right across Australia are doing it – is a Treaty.

“There is a right track and there is a wrong track. The right track is Treaty, the wrong track is Recognise.”

From the biggest cities to the most remote parts of this land, Treaty is foremost for Aboriginal people. The Yolngu people of Arnhem Land are very clear about what they want.

Yingiya Mark Guyula says: “We want Treaty. We want a partnership. We want a dialogue in decision-making. We want diplomatic talks with the government – the Yolngu government and the Balanda [non-Indigenous] government.”

According to Jeff McMullen, these insistent calls for Treaty have a long history.

“It would be 50 years that I’ve heard the call from Aboriginal people for Treaty and I’ve watched politicians flirt with that expectation but never ever deliver on the promise.”

He has seen how expectations for Treaty “have been raised over and over again and in almost every case it’s been political treachery by governments that has let down Aboriginal people enormously”.

“When the nation now asks Aboriginal people to clearly express how they want to be recognised, overwhelmingly most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people say they want a legal agreement, a maccerata, a treaty,” McMullen says.

“There is a swelling of Aboriginal resistance and a very defiant and clear expression of the Aboriginal will that is occurring around the country. I would challenge all Australians to go to their local Aboriginal organisation in their community and you will find that what is on most lips is the concept of Treaty.

“Only a legal empowerment, not just a tokenistic expression of recognition… can address the most pressing issues and the oppression that really are very painful for Aboriginal people in your own community.”

 

For The Benefit Of All Australians

McMullen is lucid about the benefits of Treaty for Indigenous peoples, saying “the disastrous state of Aboriginal health, the over-incarceration and disproportionate amount of suicide of young Aboriginal people – these terrifying facts will not change until Aboriginal people are legally recognised – genuine sovereignty and rightful self-determination”.

The immense benefits of Treaty are clear for Indigenous Australians, but they also extend to non-Indigenous Australians, says Dr Chris Sarra.

“In a psychological sense I think [the absence of Treaty]has caused much damage to Indigenous Australians because it’s almost denying our very humanity and connection to country, which we’ve known has existed all along.

“Ultimately that damages white Australian society as well, because they’re the ones living with the lie and it’s time to stop.”

Sarra says a Treaty would speak well of mainstream Australians.

Respected Australian journalist, Jeff McMullen.Respected Australian journalist, Jeff McMullen.

“[It would show] they’ve matured to a point where they’ve moved beyond the negative stereotypical view of the First Australians. It would show that they’ve moved beyond a time where there’s been a lack of sophistication about how to be in the relationship with Indigenous Australians.”

Crucially, says Sarra, “it would deliver to Australia the kind of justness to its national psyche that is much required”.

Moving beyond stereotypes into a more just relationship is a theme picked up by Tony McAvoy. He’d like to see the bulk of Australians enter into a different kind of relationship with Indigenous Australians, “one where Aboriginal people are celebrated and part of our community, [where]we celebrate Aboriginal identity more than just being pictures on a postcard or some other caricature”.

He’d like to see a future in which “mainstream Australia wants an Australia where Aboriginal people are, over time, the best educated people and the highest achievers rather than at the other end of the spectrum”.

The benefits for mainstream Australia would include not only a more just future, but also a more honest relationship with our history.

For all Australians, Tauto Sansbury says Treaty would mean “understanding really what colonisation is about by understanding the true relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and how Australia was not settled, how Australia was invaded”.

“That has never been told in the history books, it’s never been told in schools and many young Aboriginal kids don’t really know that… Australia’s got a black history, they need to talk about that black history.”

 

Marching Together Towards Treaty

So how can all of us help to accelerate this march towards Treaty?

Jeff McMullen says it’s about listening carefully to the unequivocal voices of Aboriginal people and getting involved at the grassroots.

“All Australians should be involved with the community Aboriginal organisations that express this daily sense of sovereignty and self-determination”. He is confident that “change will come with people power, with a swelling of society and that needs to involve all of us and it needs to involve every sector”.

Tony McAvoy is hopeful for a Treaty in coming years, because of the greater understanding that the way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been treated in Australia.

“It’s something that as a nation people should be ashamed of and there is a growing sense that it’s something that can be done.”

Terry Mason thinks young Australians in particular are waking up to the shame of our relationship with Aboriginal people and craving change.

“This country is a shameful example of successive governments being advantaged based on dispossession and disadvantage. Any legitimate society would demand better of its representatives because it reflects on them, and I believe the young people have come to the stage where they’re embarrassed about what’s happening.”

Gamillaroi and Torres Strait Islander woman Nakkiah Lui ended her personal reflections on the 10-year-old girl who took her own life this week with these thoughts:

“I want non-Aboriginal people to know that the destruction of a people this country depends on surrounds all of you, every day, and it is closer than you think.

“Please think about that little girl today, and the family and life she has left behind. But do more than think, try and find a way to help the people whose backs your life is built on.”

We can go on ignoring the many ways our privilege is built on the loss experienced by Indigenous Australians.

Or we can stand on the shoulders of the giants of Aboriginal activism, past and present, and spread this resounding call for Treaty.

* To hear more from these fascinating, fierce advocates, if you’re in Sydney, come along to the public forum on Treaty this Monday at 6pm at Redfern Community Centre. Following on from their “Women Speak Out For Treaty” event last year, Stop the Intervention Collective have organised this event called“Time For Treaties: Men Speak Out For Treaty”Featuring Yolngu Nations Assembly spokesperson Yingiya Mark Guyula, Chair of NTEU A&TSI Policy Committee Terry Mason, barrister Tony McAvoy, Aboriginal advocate Tauto Sansbury and Founding Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute Chris Sarra, and facilitated by journalist Jeff McMullen, it’s set to be a passionate and stimulating discussion. Click here for the Facebook event or here for further details. You can also see details of Yingiya’s national speaking tour here, and donate to his election campaign here.

