Cheers and tears as historic Treaty passes Victorian parliament
Supporters erupted in cheers – and shed plenty of tears – as landmark legislation establishing the country’s first Treaty with Indigenous Australians was passed – here’s what happens next
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
Victoria’s state parliament has erupted in celebration after legislation* was passed enabling a Treaty with Indigenous Australians – the first of its kind in the country.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags were unfurled* in the public gallery as the Statewide Treaty Bill passed the upper house shortly before 9pm on Thursday.
Labor MPs loudly cheered passage of the landmark* legislation, while onlookers from the packed public gallery broke down crying.
The Bill has been hailed by campaigners as a critical turning point for the life and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples in Victoria.
It seeks to establish a democratically* elected body for First Peoples, Gellung Warl, which will be consulted on laws and policies affecting Indigenous communities.
The Bill will also mandate* that new legislation be assessed for Treaty compatibility and establish a new naming authority for geographical features.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the Bill would be signed by the Victorian government and the First Peoples’ Assembly in coming weeks.
“Treaty gives Aboriginal communities the power to shape the policies and services that affect their lives,” she said.
“This is how we build a fairer, stronger Victoria for everyone.”
The Bill was supported by parties including Labor, the Greens and Animal Justice MPs in the upper house after passing the lower house earlier this month.
It comes just over two years after the failed Voice referendum*.
In Victoria, 54 per cent or about 2.1 million people voted against the Voice.
The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, which has long campaigned for Treaty, said passage of the Bill was a “historic moment”.
“We will tell our children about today,” co-chair and Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung and Dhudhuroa woman Ngarra Murray said.
“They will tell their children, passing down to future generations the story of how decades of Aboriginal resilience* and activism* led to Australia’s first Treaty.”
Ms Murray said the Bill marked the beginning of a “new era”.
“One where First Peoples’ 60,000 years of knowledge and culture is respected and celebrated,” she said.
“It’s an opportunity for all Victorians to acknowledge our shared history, heal and move forward together.”
A public celebration event is expected to be held on December 12.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- legislation: rules or laws relating to a particular activity that are made by a government
- unfurled: opened, unrolled, unfolded
- mandate: an official or authoritative instruction or command
- Voice referendum: the vote of the Australian people 18 and over on whether or not to change the Australian Constitution to enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament was defeated on 14 October, 2023
- resilience: the ability to be happy, recover and prosper after something difficult or bad has happened
- activism: campaigning in public or working for an organisation in order to bring about political or social change
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QUICK QUIZ
- What is the name of the Bill passed in the Victorian state parliament on Thursday night?
- What name will be given to the democratically elected body for First Peoples in Victoria?
- What else will the Bill mandate?
- Which political parties supported the Bill?
- What percentage of Victorians voted against the Voice?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Place names
One of the things that will happen as a result of the Treaty is the establishment of a new naming authority for geographical features. Write a paragraph to explain why you think it is important to Indigenous Australians that they have input into place names.
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
2. Extension
Research to find 5 places in your state or territory that use Indigenous names. For each of the places, find out what the Indigenous name means and the language that it comes from.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
VCOP ACTIVITY
Oral language game: sentence opener challenge
Objective: To explore different sentence opener features used in the article and improve oral language skills.
Instructions:
1. As a class, read a text and list some of the varied openers used by the author.
2. Divide the students into small groups.
3. Explain to the students that they will play a sentence opener challenge game based on the openers you have collected from the text.
4. Provide each group with a set of sentence openers (these can be pre-prepared cards with different sentence openers written on them from the text).
5. Ask one student from each group to pick a sentence opener card and read it aloud to the group.
Give each group a time limit (eg. one minute) to come up with as many sentences as they can using the sentence opener. Encourage them to use their imagination and add interesting details to their sentences.
6. After the time limit, each group takes turns sharing their sentences with the rest of the class.
7. The other groups can listen and give feedback on the sentences, suggesting improvements or sharing their own creative ideas.
8. Repeat the process with different sentence starter cards, allowing each student in the group to take turns selecting and reading the sentence starter.
Note: Remind the students to listen attentively to each other’s sentences and be respectful during the game. Encourage them to use their vocabulary, sentence structure, and storytelling skills to create engaging sentences.
Variations:
* Ask the students to write their sentences on blue card to add to a class “text starter” bucket to use as a resource another day.
* For an added challenge, provide the students with blank “sentence opener” cards and ask them to come up with their own sentence openers based on the text.
* To make it more interactive, you can have a sentence opener relay race where each student in the group takes turns adding a word or phrase to create a collaborative sentence using the sentence opener.