Charles James, Clydebank
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
IF the demand for an Aboriginal treaty goes ahead, it must be by compulsory referendum, and every Australian must have a vote.
That vote must be a compulsory and binding. One treaty or many treaties? This is the question.
Would this treaty create more division within our multicultural Australia?
It is tempting to believe if there was a treaty it is one single treaty between Aboriginal people and the Australian government.
But that thought neglects a key characteristic of Aboriginal culture, which is diversity.
Aboriginal nations are as diverse as any other community of nations, such as the European Union.
Having one treaty might appear practical, but in practice would ignore each nation’s identity.
If it was implemented, some Aboriginal nations might feel misrepresented or not represented at all.
One nation can also not speak on behalf of another nation.
Categorising and labelling nations is necessary to get clarity about the number and location of nations.
While some Aboriginal people agree with a single, national treaty, others only accept it as a result of local treaties, which should be negotiated prior.
Lidia Thorpe, a Gunnai-Gunditjmara woman and the first female Aboriginal MP in the Victorian state parliament, subscribes to this view.
First, she says, there needs to be clan-based treaties as clans “have the direct link back to country”, language and lore and know best the priorities of their community.
Once local governments have made such treaties, a state-based treaty can follow that encompasses the needs of a region.
Finally, a national treaty can emerge based on all state treaties.
It’s a view shared by several other Aboriginal representatives, as it reflects the diversity of people.
And this is where a treaty can also help non-Aboriginal people – it can help them step into a new relationship that is honourable and honest and beyond the old relationships.
It’s an opportunity to leave behind the shame and guilt many Australians feel about their past.
Treaty is not about taking power off someone. It’s about partnerships in business economy, self-management, self-determination and selfgovernance and recognition of one’s sovereignty – Yingiya Mark Guyula, spokesperson for the Yolngu Nations Assembly.
A treaty sets all Australians free of the terra nullius lie that the nation we share now is founded upon.
We are all diminished when the nation we are founded upon is founded on a lie.
Much of this was sourced from ‘Would a treaty help Aboriginal selfdetermination?’ – Creative Spirits.