Source: https://newmatilda.com/2016/03/13/treaty-yeah-momentum-grows-for-national-agreements/

Reproduced with the kind permission of the authors.

 

Further media coverage

Treaty – the way forward - 7 April 2016
REDFERN: On Monday March 14 the Men Speak Out for Treaty forum was held at Redfern Community Centre, organised by the Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney. The forum was a complement to the Women Speak Out for Treaty forum held in Redfern in March 2015, and was facilitated by journalist and filmmaker Jeff McMullen. ....
http://www.southsydneyherald.com.au/treaty-the-way-forward/#.Vy3iKYR97IU

A Call for Treaties for all First Nations of Australia - 22 March 2016
Aboriginal speakers from around the country came together for a forum that was held in Redfern to discuss the need for a Treaty between all the First Nation Peoples across the country and the Australian Government.
The Men Speak Out For Treaty forum presented ideas about the best way forward for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples....
http://caama.com.au/news/2016/a-call-for-treaties-for-all-first-nations-of-australia

Packed forum discusses Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Treaty - 18 March 2016
It was standing room only at the Men Speak Out For Treaty forum held in the Redfern Community Centre on March 14 organised by the Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney. The meeting was facilitated by journalist and filmmaker Jeff McMullen.
Wiri Man Tony McAvoy argued that a treaty would settle past injustices and build a better future. A treaty would have to include an acknowledgement that Australia was conquered not settled, and recognition of Aboriginal rights to self-determination. It would have to involve land rights for Aboriginal people and reparations for land and resources stolen. It would also have to involve guaranteed representation in an Australian republic, environmental protection and changes to land tenure agreements. ...
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/61356

Chris Sarra: our humanity can only be fully acknowledged through a treaty - 17 March 2016
Negotiating a treaty with Australia's First Peoples is not only an important step towards acknowledging our humanity. It's also an opportunity for White Australia to stop 'living a lie' and start again, says Stronger Smarter Institute's Dr. Chris Sarra in this speech delivered during a recent Redfern forum on treaty negotiations. ...
http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2016/03/17/chris-sarra-our-humanity-can-only-be-fully-acknowledged-through-treaty

Calls for PM Malcolm Turnbull to commit to pursuing a treaty with Indigenous Australians - 15 March 2016
...LINDY KERIN: Packed in to the Redfern Community Centre, people came to listen to a panel of Indigenous men from around the country.
Yingiya Mark Guyula from the Yolngu Nations Assembly travelled from Arnhem Land and sang for his ancestors.
(Yingiya Mark Guyula singing)
He's standing as an independent candidate at the next Territory election and he's calling for a treaty.
YINGIYA MARK GUYULA: We declare that we have not been conquered. We declare that this day we are sovereign people.
LINDY KERIN: Indigenous senior counsel Tony McAvoy has called for an assembly of First Nations to take forward a treaty campaign....
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2016/s4425234.htm

Redfern forum: 'Treaty framework achievable within next few years' - 15 March 2016
Over one-hundred people attend a landmark meeting to discuss a way forward for treaty in the next few years.
In front of a packed crowd in Sydney's Redfern Community Centre, Wirra man and Australia's first Indigenous Senior Counsel Tony McAvoy opened the night with a decisive plan for treaty.
"It is achievable that within the next few years, that we will have set a framework for treaties to be entered into by First Nations," says Mr McAvoy.
"I think the time is now and I don't think we should defer it," he said to applause front the audience.
Mr McAvoy has drafted a charter for an Assembly of First Nations people. ....
http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/the-point-with-stan-grant/article/2016/03/15/redfern-forum-treaty-framework-achievable-within-next-few-years

Tony McAvoy: The time to push for a treaty is right now - 15 March 2016
Australia's first Indigenous Senior Counsel, Tony McAvoy is a strong advocate for treaty over recognition. He addressed the 'Need for Treaty' forum in Sydney on Tuesday night. This is what he had to say.
KEY POINTS
A treaty is achievable
There must be an acknowledgment that Australia was not settled
The assertions of sovereignty by the British Colonies, and now by the Commonwealth of Australia, are flawed
 We need an Assembly of First Nations
There must be land reform
There must be changes to the land tenure arrangements
There must be reparations, compensation and equitable benefit sharing
Structural reform needs to take place at many levels
There needs to be guaranteed representation in Parliament ...
http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/the-point-with-stan-grant/article/2016/03/15/tony-mcavoy-time-push-treaty-right-now

Sydney public forum on the need for a treaty with indigenous people - 14 March 2016
Monday 14th March 2016, 6 pm for 6.30 pm start, Redfern Community Centre, 29-53 Hugo Street Redfern. The call for Treaty is growing. On 3 February, a meeting of 500 First Nations leaders in Victoria rejected constitutional recognition and passed a motion demanding that the State “resources a treaty process, including a framework for treaties, with complete collaboration with all Sovereign Peoples and Nations”. The Victorian government subsequently announced that it will begin Treaty negotiations with First Nations People within weeks.
 The federal government is currently pushing its campaign to recognise First Nations Peoples in the Commonwealth Constitution. Yet without Treaty, the sovereignty of First Nations People remains unrecognised and fundamental rights continue to be denied. ...
https://linksunten.indymedia.org/en/node/172380


Also see: http://www.yingiya.net/news