The bridge between First Peoples and the State of Victoria: Gellung Warl co-Chair Meriki Onus on Treaty

At last year’s ANMF (Vic Branch) Delegates Conference, then co-chair of the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria, Rueben Berg, addressed Job Reps and HSRs on the impending legislation of Treaty in Victoria. This year, newly elected co-chair Meriki Onus joined delegates to provide an update on the first year of Treaty.

Meriki (they/them) is a Gunnai and Gunditjmara person. After an adolescence working in activism, Meriki did a masters degree and went on to work in policy, where they helped write the Treaty before standing for election to Gellung Warl, the new First Peoples’ democratically elected representative body tasked with putting to work the powers and responsibilities of Treaty.

In a nod to the audience, Meriki noted that their matriarch, Alma Thorpe, was one of the co-founders of the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service, and a pioneer in the Aboriginal health worker movement, noting the success and importance of this model for self-determination and community health.

‘It’s a model that makes sense,’ Meriki said, ‘and one that has been replicated with extraordinary success across the country. Ultimately, this is self-determination, and this is what sits at the heart of Treaty.’

The text below is an edited extract of Meriki’s address, in their words.

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‘The union movement and Treaty are fundamentally about the same principles; principles shared by many social justice movements, principles that uphold the rights of the collective over the individual.

‘The collective in this case is First Peoples, a people that were not an afterthought for successive governments, but a people that were actively targeted in attempts of removal and dispossession. Treaty is about restoring rights – the rights that were taken from us – but it’s also about so much more. When those rights are upheld, everyone benefits. When country is cared for, everyone is cared for. When community is cared for, everyone is cared for.

‘Since 2016, when Treaty talks officially started in Victoria, we have received tremendous support from unionists, and I thank unionists for their support. In this critical time, however, it’s important that we continue that shared support because there is a political opposition in parliament that opposes Treaty, just like they oppose workers’ rights. The Opposition has pledged to repeal Treaty in its first 100 days if they’re elected and to instead create an unrepresentative government department.

‘We have had decades of government coming to our communities, thinking they know what’s best for our communities, yet Victoria is still far behind on the vast majority of Closing the Gap targets – including health targets. The Productivity Commission recommends that Treaty is the best way to close the gap. Creating a new department for Aboriginal Affairs is a return to the past, to a system that we have known for so long doesn’t work.

No more band-aid fixes: heal and move forward together

‘Government didn’t wake up one day and decide to progress Treaty. It was hard fought for, through many generations. Many of the people who started and progressed the fight are no longer here today.

‘For over a decade we walked a path to Treaty with our community, and now we here in Victoria have Australia’s first Treaty. Treaty is an aspiration that came from our community and is the result of generations of resistance and activism. This is a chance, now, for all Victorians to acknowledge our shared past, heal and move forward together, with respect.

‘Treaty recognises that Aboriginal people are the experts when it comes to our country, culture, and communities. Gellung Warl will make sure that we can use our local knowledge to come up with and deliver practical solutions to improve outcomes in areas like health, education, housing and employment. The practical solutions need to come from us, because we know what’s best when it comes to our communities.

‘As the democratically elected representative body, Gellung Warl will put our people in the driver’s seat. Under Treaty, government must speak with Gellung Warl when making laws and rules about us. Assembly members of Gellung Warl will continue to advocate for our needs and aspirations. Throughout our time talking with our community, we’ve consistently heard the call for further accountability on governments to make sure that words are met with action and that they are measurable. Under statewide Treaty, we have now secured functions to do this.

‘We will soon establish a new entity called Nginma Ngainga Wara – in Wadi Wadi, this means “you will do” – which will provide independent evaluation and monitoring actions for the performance of the state towards achieving outcomes. This will help make sure the government is delivering on its commitments and achieve better outcomes for our communities.

‘We will also continue the ongoing truth telling and healing. Through truth telling, Yoorook began a process of healing and created a public record of the true history of Victoria. Now, in the Treaty era, all students will be able to learn about the real history of Victoria. Gellung Warl will also set up Nyerna Yoorrook Telkuna to continue the truth-telling and healing process, so that everyone across the state can understand our past to better understand our futures.

Get involved

‘Community told us that they want Treaty to achieve real change, not more band-aid fixes. We are working with our community to deliver on Treaty together, putting the power in our hands to come up with the practical solutions for our people. We want to grow this collective strength. If you are an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander person living in Victoria, this is our democracy in action. It’s taking pride in our strength and participating in our people’s collective fight.

‘We extend an invitation to all Victorians to join the journey for Treaty that has been led by First Peoples for decades, and we invite allies to walk alongside us. It will help us learn and deepen our understanding and connection to this place we all call home. Be a part of this new way of doing things. Sign up and join our Treaty journey.’